It must be Einstein's Theory of Relativity: I can spend 8 or 9 hours staring at a blank screen and it seems like an eternity, but 11 days can pass without me even realizing it. Spending Christmas in NYC with good friends did make for an extremely pleasant passage, though, so it was worth it.
From Queens to Gandhi to the Empire State Building, from John's pizza to Grand Central to Times Square to Grand Szechuan to Teany's to Chinatown, from the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the New Venus diner to Equus to Rockefeller Center to the Malibu Diner, and finally from Penn Station once again, NYC and our friends offered a perfect respite from our first Christmas without our mom. If there were moments of melancholy, given the circumstances, they were both fitting and necessary.
And now, on to the New Year...
12.31.2008
12.20.2008
I Think I'll Keep My Day... uh...Occupation
A friend of mine writes an exceptional recipe blog that makes meal prep sound almost fun and worthwhile. I personally despise cooking, though I am the chief planner & executioner of this chore in my house (with lots of sous chef assistance from my husband and some salad prep by sis).
Perhaps the bread I recently tried to make sensed my ambivalence. As it oozed across the floured pan like a horror-film escapee, I made an executive decision to toss it out, because though I followed the recipe and even set the bowl on the stove -- ostensibly the warmest place in the house -- for 18 hours, I think the house is too cold to get the dough to set up.
I suppose I could turn up the heat from 67 to 70 degrees... but I don't really need a $350 loaf of bread, which is what would happen from the increase in our utility bill.
Guess I'll try making this again in the summer.
In other news, the writing is going well. Not counting pages these days, but conceptual progress. Harder to quantify but probably more important.
Perhaps the bread I recently tried to make sensed my ambivalence. As it oozed across the floured pan like a horror-film escapee, I made an executive decision to toss it out, because though I followed the recipe and even set the bowl on the stove -- ostensibly the warmest place in the house -- for 18 hours, I think the house is too cold to get the dough to set up.
I suppose I could turn up the heat from 67 to 70 degrees... but I don't really need a $350 loaf of bread, which is what would happen from the increase in our utility bill.
Guess I'll try making this again in the summer.
In other news, the writing is going well. Not counting pages these days, but conceptual progress. Harder to quantify but probably more important.
12.16.2008
12.11.2008
Careering From Career to Career
Suddenly everywhere I go, the question du jour seems to be, "What do you do?"
Not an unreasonable query, but I'm finding it difficult to answer without a lengthy explanation. Can I say I'm a writer if I haven't been paid for my fiction (even if I have been a paid for writing for other people in various past jobs)? I'm a little uncomfortable with that. I am a writer, and I do write, but in the U.S., when we say "do" we mean "get paid for right now".
Sometimes I say I'm retired. However, at my age, that answer garners disbelief and a dogged repetition of the question.
I'm thinking of saying I'm a professional alcoholic. Don't want to offend anyone, though.
I've considered saying I'm a telecommuting fluffer, since my husband recently told me what that means. However, not everyone may get the joke, and I don't want to give the wrong impression. (Ummm, come to think of it, I may have already given the wrong impression... I swear, I'm only kidding!)
I've also considered saying "I'm a stay-at-home". People will no doubt supply the "mom" that usually completes the phrase, and that's a bit of a fib too. I'm mother only to my animals, and not always a great mom to them.
Maybe I'll just say I'm on a Gibson Writing Fellowship. Those that know my hubby will get it. Those that don't may be suitably impressed.
Not an unreasonable query, but I'm finding it difficult to answer without a lengthy explanation. Can I say I'm a writer if I haven't been paid for my fiction (even if I have been a paid for writing for other people in various past jobs)? I'm a little uncomfortable with that. I am a writer, and I do write, but in the U.S., when we say "do" we mean "get paid for right now".
Sometimes I say I'm retired. However, at my age, that answer garners disbelief and a dogged repetition of the question.
I'm thinking of saying I'm a professional alcoholic. Don't want to offend anyone, though.
I've considered saying I'm a telecommuting fluffer, since my husband recently told me what that means. However, not everyone may get the joke, and I don't want to give the wrong impression. (Ummm, come to think of it, I may have already given the wrong impression... I swear, I'm only kidding!)
I've also considered saying "I'm a stay-at-home". People will no doubt supply the "mom" that usually completes the phrase, and that's a bit of a fib too. I'm mother only to my animals, and not always a great mom to them.
Maybe I'll just say I'm on a Gibson Writing Fellowship. Those that know my hubby will get it. Those that don't may be suitably impressed.
12.10.2008
The Lure of Spider Solitaire
If the first book was written in between taking phone calls and making copies, the second one seems to owe a debt to Spider Solitaire.
Play two hands, write a sentence. Play a couple more, write a word. Play a couple more...
You get the picture.
I didn't know you could make a career out of playing computer card games at home -- oh, wait, that's not the career I was going for.
And yet, I've managed to break through the block this week. I can't say it's going fast, but at least it's going.
Play two hands, write a sentence. Play a couple more, write a word. Play a couple more...
You get the picture.
I didn't know you could make a career out of playing computer card games at home -- oh, wait, that's not the career I was going for.
And yet, I've managed to break through the block this week. I can't say it's going fast, but at least it's going.
12.07.2008
Weekly Wrap-up
If I were my boss, I would probably write me up this week for failing to perform up to my abilities. I've been distractable, unpunctual, and largely unproductive.
What I did get done: typed, edited, printed and mailed a 50-page biography of a family member for a Christmas present per request. This did not require much of a re-write, per se; mostly it involved checking the grammar & spelling and reorganizing a few thoughts for a more linear presentation.
Two pages of The Pirate's Bride. That may not seem like much, but considering how stuck I was feeling last Monday, it feels great to me.
The opening scene (two pages) for the screenplay of The Long Black Veil. We had a different opening altogether when we first wrote this way back when, so I finally updated it to reflect the book's opening. It's been awhile since I worked on a screenplay, so this was both interesting and kind of productive.
One page of the newest screenplay, tentatively titled The Season of the Witch. I had a vision for how I wanted this to go, but frankly, I don't think I captured it yet. Still, it's a start.
Other stuff: played lots of spider solitaire, spent time with my husband and sister, put up plastic on several windows to cut the drafts down a bit in my old house, came up with several Christmas present ideas, provided support to my dad (whose wife is extremely ill), took care of a sick kitty, cooked a bunch of meals, did a lot of laundry, and let the guys in to fix the elliptical.
What I didn't do that I said I would do: send out query letters to agents. For whatever inexplicable reason, I just don't think it's the right time yet. William, Jeannine and I will look over the query letter again before the year is out and make sure it's saying all it needs to say. I am going to bow to my instincts and wait a little longer.
Okay... time to round 'em up and head 'em out. I guess I'll just give myself a warning for now that I better show a little more initiative in the week to come...
What I did get done: typed, edited, printed and mailed a 50-page biography of a family member for a Christmas present per request. This did not require much of a re-write, per se; mostly it involved checking the grammar & spelling and reorganizing a few thoughts for a more linear presentation.
Two pages of The Pirate's Bride. That may not seem like much, but considering how stuck I was feeling last Monday, it feels great to me.
The opening scene (two pages) for the screenplay of The Long Black Veil. We had a different opening altogether when we first wrote this way back when, so I finally updated it to reflect the book's opening. It's been awhile since I worked on a screenplay, so this was both interesting and kind of productive.
One page of the newest screenplay, tentatively titled The Season of the Witch. I had a vision for how I wanted this to go, but frankly, I don't think I captured it yet. Still, it's a start.
Other stuff: played lots of spider solitaire, spent time with my husband and sister, put up plastic on several windows to cut the drafts down a bit in my old house, came up with several Christmas present ideas, provided support to my dad (whose wife is extremely ill), took care of a sick kitty, cooked a bunch of meals, did a lot of laundry, and let the guys in to fix the elliptical.
What I didn't do that I said I would do: send out query letters to agents. For whatever inexplicable reason, I just don't think it's the right time yet. William, Jeannine and I will look over the query letter again before the year is out and make sure it's saying all it needs to say. I am going to bow to my instincts and wait a little longer.
Okay... time to round 'em up and head 'em out. I guess I'll just give myself a warning for now that I better show a little more initiative in the week to come...
12.02.2008
Old Wounds
Maybe this is why I write: because when you create the world, you can control what happens in it. Like everybody else, I am endlessly discovering all the things over which I have no control. I couldn't save my mother -- not that in the end she wanted to be saved, but still, I really tried. And I still can't change the past.
I can't escape it, either. I volunteered to do a good thing for someone with whom I don't have a close relationship, but who is dear to someone dear to me. In doing so, I was presented with a perspective on an event that happened almost 20 years ago -- and yet it still has the power to piss me off, and not just for me, but for my mother and sister, too. Doesn't this stuff ever go away?
Maybe that's why I still think F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby has the best ending I've ever read:
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes befores us. It eludes us then, but that is no matter -- tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther, and one fine morning...
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
I can't escape it, either. I volunteered to do a good thing for someone with whom I don't have a close relationship, but who is dear to someone dear to me. In doing so, I was presented with a perspective on an event that happened almost 20 years ago -- and yet it still has the power to piss me off, and not just for me, but for my mother and sister, too. Doesn't this stuff ever go away?
Maybe that's why I still think F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby has the best ending I've ever read:
"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes befores us. It eludes us then, but that is no matter -- tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther, and one fine morning...
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."
11.28.2008
A Plague on My House (unlike mccain i only have one)
Argh... bad, bad week for writing. Started out with sciatica (or so I suspect due to the pain in my left lower back & the occasional shooting pains down my left leg -- who needs an MD???). Then bad got worse when I ended up with a suspected case of food poisoning on Tuesday evening/Wednesday all day/into Thursday.
So much for the Thanksgiving plan to go out and eat Indian food. We had frozen pizza at home in our jammies.
Wahoo.
But I am grateful to be on the mend.
Oh, yah, you betcha.
So much for the Thanksgiving plan to go out and eat Indian food. We had frozen pizza at home in our jammies.
Wahoo.
But I am grateful to be on the mend.
Oh, yah, you betcha.
11.21.2008
The Birthing Process
One great joy (for me) in writing is finding a new story idea. When the idea comes from my sister and frequent writing partner, Jeannine, it is the greatest of joys. No one knows me as well or bounces ideas around with me better (with the exception of my husband, but we don't usually write fiction together, so it's okay).
Recently, Jeannine brought a possible new screenplay to me; in the past week, we've roughed out the setting (era & place), the 3 main characters, a sense of the throughline (or at least the point of the story), a couple of prime scenes, and a sense of the ending. We're starting to know our main character just by talking about her: why is she in the story, what's her emotional stake, how does she accomplish her intentions, where does she want to go?
This is the best time -- nothing down on paper yet, but we've planted the seed.
Recently, Jeannine brought a possible new screenplay to me; in the past week, we've roughed out the setting (era & place), the 3 main characters, a sense of the throughline (or at least the point of the story), a couple of prime scenes, and a sense of the ending. We're starting to know our main character just by talking about her: why is she in the story, what's her emotional stake, how does she accomplish her intentions, where does she want to go?
This is the best time -- nothing down on paper yet, but we've planted the seed.
11.18.2008
Milestone and Rule #1
Actually wrote several pages today, in between letting the cat down cellar at 6 AM, the dog out to potty at 7:40AM -- first time for him with snow on the ground, and he doesn't know what to think -- and fighting with the drain in the tub for 2 hours.
That's 2 whole hours trying every trick known to womankind, from easing plastic tubing down the narrow pipe to the vinegar & baking soda bubbling trick to pouring boiling hot water & dish soap down it trying to get the works to drain properly... only to discover that somehow someone had accidentally hit the plug dealie so that it was halfway closed. Since the stopper is inside the drain and therefore invisible to the naked eye, it didn't occur to me to check that first. Aargh! But at least I didn't have to call a plumber.
Since this is a training week, I'm not terribly concerned about the slow-going, but it occurs to me that some milestones and rules might be in order to keep things on a more progressive track. So:
That's 2 whole hours trying every trick known to womankind, from easing plastic tubing down the narrow pipe to the vinegar & baking soda bubbling trick to pouring boiling hot water & dish soap down it trying to get the works to drain properly... only to discover that somehow someone had accidentally hit the plug dealie so that it was halfway closed. Since the stopper is inside the drain and therefore invisible to the naked eye, it didn't occur to me to check that first. Aargh! But at least I didn't have to call a plumber.
Since this is a training week, I'm not terribly concerned about the slow-going, but it occurs to me that some milestones and rules might be in order to keep things on a more progressive track. So:
Milestone #1: Starting in December (no point pre-Thanksgiving, trust me), send out 6 queries a month to agents to try to get representation for The Long Black Veil. Send on Wednesdays; they make good administrative task days.
Rule #1: If more than 30 minutes passes staring at a blank page, work on something else. For example, if nothing's moving along with The Pirate's Bride, I'll work on the screenplay for "The Long Black Veil", or perhaps the screenplay for "Slide". Momentum breeds momentum.
That's all for today's progress report. Time for bed.
11.17.2008
A Quick Search for Inspiration
The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can't help it. ~ Leo Rosten
Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards. ~ Robert Heinlein
You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair... You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page. ~ Stephen King
Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~ Anton Chekhov
Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. ~ Gene Fowler
One ought only to write when one leaves a piece of one's own flesh in the inkpot, each time one dips one's pen. ~ Leo Tolstoy
Books want to be born: I never make them. They come to me and insist on being written, and on being such and such. ~ Samuel Butler
If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ~ Toni Morrison
Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards. ~ Robert Heinlein
You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair... You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page. ~ Stephen King
Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~ Anton Chekhov
Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. ~ Gene Fowler
One ought only to write when one leaves a piece of one's own flesh in the inkpot, each time one dips one's pen. ~ Leo Tolstoy
Books want to be born: I never make them. They come to me and insist on being written, and on being such and such. ~ Samuel Butler
If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ~ Toni Morrison
11.15.2008
The Queen is Dead, Long Live the Queen
Here's a happy little late night thought: my mother will never read the book I'm writing now.I don't think she even read the bits I had started for this one over 3 years ago.
What the hell am I supposed to do with that?
11.14.2008
One Week Gone...
So, I have not gotten a ton of writing done this week, but I feel as though I have adjusted my attitude -- and sometimes that can be more beneficial for going forward than generating a bunch of mediocre work. (Quality, not quantity.)
I'm starting to believe writing full-time may actually be the right thing for me. Even though the economy is tanking, I've given up a decent paying job, and our debt load hasn't changed much, I still feel better than I have in years. And it's not just because I don't have to answer to a supervisor; I still have to answer to myself, and I'd take bets that I'm a much harsher task master than any supervisor I've worked with. I've had some good ones, and they weren't half so exacting.
This week was orientation. Next week is training. Then the real work begins...
I'm starting to believe writing full-time may actually be the right thing for me. Even though the economy is tanking, I've given up a decent paying job, and our debt load hasn't changed much, I still feel better than I have in years. And it's not just because I don't have to answer to a supervisor; I still have to answer to myself, and I'd take bets that I'm a much harsher task master than any supervisor I've worked with. I've had some good ones, and they weren't half so exacting.
This week was orientation. Next week is training. Then the real work begins...
11.12.2008
Research is Your Friend
So... slow start this AM has equaled basically a no-start day; it's mid-afternoon, and I've written about 2 words.
HOWEVER, I have done a good bit of research on the WWI era. Here's what I learned today:
TE Lawrence was raped by Ottoman Turks
The sinking of the Lusitania was not a completely unprovoked act; the ship carried "secret" munitions to Britain's aid, though officially the US was neutral in 1915
Americans renamed German measles "liberty measles" when we entered the war... (like "freedom fries" that could kill you)
1914-1919 produced some interesting music
In October 1918, over 851 New Yorkers died of the Spanish flu
And apparently our President-elect is Irish!
HOWEVER, I have done a good bit of research on the WWI era. Here's what I learned today:
TE Lawrence was raped by Ottoman Turks
The sinking of the Lusitania was not a completely unprovoked act; the ship carried "secret" munitions to Britain's aid, though officially the US was neutral in 1915
Americans renamed German measles "liberty measles" when we entered the war... (like "freedom fries" that could kill you)
1914-1919 produced some interesting music
In October 1918, over 851 New Yorkers died of the Spanish flu
And apparently our President-elect is Irish!
Slow Starts
Inherent challenge number one: working from home means frequent interruptions from the animals. The people get it, but the animals... not so much.I've been trying to work since 8 AM, but first I had to feed Homer... and take him potty... and listen to him whine until I let him upstairs with me.
Thank God he goes to day care a few times a week.
11.10.2008
First Day's End
Highlights from today:
Set up the blog
Heard from some dear, supportive friends
Re-read and edited 52 pages of Bride
Wrote 1 new page
Not a bad beginning.
Set up the blog
Heard from some dear, supportive friends
Re-read and edited 52 pages of Bride
Wrote 1 new page
Not a bad beginning.
The First Leap
A few years ago, I met my husband-to-be at a party. The first time we met was inauspicious, but the second time, I knew in that inexplicable way in which we recognize an absolute truth that we were meant to be together. Many odds were against us, from complicated relationships to geographical distance to a not-insignificant gap in our ages. And yet we married last year, and neither of us has ever been happier. That was the first leap of faith.
And now, after struggling with my mother's recent death and several years of career dissatisfaction, my husband suggested I stop trying to fit my square self into a round hole, quit my job, and just write. He believes it's what I was meant to do. I want to believe.
So I am taking the risk. Working with my sister, who is also my writing partner and a critical part of my life, I have finished one novel--The Long Black Veil--and will try to get an agent and/or publishing house interested in buying it. Concurrently, I will continue working on the screenplay that LBV inspired and on the new novel, The Pirate's Bride.
Will any of it sell? I don't know. But with my husband, sister, family and friends supporting me, it's time to make the second leap.
And now, after struggling with my mother's recent death and several years of career dissatisfaction, my husband suggested I stop trying to fit my square self into a round hole, quit my job, and just write. He believes it's what I was meant to do. I want to believe.
So I am taking the risk. Working with my sister, who is also my writing partner and a critical part of my life, I have finished one novel--The Long Black Veil--and will try to get an agent and/or publishing house interested in buying it. Concurrently, I will continue working on the screenplay that LBV inspired and on the new novel, The Pirate's Bride.
Will any of it sell? I don't know. But with my husband, sister, family and friends supporting me, it's time to make the second leap.
Slide
Slide
Type: Screenplay
Genre: Dark Comedy, Present-day setting
Status: In Revision
Logline: For brothers Wes and Neil, their friend Alaska, and co-workers Dexter and Bird, escape from their boring lives is a pipedream... until an ice storm sets up the perfect robbery. Forced to rely on one another if they hope to slip away, these smalltown slackers may just realize their wildest dreams.
Type: Screenplay
Genre: Dark Comedy, Present-day setting
Status: In Revision
Logline: For brothers Wes and Neil, their friend Alaska, and co-workers Dexter and Bird, escape from their boring lives is a pipedream... until an ice storm sets up the perfect robbery. Forced to rely on one another if they hope to slip away, these smalltown slackers may just realize their wildest dreams.
The Pirate's Bride
The Pirate's Bride
Type: Novel
Genre: Romantic Drama; 1900-1929 era
Status: In Progress
Logline: Set at the turn of the twentieth century, ugly duckling Harper Geist marries handsome, desirable Julian Pratt and sets her small hometown talking. As rumors about their match become uglier — spurred on by her jealous sister — Harper grows suspicous of Julian's professed love and begins to doubt her own judgment. Only a tragic accident makes her realize all that she has allowed to undermine her marriage, but by then it may be too late to find forgiveness.
Type: Novel
Genre: Romantic Drama; 1900-1929 era
Status: In Progress
Logline: Set at the turn of the twentieth century, ugly duckling Harper Geist marries handsome, desirable Julian Pratt and sets her small hometown talking. As rumors about their match become uglier — spurred on by her jealous sister — Harper grows suspicous of Julian's professed love and begins to doubt her own judgment. Only a tragic accident makes her realize all that she has allowed to undermine her marriage, but by then it may be too late to find forgiveness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
