The Gods Hate Kansas

Okay, so voting has happened over at LH and my story didn’t make it to Best of the Best, which is not surprising since I was up against tchernabyelo! However, during the Guessing Frenzy (the best part of flash challenges, IMO) somebody did attribute our stories to each other so that is quite a compliment!

Anyway. The story I wrote that I love so much is a little exploration of a surfer myth I learned about on NPR last Friday night. It’s about a spirit called the Conductor who controls weather and waves and just might drown you for no apparent reason. I had a lot of fun writing it and cranked it out in 50 minutes - so it will be interesting to see what it becomes with several more hours’ work. Yes, my plan is to bite the bullet and submit it to WotF. I’ve seen some urban fantasy/magical realism stuff in the most recent WotF anthologies so I think it has a chance, albeit a small one because most of the stuff I’ve read in WotF is severely awesome. I’m not sure mine is quite THAT awesome, but it hasn’t been polished yet, and anyway I tend to judge myself more harshly than anybody else does so I should stop being a wuss and just jump in with both feet. The worst thing that will happen is that Orson Scott Card will be the one who reads my story and he will send it back with a note that says THIS IS THE STUPIDEST THING I HAVE EVER READ, I AM PUKING RIGHT NOW AS I WRITE THIS NOTE. That’s the absolute worst that can happen, and that won’t happen, so I should just rock it and do it.

Today I’m heading over to my sister’s place to do some menial yarn-related labor in her yarn sweatshop. Thank god I finally bought an iPod (on my credit card - ouch. I’d better sell some stories soon so I can pay that crap off). The sounds of the 80s and also the Asian Underground will keep me company as I stuff circular-knitting needles into packages and rinse yarn all morning.

Oh, also:  planning to solidify my idea for the story I’m writing to sub to the Paper Blossoms, Sharpened Steel anthology.

After cruising through Duotrope I’ve decided that I’m going to polish up the Mystery Flash, make it a tad longer and a tad clearer, and then bite the bullet and submit it first to Writers of the Future.

Because why the hell not?  I think it kicks some ass.  Maybe they will, too.

This is a big step for me, making this decision, because even though getting even an honorable mention in WotF is a great honor, I really, really hate L. Ron Hubbard and am loathe to associate anything about myself with him.  Dude was a total wiener.  But on the other hand…Writers of the Future contest.

I wrote a flash challenge story for LH this morning.  I really dig it.  It needs a ton of work, as all flash does before it’s ready to send anywhere, but I am pretty pleased with the premise.  I used an idea I’ve had brewing ever since I listened to an interview with a writer on NPR.  This was just a few days ago, so I’m surprised that I had an opportunity to use it so quickly!

That’s all I’ll say for now, since some LH people might be reading this blog.  I don’t want to give away which story is mine before all the critiquing and voting. 

October has always been my favorite time of year.  I love the cold weather, the leaves turned but still on the trees, and most of all, Halloween.  Halloween is officially the greatest holiday ever.  I made it official because I say so.  There is nothing to not love about it.  Plus, added bonus:  It’s our wedding anniversary, because Will feels the same way about it as I do.

Now, though, with my first profitable year of my photography career coming to a close, I’ve found another reason to love October.  It’s essentially the end of the wedding season for my area.  Sure, there are always a few weddings in the fall and winter, but for the most part they’re all over the summer - especially the ones with larger budgets, since it always costs a fair chunk of change to reserve the few outdoor facilities that exist in the Puget Sound area and then to rent plenty of tents since you never know when it’s going to dump rain here.  Since I am a high-midrange photographer in terms of price, most of my work is, therefore, during the summer when the couples with cashola are getting hitched.

This week I’ve discovered how nice the end of the season can be.  I’ve done nothing but write like a madwoman for two straight days.  It feels SO GOOD.  I haven’t been able to write this prolifically since I was in high school (when I should have been doing my homework instead).  I’ve tackled a few more chapters of my novel’s rough draft and I’ll be doing a few more later this evening.  For now, I might go to the zoo with my camera for a while.  Most of the animals aren’t very interested in actually doing anything when it’s cold like this, but that might be a good thing for me and my camera.

Walk Like an Egyptian is progressing well.  I need to polish up a couple of short stories.  Last night on NPR I heard a little snippet of a conversation that inspired me to write another short story - I’ve got to research it a bit tonight, too.  A busy day ahead, but it’s all fun-busy, so I’m a happy camper.

Good news: This morning I finished another chapter in my historical fic novel. Still no title for it - I am super slow at coming up with titles. A suitable one usually doesn’t occur to me until I’m about halfway through the work, and then I end up hating that one and trying on a few dozen more before just settling on the least offensive of them all.

Right now, I’m affectionately calling my novel “Walk Like an Egyptian.” Don’t worry - that won’t be the actual title, unless I end up with an agent who is absolutely insane.

My shades arrived but alas, they are just not working. The lenses are too narrow and they let in too much light. I’m going to have to exchange them for a different set of frames. Bummer - I love the way they look on me but they just aren’t practical, especially for driving glasses! My regular, non-shade specs should be in later today, hopefully! Love those ones.

I have absolutely no “real” work to get done today, so I’m going to spend a few hours writing this morning and then move on to something completely useless and fun. Rumor has it Will and I might go to the zoo this afternoon and visit the baby tapir. We loves us some tapir babies.

Edit to add: Okay, I took the intriguing novel quiz in Aye, Aye, Skipper’s blog (linked in my blogroll, of course). My results:

You’re A Prayer for Owen Meany!
by John Irving
Despite humble and perhaps literally small beginnings, you inspire
faith in almost everyone you know. You are an agent of higher powers, and you manifest
this fact in mysterious and loud ways. A sense of destiny pervades your every waking
moment, and you prepare with great detail for destiny fulfilled. When you speak, IT
SOUNDS LIKE THIS!

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

WHAAAAT? An agent of higher powers? Inspiring faith? I’ve seldom met a person who is more atheistic than I am. heehee! I guess the novel quiz didn’t work out for me, although it is true that when I talk IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS.

I had a busy, busy day so I think I will be write-less for the 2nd of October.  Darn.  I’ve been trying to squeak in at least an hour per day, preferably more like four or five hours now that wedding season has run its course and I should, in theory, have a lot of free time on my hands.  Except that I don’t so far.

I went to the glasses store today to take advantage of the “buy one, get one free” sale.  I ended up with a new pair of Dolce-Gabbanas for my regular-use glasses and some nice Versace frames that will be holding my sunglass lenses.  This is pretty sweet because I finally have some prescription sunglasses.  Previously, I was using those drop-behind-your-regular-glasses plastic dealies that you get when you go get your eyes dilated for your eye exam.  Not kidding.  I drove around in the sun with those stupid things hanging from my glasses for almost two years, just waiting for a glasses sale to happen at a time when I actually had money.  I probably could have achieved both sets of glasses for much less than the $425.00 I spent if I didn’t have such expensive taste, though.  What can I say?  DGs and Versaces look great on me.

Immediately afterward, I went and blew the remainder of my most recent income (a retainer fee for a wedding next year) on an iPod nano.  This was, as I look at it, a necessary expense.  I’m trying really hard to get in super-awesome shape so I don’t end up with the high blood pressure and heart disease issues that plague my family tree, and I’ve kind of hit a plateau with my regular exercise routine.  I’m still doing it faithfully, but now my heart rate just doesn’t get up where it used to in the 20 - 30 minutes I spend daily.  The iPod is meant to distract me so that I continue exercising for 2-3 times longer.  Looking back, I probably should have spent the money on jeans that fit me better and don’t have to be hiked up every few seconds, but an iPod is way more fun than new pants.

So on top of my eye doc visit and my mad shopping spree, I had to replace the microwave, which gave up the ghost during a power surge the other day.  I’ve also still got to clean the apartment, make copies of contracts and mail them out to clients, drop a model horse in the “out” bin at the post office, and return some business calls.

Why am I writing in this blog right now?

So yeah - Will and I will probably spend some serious snuggle time together tonight once he’s home from work - he’s been having really rough days lately with dumb sales meetings and other tedium - so working on story-polishing or the novel seem unlikely.  But you never know when insomnia will strike, so I might just get some writing done yet today.

So right now there’s not much here, but thanks for coming and checking it out anyway.  I’m going to try to make daily updates to this blog because it serves a very special purpose.  I’ve got my Myspace blog, which is pretty much dedicated to ranting and also my general thoughts on atheism and philosophy.  I’ve got my LiveJournal, which is mostly for my actual, meat-world friends to keep in touch with me.  I’ve got another wordpress blog, under a slightly different name, which is dedicated to my photography business and to keeping in touch with my clients.  However, this one is for my longest-lived passion and my lifelong love:  Writing!

As I am just about ready to start collecting rejection letters submitting my stories and novels,  I thought it might be fun for my online friends to track my progress.  I don’t really want to do it in any of my other blogs for various reasons.  Also, I wanted an excuse to name a blog after the best sci-fi pulp novel of all time.

So, enjoy the journey through time and space and editors’ and agents’ slushpiles.  And thanks for being interested in what I do.  I love you.  Seriously, I do.