Twits

Stuck writing your NaNoWriMo book, or a short story, or just feel like scribbling a quick flash tale and need an idea injection fast? Log into twitter (and if you're not on twitter - why not? Okay, time suck, it would bore you, I get it, I get it - sort of and not quite because I love twittering) and write down interesting things from the first 10 or so tweets you read and weave them into something.

The experiment gave me...
Incredibly cold
Only sound was a mouse in the kitchen
Christmas
Craft Fair
Reverential Silence
Different Label

I could weave something fearful from that and I bet you could too.

Burp

Remember, remember it's the first of November...

I'm glad I'm not participating in NaNoWriMo but I do keep having twinges of envy when I read the status updates of those who are. Especially as I'm in an 'I used to write' funk at the moment which is exasperated by my spending  too much time selling things on eBay. We've been down this road before and it led to an accidental* four or five year break from writing. :O Way to freak myself out. (I may have just spun around the room flapping my hands).

*Seriously, accidental. I slid away from writing, left a novel in progress for all those years, and then got a wake up call one day when I was talking to someone at work (who I'd just discovered was a writer) and realised I hadn't been a writer for some time. Although that journey into eBay was to pay off some astronomical debts, I have no such (touch wood) excuse this time.

The thing about not writing is it stresses you out and you end up on a not-so-merry-go-round of achieving nothing. I will get my funk back. Or steal someone else's. Muahaha. (Dear Google Spell Check, Muahaha is spelt correctly :P) Or maybe I'll attack my laptop with a ruler (it's about the most dangerous thing here) and sit in a corner with pen and paper.

By the way, this is not a 'please sympathise with me' post, it's a 'where I'm at at the moment post and I will speed through it and annoy you with how much I've written before we all know it'. Plus life is full of awesomeness thanks to things like this review for Theatre of Curious Acts in Publishers Weekly...

Anyway, I shall leave you with some fantastically sad and fantastically spooky fiction to read if you are so inclined.

Like Origami in Water by Damien Walters Grintalis
and The Psalm by Simon Bestwick (which you will find on about page 138)

and I haven't read it yet, but quite frankly we all know it will be awesome, The Sons of Chaos and the Desert Dead by Aaron Polson.

Now I must check how those things are selling on eBay and see if I can afford a paddling pool yet or maybe I could buy a muse that is Castiel shaped. Oh yes please.

Not NaNoWriMo

It's almost November.

It's almost time for NaNoWriMo and this year, I'm not participating.

Thank goodness for that.

Last year's NaNoWriMo book (Museum of Impossible Artefacts or Ghosts of Folding Time or whatever title I left it at) is still an unholy mess of time travel, ghosts, giant robots, abandoned streets, sinister future people, the grim reaper who isn't the grim reaper but does a really good job at being the grim reaper, ghost ships, zeppelins, kidnapping and disappearing houses. I should pick two of the above and start again with the thing and maybe I will, but not on Tuesday in particular, and not to be completed within 30 days. And hey, for fun, tell me which two of the above I should pick and run with. Or not. Or maybe I'll just keep them all.

Off to the Twisted Tales House of Fear event at Waterstones tonight. Maybe it'll inspire me.

Party on, dudes!

This post is a day late, but yesterday, my book reached the almighty 50,000 words.

I shall try not to return to my slacker self now. Please ignore the drop in today's word count. In my opinion, it's still freakin' awesome. Although tomorrow is birthday cake (my sis-in-law and her twin sister are 40 - party time. And oops! just announced that to the world. Bad me), and Tim Burton's Sweeny Todd (if I have my way), and babysitting so I'm expecting a pretty zero.

Yesterday's word count: 1709 + 376 (other projects)
Today's word count: 1268 +  801 (other projects)
Total word count: 51,680 + 6421 (other projects)

In the immortal words of Bill & Ted, 'Party on, dudes!'

Side note: In real life, I say 'dude' far too often. I suspect it is annoying. I do not care.

The Museum That Isn't a Museum

Otherwise titled... Where I ramble on about my NaNoWriMo book.

This book is Science Fiction, I suppose. Or as it involves time travel, a giant robot (The Breaker), fabricated people and a dystopian future it can't really be anything else and yet I'm desperate to turn it into something  dark and spooky. I want it to be more about the dark than the science. And the book I'm supposed to plot to follow this (not a sequel at all or even in the same universe) is science fiction too - alien invasion with a creepy twist. Or a creepy twist, I hope.

When did I become a science fiction writer? And can I be a science fiction writer when I'm sure my science is seriously flawed? I mean, time travel shouldn't involve supermarket trolleys ever... Then again, maybe it should. I write dark stuff. It just so happens that this dark stuff happens some time hence. Well part of it. And that some of the people don't realise they're not real, that they're fabricated. But then, if no one ever told them how are they to know?

Ah, then there's the whole 1920s part of the book which I've toyed with making the 1970s (because I lived through that era - and adore the 70s) or maybe contemporary (because I'm lazy and because my Jake has a thoroughly modern voice because well, I'm lazy).

'Tis a first draft. I suppose I should stop overthinking. Can you stop overthinking?

And ooh look, I passed the 40,000 word mark.

Friday's word count: 1287
Saturday's word count: 667
Today's word count: 3350 + 1413 (other projects)
Total word count: 41,601 + 4763 (other projects)

30 Days of Writing Questions - Part Three

11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?

Tough question.

I guess, rather than an actual favourite character, I'd have to say character type - I'm more comfortable in the presence of quirky characters. Oh, and I refuse to name any of my characters as a 'least favourite' whatever their crimes.

12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of worldbuilding? Any side-notes on it you’d like to share?

I'm not convinced my 'best job at worldbuilding' has yet occurred. Maybe I'm writing it now. I hope I'm writing it now. God bless NaNoWriMo.

13. What’s your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?

The otherworld.

14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?

Oh dear, yes, yes, yes. For 'The Midnight Motel' (book sitting in the shredder pile), I had a complete plan of the hotel including furnishings for each room (though I did forget to add a bathroom in a character's room so I suspect she wet herself - though it's completely apt if she did as she was hunting Death and he in his turn was hunting her).

I also have a map of Corpsetithe for 'The Poisoned Apple'. It's an ugly thing. Very, very bad. (See illustration--located under desk).

15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!

Do I have to limit it to one. Aaron Polson, Katey Taylor, Natalie Sin, Mercedes Yardley - blah, blah, blah. Seriously, I bore myself sometimes. I think I'll let them speak for themselves.

The World in Rubber, Soft and Malleable by Aaron Polson
The Horologist by KV Taylor
Black Cats and Hungry Ghosts by Natalie L Sin
I'm Keeping it Light - Mercedes M Yardley

NaNoWriMo Catch Up:

Yesterday's Word Count: 2634
Today's Word Count: 2192 + 216 (other projects)
Total Word Count: 24,596 +  2019 (other projects)

Dead Words Rambling

Watched the first episode of The Walking Dead last night. Hell yes. If you've seen it--WTF! Zombie crawling along the grass. God bless modern special effects. I think I'm seriously going to heart this show.

Not so certain about The Event though. It's all a little too determined to confuse. Its making me question my rather confusing WIP. I mean, dystopian sci-fi, timetravel to the 1920s, a journey to the wall at the end of the world and now some rather creepy horror. Make your mind up book and for goodness sake, simplify. I tend to twist my words into so many knots I mystify. Of course, six days into NaNoWriMo it's a little late to change so I'm hoping for an axe-murderer edit.


Today's Word Count: 1180 (uh-oh! Blame Beetlejuice)
Total Word Count: 10,187 (yay, passed 10,000 word mark) / 523 (other projects)

NaNoWriMo thoughts today: Am I sure I have a plot for this? Or are those 41 'supposed mapped out' scenes just nonsense?

NaNoWriMo - Introducing a Theme Tune

NaNoWriMo Catch-up:

Today's Word Count: 1822 / 523 (short story)
Total Word Count: 6865 /523 (other projects)
Time Frame: 1924ish

Things I discovered today: Rob 'Magic' Turner is a comic (I've missed humour) / Ben has a goldfish. It doesn't have a name / Went to bed thinking, 'Yay, I'm on track, I'm a little over the word count. I can do this,' and woke up to the realisation I needed to hit a brand new 1667 words #egofail
The most important thing discovered today: This is FUN.
Googled: 1920s Magic Tricks

30 Days of Writing Questions - Part One

1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you’ve worked with and why.

Such an unfair question to start with--I love them all. Okay, I guess I'll plump for my otherworld in 'Theatre of Curious Acts'. And as to the why--because it's chock-full of madness - dragons, fairy tale villages, inns balanced on top of pointy hills, train stations that stretch into forever, back to front theatres, and the four horsewomen of the apocalypse 'live' there.

2. How many characters do you have? Do you prefer males or females?

I'm assuming this means per project, otherwise thousands upon thousands of poor, dejected things. And I have no preference whatsoever as to male or female. In fact, I think I have a nice, healthy (okay, they're rarely healthy) mix. My book 'Last Seen Drowning' (may it rest in peace) had about seven POVs - I wonder why I never sent it anywhere. Actually, thinking on the previous question, I really liked that little universe and it had a suicidal (non-sparkly) vampire. Oh crap, now I want to work on that rather than NaNoWriMo.
Note to self: Seven POVs--you don't want to go there.

3. How do you come up with names, for characters (and for places if you’re writing about fictional places)?

I steal them from spam emails, or I type in a search in twitter and pick out a first and second name, and for all emergencies I have my huge first name, surname and place name dictionary. I'm never happy with a story until I get what I feel is the right name for the character.

4. Tell us about one of your first stories/characters!

The first story I sold way back in 1993 (actually, I use the word sold loosely as it was 4theluv, though I did get a free contributors copy) was called Bethany's Dream and it was majorly blah! Girl has a dream that someone is trying to kill her, gets really nervous, but hey, guess what it's a surprise party. I don't think she even bothered to kill the guests.

I still have fond memories of my first novel 'Fading in the Summer Sun'. I spent years with those characters and they were nice folk (if slightly twisted).

5. By age, who is your youngest character? Oldest? How about “youngest” and “oldest” in terms of when you created them?

Bollocks. I think Molly in 'The Drawing of Dolls' is about seven, but I'd have to look her up to be sure and I'm far too lazy to do that. Oldest, double crap. I'm going to say the suicidal vampire in 'Last Seen Drowning' - he's definitely mega crinkly. Oh, wait. I guess my true oldest would be Old Father Time. Old Father Time would have to be as old as time I guess.


Now onto the (supposed) daily NaNoWriMo catch up:

Daily Word Count: 2154 (go me!)
Total Word Count: 3099
Characters Playing: Amelia Darling, Cally Darling, Danny Levine (who???), Meg Cooper, The Press Gang
Time Frame: Dystopian Future - 2241 (yay, we have a year)

Things that surprised my book: Ha, so the book wants to be a YA eventhough I declared it wouldn't be, well I threw a spanner in its works and added the word Bollocks at the top of the page -- what do you mean, I can edit it out later!!!
Things that surprised me: Dead Parent (okay not that surprising) / Instead of trying to make my first pages perfect, I'm adding comment boxes with things I need to fix/reconsider - go non-obsessive me)
Googled: The Bends--Diving.

Day One - The Museum of Impossible Artefacts

Day one of NaNoWriMo so let's start the month off with a little 'me' NaNoWriMo history.

My first attempt was in 2007 with an unfinished book titled 'Fractured Wings'. It was poop, my computer broke down mid writing it and the thing never did get finished. I have no regrets.

My second attempt or rather, my first success, was in 2008 when I completed 'Theatre of Curious Acts' which will be published next year by Hadley Rille. Success indeed. I suspect the similar title for this year's NaNoWriMo attempt is supposed to be a good luck charm.

Didn't play last year. Decided to get out my pom poms and cheerlead instead. And now we have this year... Stats so far:

Daily Word Count: 945 words (gulp! A combination of dayjob overtime and I always find the first few days of a new book slow going - actually, in comparison to normal starts a count of 945 words rocks).
Total Word Count: 945 words

Characters Playing: Meg Cooper, Cally Darling, Amelia Darling, Baguette Girl (huh!), The Press Gang, Evil Baguette Seller
Time Frame: Dystopian Future - Big Brother has you in chains - what, you expect me to have figured out the exact year?

Things that surprised me: There are stone sentries. Huh! Who invited them to Oldfield Park? Now, I'm going to have to figure out if I can weave them into the plot later on and if not - bye, bye stone sentries. And an, 'Oh, that helps round off the end' moment.

Happy Halloween - Counting Down

First off - HAPPY HALLOWEEN. 'Tis the season to be...Miserable. Muahaha. I have a tub full of chocolates and sweeties for me Trick or Treaters and my fingers are poised to begin work on

NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow, and look at the folk amassed at my desk who are eager to cheer me on.

WIP Wednesday - It's that Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Forty-One Scenes plotted. A beginning, a middle and an end. Character photos pinned to my memo board. Distracting stories removed from part of the Jingle Bell line and filed away. NaNoWriMo you are cleared for take-off.

National Novel Pantsing Month

Three weeks to go and already I'm hyperventalating.

Okay, maybe only a little. But I was so cocky in August when I decided I was going to do NaNoWriMo this year and I was already working on my plan and now it's almost here and....argh!!!

So much to do between now and then, and one of them is a spectaular book trailer for Strange Men... We may remove the word spectacular once it's done. In fact, we will definitely remove the tag once it's done. I think my boys should dress up in their wedding suits and allow me to draw chalk lines down the fabric and take photographs of them in ridiculous poses. Okay, back to my box of old photographs so that I can abuse long-dead relatives instead.

WIP Wednesday - Rhyme, No Reason

I almost posted the below rhyme today...

It's raining, it's pouring
and Cate is feeling boring
she went to bed with a story problem in her head
and hadn't solved it by morning

...and I guess I did still post it. Only that wasn't all I posted because there's more (you're safe, no more rhymes).

Still working on ideas for my mad escapade novella, which now has 7,500+ words of notes and a pretend title - The Museum of Impossible Artefacts. The story construction reminds me a little of Theatre of Curious Acts (that's my book in case anyone googles it and goes, what the?), shuffling over different time periods and well, it's just bonkers. In my head. It should be my NaNoWriMo project (with a couple of shorts thrown in for good measure, or hey, it may turn out to be a novel. On my knees, please God).

On the short story side. I completed #10bythen. Phew! In fact, I'm up to eleven submissions thanks to thoughtful rejections. Editors, seriously, you don't have to worry about me anymore, I have my ten submissions and don't need any more rejections. Good of you to assist though. Consider yourself hugged. Hard. My bowler hat/mailbox man is still stewing - I may add some bones and cobwebs later; and I've resurrected my Shock Totem comp entry (and its prequel) from earlier this year and am editing, editing, editing.

Oh, and did I say no more rhymes... Well I didn't lie. Honest.

Almost at The End

A final NaNoWriMo writing prompt post to aid anyone dragging themselves to the finish line or to inspire a short story for December. We're not taking any time off for Christmas, right? Well maybe a day or seven.

I finally updated my Duotrope submissions tracker today and discovered I only have 12 stories out (and one of those I suspect has fallen down a black hole - 272 days to the wonderful ChiZine and no reply to a query letter of about 50 days ago), so I think most of December will be dedicated to spewing crafting some new short stories.

Today, I completed a flash fiction story, Black Heart Balloon, which I hoped to send to RetroSpec until it took a rather vicious turn. Darn those bird carcasses and evil avian lung stealing fiends, it was a quite delightful piece until they turned up. I shall have to think of something almost as delightful this week. I have (including today) the next ten days off work. Don't envy me too much though, I have to do all my Christmas shopping. I'm sure my family don't want gifts this year. I think they'd prefer I spent my week riding the Liverpool Eye or skating in the new, rather tiny, ice rink in the city centre.

Oh, and for all of those who have completed NaNo or ripped written your little hearts out a hearty CONGRATULATIONS. You're awesome and we who have put our feet up, devoured far too much internet and wasted November salute you.
 

NaNoWriMo Prompts:

Cobbler

Patchwork

Backwater

Masked Mayhem

Cartwheel

Skimming Pebbles

Void

Rehearsal

Rent Payments

Hope You're Sailing

I've only seen this anthology listed on LJ's Specific Markets, so I thought I'd post it here too...

Music For Another World: An anthology of Strange Fiction, is looking for speculative fiction stories between 2,000 and 6,000 words. Payment is £80.00 (that's about $130 - $140 depending on r.o.e. and one copy of the paperback), and the submission period is now until 30th April 2010. Click the above link for full details and good luck.

(Click on the picture and see all the little people gawping

out at me - seriously, they came to Liverpool just

to behold my wonderfulness)

NaNoWriMo Prompts:

CCTV

Evacuation

Alcohol Free

Hatched

Free Concert

Killing Things

Broken Boys

Undershirt

Prehistoric

Tin Castles & Cheap Cigars, aka The Degeneration of an Idea

Now that's a long blog title, I'm expecting Blogger to object (or LJ if you're reading my ramblings there) to it and if you're reading it now, I'm guessing they didn't. Anyhow...

I'm currently in the first flush of an idea for a short story (that my mind is trying to convince me could be novella length, but which we both know will end up scraping 2,000 words at most) and as per usual, I'm convinced this one is going to be great. That's nothing new. Here is how stories usually pan out for me.

Spark of an idea
Me: Ooh, interesting.

Idea begins to build
Me: This is going to be fan'frickin'tastic. Fantasy & Science Fiction here we come.

Open up blank page in Word
Me: I'm in love with you first paragraph

Several hours later
Me: First paragraph you suck

Some more hours later
Me: Idea you are plain old ordinary and why is there a garden gnomerunning around the plot.

Everything rewritten, rewritten and rewritten some more
Me: I'd send it to F&SF but my ink is low and I'd have to go to the Post Office and well, you know that idea was not as great as the one I just thought of.Now that story, I will send.
At this point I should add that I have submitted to Fantasy & Science Fiction once (story now retired) and sometimes the glow doesn't wear off until several editors have shooed me away.




King of my castle.. by ~Rowiel on deviantART

NaNoWriMo Prompt Words:

Tin Castle
Cheap Cigars
Chorus of Devils
Rooftops
Pathology
Playing Poker
Deja-Vu
Knee Caps
Scrap Metal

Butt Face

Going against my reserved Britishness, I did something that has left me glowing like a baboon's bum. I joined the SFWA a couple of months ago as an associate member (by current calculations I should hit active status about 2058 - yay 90 year old me) and today I discovered I can nominate short stories, novelettes etc for the Nebula Awards. I can't vote of course, but I can scream semi-loudly and hope someone agrees with me. Of course, I haven't a clue what to choose. Except of course Lisa Mantchev's Eyes Like Stars which blew me away.

Anyhow, why am I glowing like a baboons ass, or any ass in general, I put up a link to Trench Foot and downloaded The Sour Aftertaste of Olive Lemon in the 'Please consider this...'** section, alongside people who are like way-way-way (add several hundred more ways) better than me, but I figured what the heck, they can only laugh and point at me and with a face like a... Well, I'm used to it. :D

**I should add that the Please Consider this section is just someplace to put your work and not an actual nomination, I would never actually nominate myself... Just in case anyone is confused... Eek!

Baboons IX by *Deathface-999 on deviantART

NaNoWriMo Prompts:

Fabricated Future

Store Front

The Untouched Day

Margins

Other Information

Echo

Tunnels

Spirit Level

Leeches

Fish Eyes

On the only day in a fortnight when it didn't rain (well at least until I was snug and warm at home), I had a day's holiday from work. Bliss. As they say, The sun shines on the righteous... So someone really good must have had today off work as well.

I finished Fairy Tale Reality, scrubbed out its title and called it 'The Meaning of Yellow', and sent it spinning along to Clockwork Phoenix with only a few days to spare (closing date is November 15th - gasp) and I have spent most of today procrasticating in the most delicious way and planning on building a literary fort to keep me writing, writing, writing during 2010 - I can convince my lazy brain of anything.

Oh, and today, I feel a little like this...



f f by `gnato on deviantART

Scars
Smeared Lipstick
Demon's Brain
Locomotion
Mop Head
Tightrope
Alias
Squeamish
Fish Eyes

Something Fishy Going on Here

Ah, the wonders of procrastination. Aptly, the below image reminds me of Aaron Polson (not in a 'he looks or smells like a fish' way, but probably because of his fish stories). Struggling with my WIP Short story Fairy Tale Reality, and having no idea how to end it, the image on his NaNoWriMo blog post today provided me with much needed inspiration on how to end the thing. Ah, the power of a single weed... Again, that is not a reference to Mr. Polson.

NaNoWriMo Prompt Words:

Skipping

Dodgems

Frogs

Blue Collar

Splitsville

Pasting Letters

Walking Main Street

Earthquake

Rearview Mirror

Delete