Looking At the World

Software Review: Scrivener

2012-01-03T06:49:00.000-08:00

In trying to think about something to blog about, I foundanother list of blog post ideas: 101 Killer Blog Post Ideas: http://thebacklight.com/101-blog-post-ideas/

And there, on number three, was "Review Software".

How did they know?? Idownloaded Scrivener's trial version and have been using it for the past threedays. So, let me tell you aboutScrivener.

First, it's fairly easy to use. It can be used as a word processor and it canimport and export to several other word processors. It can also export a file into .pdf and thedifferent ebook formats.

It's also a notecard program, as simple to use asSupernotecard. And it toggles BACK AND FORTH between the notecard and thewordprocessor. It also takes thosenotecards and sets them up in a really nice outline form. Although I don't outline before I write, Ifind that outlining *while* I write helps me to figure things out.

Do I like it enough to buy it? Yes, in fact, I'll probably buy it thisweekend.

Note: If you "won" nano, go to the nano site: www.nanowrimo.org For Winners, there's a code to get 50% off acopy of the Scrivener program, but you need to have won and validated yourstory.

photo by Flickr user Cranium, used under the creative commons license

Worry: A Habit I wish I Didn't Have

2012-01-01T09:26:00.000-08:00

Worry is like running on a hamster wheel. You go roundand round in circles, but you never get anywhere.

And yet, I worry. Mostly, I worry about things that Icannot control. And that gets in the way of things that I can control.

I can't control the fact that there's an accident along myway to work. I can control the fact that I left a little late, cutting ita bit too close.

I can't control what my significant other does. I cancontrol my reaction to it.

I can't control how my mother is doing. I can controlmy own health. But not if my energy is spent worrying about hers.

I can't control whether someone buys my story. But I can get it out there - submit it to agents.

I'm not big on resolutions, but here's one: I'll try tofocus my energy on those things that I can control. And let go of thethings I can't.

Photo Credit

“Hamster on wheel” sualk61 @ Flickr.com. Creative Commons. SomeRights Reserved.

What Makes Me Different from Everyone Else

2011-12-27T06:36:00.000-08:00

This is from that list that Tambo pointed me to: http://biggirlblue.blogspot.com/2010/11/30-days-of-me.html

Normally, being the science type, I'd say my DNA. But I've got this identical twin, so that'sout. Not that we're exactly the same. She's shy. I'm… not. She doesn't cook. I do. And our fingerprints are different. Even though fingerprints have a basis in genetics, how they'reexpressed/ formed is different for every individual.

But being a twin meant that we were often lumpedtogether. My form of rebellion, growingup, was pushing to be an individual. So,everything that I do has some basis in that. I want to be different from everyone else.

For example: I created my own undergraduate major (ScienceCommunication). I have a Masters inMuseum Education. I do a LOT of crafts and have a lot of hobbies.

I consider myself a Creative. If I need a dish towel, I'll crochet it. If I want pizza, I'll make it. I make most of the gifts I give, if Ican. If I can't, I do *something*creative with it. My sister tells methat it's my gifts her kids pull out on a rainy day.

So that's what makes me different from everyone else. I look to create the most originalthing. Even me.

What makes you unique?

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T05:23:00.000-08:00

My favorite Song

2011-12-23T14:11:00.000-08:00

My favorite song would have to be Bridge Over TroubledWater, by Simon and Garfunkel. Handsdown. No question.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_a46WJ1viA

At the darkest points in my life, this song either came onthe radio or I put it on the CD player. Ihummed it to myself in the dark when I needed someone to tell me that it wouldbe all right. I knew, in my rationalmind, that it would be, but the emotional part of my mind doubted it.

When I was 19years old I went to the Concert in Central Park and, at dusk, Art Garfunkel sang thissong. And half a million people sangalong, under their breaths. We could allhear Art, but we also added our voices. It was unbelievable.

Paul Simon once said that he hated the bridge "Sail onsilver girl" part. It had nothingto do with the rest of the song. I mustdisagree – it makes the song so much stronger.

With that shift, that change of key, the song moves from"there, there, it'll be okay" to "you're okay now. Go. Do."

I love this song.

What's your favorite song?

note: I took the photo. In Australia

15 Interesting Facts about Me

2011-12-22T06:27:00.000-08:00

In an effort to blog more, I'm working from a list. This was harder than I thought.

1. I work in a museum. It is the coolest place. When I need a break, I can go down and look at the Egyptian sarcophagus of a court musician or a Tibetan riding desk. We have paintings by Edward Hopper and John Singer Sargeant and sculpture by Andy Warhol. Oh, and dinosaur bones.

2. I have been square dancing for more than 30 years. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, I have taken classes through the Advanced level.

3. I have a twin sister. Identical twin. We freak people out.

4. In Junior High School, I took a film-making class. Our class made a movie called "Fangs of Death."

5. All of my nieces and nephews were adopted.

6. I have nine book cases in my one-bedroom condo.

7. I have cheated death twice: 22 years ago in a car accident and 2 years ago I had a blood clot in my leg and a small piece in my lung. I'm all better now.

8. My ring-finger toe (on both feet) stopped growing when I was six. It's a mutation called Brachia Metatarsil. My twin has it, too.

9. I have traveled to London, England, Moscow, Russia, Greece and Australia. I have also been to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyons and Pike's Peak in Colorado.

10. I own the entire series of Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes series on DVD.

11. I was once in the chorus of the opera, Aida.

12. I have a black belt in shopping. No, seriously. I found my sister's wedding dress for $200!

13. I once owned a car and drove it until I couldn't. 174,000 miles and the engine went while I was in line to get it inspected.

14. There is a potter's wheel in my living room. Yes, I can throw pots, though I haven't in a while. Still, I eat my soup from bowls I've made.

15. I am writing a book. (well, several books really. But you probably knew that already.)

Comments?

Blue Moods and Blogging

2011-12-20T06:28:00.000-08:00

Life has been hectic and a bit sad. A family member passed over (peacefully) this morning and it's been tough for my brother's family. The kids are upset and acting out, which, while understandable, doesn't help.

I don't want this blog to be about my whining, though, so I was casting about for ideas that weren't depressing. And my friend Tamara Siler Jones linked to this post: http://biggirlblue.blogspot.com/2010/11/30-days-of-me.html

I'm not going to wait until January to do this, I won't do every post or even close to being in order. But I like many of the ideas, so I'm going to grok the list. Starting tomorrow.

For today, I have a question. Do you write through your blue moods or wait until they pass?

For me, it's a little of both. I'll work through them, to a certain extent. Mostly as a distraction, I'll make jewelry or draw (although I draw like a science teacher). Eventually, those emotions work their way into my writing, but not immediately. They need to simmer, to marinate.

I'll try to blog more, but if I get swept away with stuff, Happy Holidays folks!

note: Photo is Japan, Blue Mountains by miykiutada under creative commons license

Research and Details

2011-11-11T06:43:00.001-08:00

Golem is set in the real world, even if it is Fantasy. It's also set in a day and time where a lot of the details were just not recorded. And, sometimes, I get stuck. I want the details to be right, but even with the research I've done, I don't know the details.

This is the biggest reason for blocks that I'm finding with this year's nano. Other years, I didn't have enough conflict, so I made a conflict list. The peasants from the interior of Russia came to Odessa looking for work. The Japanese/Russian war created a recession, so there was no work. The peasants blame the Jews. Conflict.

The research that I have done shows that the different peoples met in cafe's. Peasants had a beer beside University students and shopkeepers ate their supper at the next table. That's a good place for showing that conflict.

But now the details come into play - what did they eat? soup? sandwiches? pot pies? What did they drink? ale? vodka? wine?

I have a friend who's been stopping as she writes to research those details. It's taking her awhile, but it seems to be working for her. I haven't been able to find the details, though. I've just wasted time.

NanoWrimo's creed is "Just Write", so I'm trying to go with an educated guess and I'll fix it later. At least I'm getting words.

Here's a snip:

"Everywhere you go, you trip over more Jews." I glanced over to the man who wasspeaking. He wore old trousers and thekind of tunic that peasants wore, stained and badly repaired where it hadtorn. He was a big man with loose foldsof skin hanging from his neck and big, beefy hands that curled into fists. He was also looking at me, pure hate pouringfrom him. It stole my breath.

Another big man, with a jet black beard, laughed. "You trip over your own feet,Misha."

"I'm serious. Ican't find a job because they're all given to these damned Jews." His eyes never left me and I took two stepsaway, backing into someone else's chair.

"I'm so sorry," I murmured and started to weave myway toward Yakov and Avrom.

"You can't find a job because you drink your paycheck." I was still close enough to hear them.

"No. It'sbecause Jews, like that girl, have all the jobs." It was easy to hear him - his voice gotlouder as he got angrier. I wanted tocurl into a ball and hide underneath the tables.

His friend with the beard roared with laughter. "That girl isn't going to beat you outfor a job hauling crates in the warehouse. IF she works, she's more likely to work in her father's store and noone's ever going to hire you to be nice to customers. Eat something and calm down, Misha. I didn't come here tonight to get started ina fight."

Yakov had seen me, finally, and he stood. I rushed over and wrapped my arms around him;I didn't care who saw.

"Rachel? Are youall right?" His arm snaked aroundmy shoulders and he looked down at me. "Babele?" he added in a whisper.

"I'm all right," I whispered into his chest.

"One of the peasants yelled at her." Avrom had stood and was looking over my headtoward the man called Misha. When Ilooked, he was frowning, but digging in to a bowl of soup.

How do you handle the details?

The Dark and the Light

2011-11-04T15:45:00.000-07:00

I almost scrapped Golem as my nano project. Really, I almost tossed all the prep andstarted over with the Sci Fi Bunny. Andit's all the fault of the research.

I'm setting Golem in a very real place, with very realhistory and very real. And very, verynot Happy Ever After. Anyone who knowsme knows that I go more for the sweet and less for the horror. But there are parts of this story that *has*to be almost if not Horror.

Because 400 people, 300 of them Jews, died in a riot wherevery angry people focused their anger on those people who were different fromthem. Jewish homes and businesses weredestroyed. Jewish women and childrenwere beaten.

I knew that *my* story would have a happy-ish ending, but itcouldn't completely be very happy, because I won't be rewriting history. I just didn't think I could spend 50,000words with such a depressing story.

In talking things over with a friend, she suggested that Iwrite the sweet part of the story for a bit and maybe I'd feel better aboutit. I tried and she's right.

But I'm coming to the conclusion that the story is strongerbecause of the contrast between light and dark. You care more about the dark because you care about the characters. And I, at least, care about the charactersbecause they're really very sweet.

A short snip:

Mr. Grabel walked intothe study, twisting his hat in his hands. "I don't want to be any trouble,Rabbi."

"Notrouble," I said. Mr. Grabel was alarge, imposing man, but with my father, he acted like a young boy. "The kettle is on already. Do you take milk?"

He smiled shyly, eventhough his middle daughter was my best friend. He'd known me all my life. "A little honey, if you have it. Thank you, Rachel."

Metrics:

Nano – Three days (I haven't really written much tonight):5,832 words

Plan for this weekend: Spiders!

Getting Ready for Nano

2011-10-29T06:49:00.000-07:00

Nano starts next week. And in preparation, I've put together the back-of-the-book blurb for Golem. So, here it is:

Odessa, Russia in 1905 is a place where thefuture is being born. Industrialists,artists and philosophers meet in smoky cafés and invent a better world. Of course, the Tsar and his cronies aren't atall sure they want a new world.

Rachel Vainshel has one foot in each world. She has a job in the factory and her fatheris the Rabbi of their Temple. At 16, the word is full of possibilities,including those of Yakov Mueller, the jeweler's son. Yakov has a talent and a trick – he makesexquisite little insects out of watch parts. And can bring them to life.

When her father, Reb Kolya, finds out about it, heencourages Yakov to create a mechanical man, a Golem, to protect the synagoguefrom the anti-Semitic riots that are growing more frequent and more violent.

Rachel helps when she can, but she doesn't have the magic.She will do whatever she can toprotect her family and her people, even as the world around them goes mad.

Where We Come From

2011-10-26T04:34:00.000-07:00

I've been quiet for the past week because I've been workingon a photo book. Several years ago, Icollected family photos, some of which go back more than a hundred years. I finished it and sent it off last night.

So, as is my habit, I look at everything, and I meaneverything, as what it can teach me about writing. And this photobook has something to do withBackstory, with where we come from.

Every character has a past, hinting at that past can tellyou a lot about that character, what matters to them, what motivates them. For instance, my mother is a nurse, I have amaster's degree (education, if you must know) and my father went tocollege. Of course.

But my grandfather didn't go to college and my grandmotherwent to business school for a year, I think. Most of my mother's family were farmers – not the intellectual elitethat I'd assumed we were. Because that'swhat we are now. We have a slew ofteachers: art, music, science and special needs. And education IS very important to us. But would I have had anything in common withmy great grandmother if I'd known her at my age?

Probably not. She hadbeen married and had 7 kids (one of whom died of disease in the nursery) by thetime she was my age. And I'm not sureshe graduated from high school.

So, back to characters. One of my characters lost her parents in an accident when she was ateenager, another used to belong to a gang. The romantic lead is more than shy, he's gun-shy. His family has money and a gold-digger had himgoing before he figured out what she was really after was the money. Knowing this about them is essential to howthey react and what motivates them. Imay never say what happened to them, in so many words, but their past is there.

What are the pasts your characters have to deal with?

Photo: I'm not sure who took it, probably my grandfather. It's my aunt and my mom, as kids.

Not really a post

2011-10-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

This is the icon/ cover I made for my nano wrimo story this year:

Cheers!

2011-10-13T18:35:00.000-07:00

Cheers to Writer Friends!

This weekend is a writers' weekend. I'm going to Capclave with two of my writers friends and I will make more writer friends.

Whenever any of my writer friends are anywhere near me, I've got to get to them - we NEED to get together. More accurately, I need to see them.

Because writing is a lonely thing. I can write and live with my characters and I lose perspective. My writer friends encourage me, are honest with me, and they're just really good company. When I connect online, they're disembodied, but in real life (RL), they're, well, real.

So yay for the friendship, yay for the connection and Cheers for other people who just understand.

Thanks folks - huggs.

Beautiful Betas

2011-10-08T05:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, that's beautiful and he's a beta splendens fish, but I'm talking about Beta readers.

Beta readers are those wonderful people who can look at your writing and tell you things that you can't see clearly because you're too close. They tell you when something's not clear, they tell you the theme of your story when you can't see it - they ROCK.

If you haven't connected with beta readers, find a writing forum and offer to read - it's polite to offer time and energy before asking for the same. And I've learned as much or more from reading others' stories as from others reading mine.

Last night, a good friend who read Lawgiver in all its first draft glory let me bounce things off her and she nailed the quality I need to emphasize. Thanks, Lisa!

For those of you who've read Lawgiver, thank you. And here's a snip, so you'll understand what I'm talking about:

"What is it about the past?" asked Pel. He took off his sweater and draped it overher shoulders. Su pulled it close – itsmelled like Pel's soap. Just a hint ofsandalwood.

"Thanks," she muttered, pulling the collar up toher ears. "I'm not sure what youmean."

"Why do you spend so much time with the past? You're as pure a Mercian as I've evermet. But most Mercians look forward,worried about inventing the future. Whydo you look in the opposite direction?"

"Because it was better, more hopeful. There was magic in the past and we've lostit." Su had stop, to blink back thetears that were threatening. "We'rekilling each other, Pel. If it's not thebombers, it's the gangs in the cities. So I look backwards."

He rubbed her back through the sweater. She leaned back, relaxing a little. "As I remember, there were wars androbberies back in Vidar's time. Theyweren't very peaceful."

"But God did something about it. He sent Vidar and D'Guerre to stop us fromkilling ourselves." She thought ofthe three-foot high letters spray-painted on a ruined wall – God is Dead.

Pel pulled her close and laid her head on his shoulder. "Give him time, Su. That's where Faith comes in."

Su smiled and let him hold her. Faith had never been her strongest talent.

Betta fish photo gakked from aquaristicsblog.com under creative commons license.

SF Plotbunny Snip

2011-10-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

The dream has become a five-book series. Sort of a Leverage meets Firefly SF Romance. Five books, five couples. And one giant conspiracy.

It's set in the near future, when Man has ventured into the solar system, but no farther.

In the first book, Marlowe (Helene Marlowe) is the FMC and Daniel Lyons is the MMC. Enjoy.

***

Marlowe took out her glasses and held out her hand. "Let me get a closer look at that."

Lyonsglanced at Chan – he had no reason to trust her,she reminded herself. Chan nodded.

Slowly, Lyonsplaced the orb into her palm and her fingers caged it. Smooth, cool to the touch. Practically seamless. "Do you know where it was made?"

Lyonsstared at her, his mouth slightly open. Hadn't he heard her? "Do youknow where it was made?"

He shook his head, maybe he just shook himself awake. "Sorry. I haven't a clue. It's not old,though. Not hand milled, but not massproduced, either."

Marlowe nodded and touched her hand to the leftearpiece. First step in and the surfaceof the orb focused. Still smooth.

At the far edge of her vision, she saw Jerry approach Chanwith a whisper. They left, leaving heralone with their client.

"I like the sexy librarian look."

Marlowe looked up at him, over the rim of the black plasticglasses. "My eyes were corrected to20/20, same as everyone else. These areglassicals, not your typical glasses."

"Now I'm curious." He took two steps closer and looked at her face, at the glassicals. "What do they do?"

Of course he was curious. But she didn't like how unsettled she felt with him looking at her facelike that. "They act like a 3-Dmicroscope. Nano lenses focus andenlarge, then the image is sharpened via computer enhancement." She tapped the drive at her hip.

Lyonsglanced at the drive, but before she could focus on the orb, he looked up, ather, not the glassicals. He was tooclose. But her breath had seized and shecouldn't move.

He grinned. "CanI see?"

And she could breathe again. "No." She nearlylaughed when he pouted – that was the only term that could apply. "They're keyed to my ID. They're designed to only work with me."

He looked so disappointed, just a slumping of his shoulders,that she relented. "I've got anon-keyed prototype in the office. Ifwe've got time, later, I'll show you. Right now, I've got to see what I can learn about this thing."

"We should probably call it something else, don't youthink?" He glanced at the orb.

"If you want. The orb?" She pulled out asmall round tube, shrank the diameter and set it on the luncheon table. The orb settled into the circle, not moving,and she braced her elbows on either side. The computer still didn't compensate for the jiggle quite enough yet.

"How about Lyon'sOrb?" But she was alreadyconcentrating and he sounded miles away as she focused on the sphere in frontof her.

Image: Orb: Recursive by Giovanni Rubaltelli under Creative Commons License

http://exper.3drecursions.com/2007/09/12/orb-recursive/

What Dreams May Come

2011-09-29T04:57:00.000-07:00

I had a really strange dream.

Some of my friends dream their stories – at least a couplehave solved plot problems, for instance. More than once, someone has come up with an idea for a story in theirdreams.

Not me. I had a dreamfor a Science Fiction Romance series. Sortof like Firefly, the TV series with Nathan Fillion. Le sigh.

I have no idea if I'm going to even write notes on thisidea. It was disjointed, there werethree or four couples and each book in the series was the Romance of theirstory. And I usually don't write ScienceFiction. Nothing against SF, but I dealwith science in my day job, so writing is for a different sort of dream.

I think it means that I need to write, just write somethingnew. I've been involved in editing,reordering and analyzing my wip to get it ready to submit. Using the left side of my brain for the mostpart. Paying attention to the internaleditor and ignoring my muse.

Well, the muse isn't terribly happy about it. And she's decided to tell me stories in hersleep.

I still have some analysis to do – a crit that Ipromised. But when it's done, I need tosit down and just write.

Have you dreamed story?

Photo: Dream Interrupted by Robert Couse-Baker. Used under Creative Commons license

Telling Details

2011-09-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

Today in chat we were talking about how to convey culture (Hi Eb!), especially one that alien, either in SF or Fantasy, but it could just be an unfamiliar culture in our world.

The general consensus was that the way to do that was through details, but you had to know your culture fairly thoroughly to be able to pick the right details.

What I want to say here is that you also have to know what you want the scene to do, to choose the right details. For instance, you can choose to describe a garden. It's a good way to set a scene and it can be either a formal garden or a wild meadow or just a bunch of flowers near the kitchen door.

But if you want to add tension, say something about your POV character (by the sorts of things she notices) or foreshadow something, zoom in on a specific detail:

Yes, it's the same picture, just changing what I'm focusing on.

I make these changes and add the little details when I'm revising. That way, I know better what I want each scene to do.

And now, a writing example:

Vidarstepped between him and the girl, black fury darkening his eyes. I'd seen him in many moods, but never likethis. He didn't quite reach for hissword, but the fingers in his hand flexed and twitched. All he needed was an excuse.

And thefool gave it to him, drawing his knife first. Vidar narrowed his eyes and pulled his knife out slowly, leaving hissword in its scabbard.

"She'smy bride. I want her back." He would have sounded more intimidating ifhis voice hadn't been shaking.

"No." Light from the fire glinted off of Vidar'sknife.

What kind of details do you use in describing your world?

Why Buy?

2011-09-07T17:48:00.000-07:00

A friend and I have decided that we need to know more about howto promote our books and stories. Well,I've decided – she and I just talked about it. And I don't have any books to promote, yet. She's got some awesome stories on CircletPress called The Moonlit Path (go here: http://www.circlet.com/?p=3108) Note: it is Erotica. You need to be 18 or older.

So, thinking about helping people to buy books, I started bythinking about what makes me buy anything. What have I bought lately? Well,in the past year and a half I've made some major purchases.

1) ACar. I had to because a tree fell on theold one. (See above.)

2) AStove. The old one was, well, old, and I didn't like it much. Plus, they were having a sale on stoves.

3) Amattress. It was time.

I always comparison shop. The one time I impulse bought a used car, I bought a lemon. People would shake their heads in sympathywhen they heard what kind of car it was.

So why did I buy the things I did.

1) Ibought the same car that the tree killed. It was a good car.

2) Ichecked a couple of places for the stove, after I realized that everyone hadstove sales on. I went with the place mymother has used for years, on her recommendation.

3) Itried a whole bunch of places and went where I could get the best mattress forthe best price.

In doing this, I realized a couple of things:

Quality – If something is good quality, I'll go back and buyfrom them again.

Recommendation – If someone whose opinion I trust recommendssomething, I'll look closer.

Something I need – I wouldn't have bought the car or themattress if I hadn't needed them.

Something I want – While I didn't need the stove right then,I wanted it. And I bought the stove Iwanted, with the features I wanted.

I bought these things from people who appreciated me and whodidn't treat me as if I were brainless. If they talked down to me, I left and didn't look back.

What does this mean? Still working that out. But, forme, the first thing is to give the best product possible. To write the best book I possibly can.

Perspective

2011-08-18T04:43:00.001-07:00

I went for a hike yesterday - 1.3 miles of woods in the nature center in town - and I brought my camera. When I look through the lens of my camera, I see differently. I pay more attention to details, I look for light and shadow. I try to find something interesting to show.

I do the same when I write.

This is a standard picture, kind of boring - a little critter on a big path through the woods.

Of course, I'm not done. I take it home, load it onto my computer and fiddle with it. I zoom in on some detail and I get this:

Kind of sinister, isn't he?

By zooming in, I can emphasize details - the odd light in his eye, the way he's poised to run.

And for me, this is like editing a story. Deciding what I want to emphasize and what tension I want in the image I'm describing.

I think what I'm saying is that writing and editing have two different kinds of perspective - one is the overall "what the story is about" and the other is honing in on the details.

How do you look at a story?

Monday Update on a Tuesday

2011-08-16T18:33:00.001-07:00

I'm taking a few days off, so I put off blogging my update until I was actually on vacation.

Shake Down is read through - it's going to need a large chunk of time and a flow chart to work on the plot. I've got it penciled in for tomorrow afternoon. I need to introduce at least one villain much earlier than he is currently introduced, among other things. And one other villain is going to be much less villainous and more mysterious.

A couple of my beta readers came back with some really good points, so I'm tweaking Lawgiver some more.

I've done a bunch of cooking - committed paella last week - and I need to clean my bedroom and do some painting during this bit of vacation.

And that's the update, delayed though it might be :D

Small Stones

2011-08-14T05:44:00.000-07:00

My friend, Lisa Cohen (ljcblue) is a poet and, thanks to her, I've been thinking more about poetry than before. With that in mind, I bought a book Lisa recommended: Writing the Life Poetic by Sage Cohen.

It's slow going, but I've been reading it bit by bit, working it out in my mind as I go. And I finally happened on Chapter 26: Small Stones. Note: I do not read or write in order. I just can't.

Small stones are little nuggets of specific observation jotted down during the day. The idea, as I understand it, is to keep aware of details throughout the day and hone the skill. Then use the skill in your writing.

To that end, I've been tweeting small stones - @suelder and using the hashtag #smallstones

Here are some examples:

The whisper of rain on the trees.
The scent of garlic and basil in my brother's kitchen.
Spider webs sparkling with crystal raindrops in summer sun.
Cotton clouds sailing through a deep blue sky.

Deep forests, dripping with fog. / Insects calling in lust. / A fawn walks onto our front lawn, his tail twitching at flies.

What kinds of small stones do you see during your day?

The Blue Mosque

2011-08-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

My sister and I visited Greece and Turkey in 1992. This picture was taken by my sister of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.

I use pictures as writing prompts, sometimes, and this one lead to this passage from Lawgiver:

The guard led us into a vast hall. Great pillars rose from the floor to the ceiling, but the garden remained in islands of green. Light spilled everywhere, through windows in the ceiling high over our heads. "Is this the temple?" Daman whispered to Talleth.

"No," he hissed. "This is Grishon's court. The temple is half this size, but filled with windows. It fits Anath, but Grishon is ridiculously proud of his cavern."

I smiled slightly. "Is that what they call it?"

Have a good week all.

Monday Update

2011-08-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday.

With Lawgiver out to beta readers, I've picked up Shake Down again. That's the paranormal thriller with the young woman who feels earthquakes before they happen.

I like what I've got so far (about 35K), but there's a whole subplot thread that I've avoided working on. And the story really needs it.

I think the paranormal part is pretty good and I'm liking the romantic subplot. The MC, Lani Martin, works for the army, even though she's a civilian. The base is on a list of potential closures and she's working with the Colonel to create a Rapid Response Team to get to Natural disasters as quickly as possible.

The base-closing thread is what I need to work on. It's just really strange to pull off the editing/revising hat and put back on the plotting, story-thread hat. But you've got to start somewhere.

The picture above is from a trip I took to Alaska with my family three years ago. The flower is fireweed and it got its name because its the first plant to grow after a forest fire clears out an area. 'Cause that sort of what it feels like to pick Shake Down up again - like I'm starting fresh.

The Progress in WiP (Work in Progress)

2011-08-06T04:40:00.000-07:00

There are times when I want to get better. Now.

And I'm not alone. A lot of people get frustrated when they don't improve as quickly as they want to. Part of the problem is that once we start to improve, we can see how much we need to improve. (Okay, how much I need to improve.) The mountain looks taller, harder to climb. And I didn't even think to look up.

But that's looking forward, and it can be daunting, especially if we've got ambitions to be really good/ great writers.

But when you're on the mountain, you can also look down, to see how far you've come. This week, I finished one project and sent it to my beta readers. So, I opened up another project I wanted to work on – Shake Down, my paranormal thriller.

And I can see where I've grown as a writer, from editing Lawgiver. I want to totally rewrite Shake Down, or parts of it. And I will.

The point is that I've progressed, through work and practice and I've climbed further up the mountain. So often, it's a matter of putting one foot in front of the other, making small steps of progress.

Every once in a while, look down the mountain and see how far you've come. It makes the summit seem a little closer.

Sunset

2011-08-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, you do the unexpected when you are writing a novel. Last week, as I was working on the latest iteration of Lawgiver, I realized that I needed to write a poem. I don't usually write poems.

But that's what the character needed to translate, so that's what I had to write.

This is a picture of a sunset taken at the door to my condo - run through Photoshop.

So, here's the snippet from Lawgiver:

"It's a poem, probably for the person in the crypt. And I'm also a translator, so I figured that I'd take an hour or two to work on it." With a smile, she settled at the table and lifted the parchment out, carefully.

The sun has set for me.

The last light has graced the world

And you are gone.

The breeze whispers through the trees,

The river rushes past.

And you are gone.

Our children cry

Their children sleep in peace

The stars wink into the dark.

And you are gone.

Su had to stop there, putting the parchment back into the box and closing the lid. She blinked back the tears and blew her nose.

Monday Update

2011-08-01T04:06:00.000-07:00

Because at least one friend has complained that I have abandoned blogging, I'm going to try to blog more. Monday updates, Wednesday images, Friday/weekend Writerly musings.

And being that this is a Monday - an update.

Over the weekend, I finally finished this draft of Lawgiver and formatted it for beta readers. Part of the motivation was a coupon for a free proof copy from Lulu.com that expired last night - so I got to play with cover art as well. I had fun with the art stuff.

I also formatted it for Nook - ePub format - to send to at least some of my betas. Took a little doing and getting familiar with Calibre. But I'm convinced that it's legible.

That's the monday update - Hope everyone has a good week.

What have you been up to?

Also found on www.suelder.livejournal.com

SteamPunk - What Defines a Genre?

2011-07-30T13:03:00.000-07:00

One of the stories that I'm working on - researching, right now - is a steampunk legend called Golem.

But what makes it steampunk?

Set in Victorian times? It's set in 1905, but in Odessa, Russia, not part of the British Empire.

New-fangled Tech? Yes, the MMC is a jeweler and he makes little clockwork insects. It's also in the Industrial Revolution.

Magic? Heck yeah. I'm researching Kaballah magic as part of this.

But a friend and I were discussing this in chat this afternoon and that doesn't really address the "punk" in steampunk.

The jist of our discussion was that steampunk isn't purely escapist - it may not be all dark, but there's a dark side to it. The RDJr. Sherlock Holmes showed the gritty bits of London, for example. And there are classes and class tensions in steampunk, unlike, say... Regency Romance (my friend's example).

Steampunk does not really pretend to be literature, but it's more than escapist fantasy. It addresses social issues, or the best tend to. Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series deals with very disparate creatures living together in civility and how hard that is. Meljean Brook's The Iron Duke deals with winning freedom from oppression and how, even whe they're free, it's not easy. There are still consequences.

All of this is making me want to work on that steampunk story set in Odessa, before the Soviet revolution. But first, I need to get this other story ready for my betas.

What steampunk have you read? How would you define the steampunk genre?

Photo: A Steampunk Pendant by Vaughn & Sean Saball Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license/by Vaughn & Sean Saball

Slinking back into Blogging

2011-07-30T04:08:00.000-07:00

I've shamefully ignored all sorts of blogging, both here and at LiveJournal. And a friend yelled at me, because that's how she kept up with my life.

I've been thinking about web presence and what attracts me to a blog - what keeps me coming back. But also what I get from blogging.

So, I'll try to blog more often. I'll even try to keep to some sort of schedule.

Mondays - updates. Personal, writing, whatever.

Wednesdays - Photos and images. Mine, no one else's

Friday/Weekend - Musings. Writerly, Bloggerly, Technical, whatever

Interspersed, there will be snippets. I like snippets.

Happy Writing everyone!

Captain

2009-03-09T15:33:00.001-07:00

Gaked from vgford and eblgorton.

You can get it here:

http://cpbintegrated.com/theherofactory/

Old Roses

2009-03-09T07:39:00.000-07:00

This is from my Valentine's bouquet. My apartment is always hot, so they opened quickly, spreading the scent through my home.

It was raining and the scent of roses hung heavy on the air. She liked old roses best, they had the best perfume, but they didn't last as long as the kind you could buy in the florist shop. To make up for their short life, she had bushes and bushes by the back door, along the house and the fence behind. And every spring, into the summer, she cut bouquets for the house. And the scent of roses mingled with the scent of rain.

Garden

2009-03-08T05:33:00.001-07:00

Across from my brother's house are the Iris Gardens. Every June, hundreds of flowers bloom and dozens of photographers, artists, kids and dogs come to gape. The flowers are there to attract insects and fool them into playing matchmaker - moving pollen from one bloom to another.

The last thing she needed was another distraction. Already the coffee smelled burned and she hadn’t pushed the lever on the toaster down.

But the morning sang, cool and damp with dew, and he sat in the center of her garden, chewing. She should run after him, flailing her arms. Mine! Mine!

The rabbit finished a mouthful of parsley, then reached down and cut off another curly leaf. The woman in the window turned away, but he hardly noticed. He had his own breakfast to deal with.

Alchemy

2009-02-17T15:23:00.000-08:00

This is from my friend's craft business - I went to her house and took pictures of all the different kinds of soap she makes. This one is a rosewater soap.

The water was poured through the ashes, mixed with the lard and stirred. Heat rose from vat along with fumes, ascending toward the rafters of the barn. She had to take care that she didn't breath in those fumes, lest she turn away, coughing, and drop the spoon in the vat. It required constant stirring.

Slowly, the clear liquid turned cloudy, thickening so that each pass with the heavy wooden spoon seemed like rowing upstream of the river. She lifted the spoon, draping a trail in the texture of the liquid's surface. It was almost ready.

Powdered rose petals, oil of lavendar, rubbed sage. She stirred them in, then poured it into molds. Tomorrow, it would be solid enough to cut. But still, it took time to cure. In another moon, the soap could be sold at market. But she'd keep some for herself; you never knew when magic might strike.

Iris

2009-02-16T05:31:00.000-08:00

Last spring, we went to see the Iris Gardens while they were in bloom, cameras in hand. There were artists, dogs, photographers and kids looking at the amazing variety of irises.

The petals felt like velvet between her fingers, soft and thick, slightly feathered at the edges. Subtle colors painted on the feathers and bright orange in spots toward the center. But the flower held no frangrance.

Winter

2009-02-12T19:40:00.001-08:00

On January 19th, this year, we had a snowstorm. It just kept snowing and this is what it looked like.

The snow lay heavy on the branches, bending them down. When one branch dropped it's load and bounced up, it filled with more snow until it bowed again. Some branches broke under the weight, but most merely bent. It seemed as if they realized that the wind would come along and relieve the weight. I may be bowed but I will not break.

The First Post

2009-02-09T15:39:00.001-08:00

Several friends of mine have photoblogs and one has a challenge of a photo a day for the month of March.

I'll use this blog, rather than my LJ, for photos. The LJ blog is for writing. I'll post some in February, to test and try it out. And, while I won't be able to post ever day in March, I'll take pictures every day and post as often as I can.

Suelder