• 23:29 Decorating for christmas. #
• 23:32 Don't ask about the giant christmas ornaments on my lawn. #

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Recently muses_circle asked me how I deal with rejection. This is especially timely because yesterday I got another rejection from Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction ("Didn't stand out of the Pack" instead of "Didn't grab me" for you rejectomancy prognosticators).

( Deal with it. )

Also, don't forget about the Yard Dog Press, Bride of Tranquility holiday promotion.

• 20:19 Waiting in line at the pizza place. #

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• 23:14 Husband has dragged me to see ninja assassin with his friends. Send help. #
• 23:17 Theatre has 50 guys and 2 girls. #
• 23:28 Urk... Not a movie to watch while eating. #

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Last night I went to see Ninja Assasin. Not by choice. This is what happens when you are along for the ride with your husband and his (mostly) male friends. Think the Crazy 88 scene played straight, and you have some idea what about 75 percent of the movie was about. The remaining 25 percent was the obligitory love story. If you go to see the movie, go with low expectations, and you may like it.

Today is November 30. Good luck to all of my friends who are feverishly working to complete their NANOWRIMO today.

Word count: 1,000 words of original fiction (Thanksgiving weekend was a bear. )
Stories out: 8 stories.

Also, don't forget the Bride of Tranquility holiday promotion. Order my book from Yard Dog Press, and get stuff.

• 08:34 I have my tea. Glad to be working at home instead of the insanity at the mall. Toy store open at midnight, Mall stores opened at 4 am. #
• 08:40 Also? Just bought Mansfield Park and Mummies and Chenda and the Airship Broffman on Amazon. Black Friday online small press books FTW! \O/ #
• 14:15 My McDonalds fries have a photo of a sack of taters on the front. I guess that's so we know what we're supposed to be eating. #

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Random thought of the day:
People vote every day with their time and money.

Also, don't forget about the Bride of Tranquility holiday promotion.

Now, on to the fiction:( Read more... )

• 19:10 At wal mart with mom in law. OMG this place is a zoo! #
• 19:23 If I don't make it out alive, I regret nothing! #
• 10:54 No Macy's in Arkansas. So the Thanksgiving parade isn't inspiring me to go shop there. #
• 12:09 Surprised grandma by getting to thanksgiving early. She gets ready fast, though. #
• 12:13 We drive farthest. Why are we here first? #

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No Writerly Wednesday yesterday, due to an early thanksgiving at the In-laws. I got home last night and the internet was slow. I think everyone in the country must have been online.

You guys have a great turkey day.

• 22:33 I'm ducking Christmas references until at least Friday. The season does not start until thanksgiving ends, no matter what anyone else says. #
• 15:26 Buy my book and win stuff: writertracy.livejournal.com/103136.html #
• 16:02 @reudaly Buying gifts isn't quite the same as celebrating Christmas. I have family who buys gifts in April if they see the right gift. #
• 16:04 @ozarkpress You sold out of your books this weekend? Awesome! #

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Announcing the Bride of Tranquility Christmas Sale Extravaganza!

Purchase a copy of Bride of Tranquility from Yard Dog Press anytime between November 27 and January 1 and be entered into a drawing for a gift card. This gift card is good for a choice of one of 30 items from a collection that includes Yankee Candles, Godiva Chocolate, a Presto Fry Daddy, An an Elizabeth Taylor fragrence collection or Waterford ornaments.

The gift card is worth approximately $30 in value, does not expire or go down in value, and is transferrable. So in the grand tradition of holiday giving, you can save the card and re-gift it.

Want a second chance to win? Purchase any other Yard Dog title, including comic books, murder mysteries or even trading cards and we'll enter your name in the drawing a second time.

Already purchased Bride of Tranquility? That's okay! Simply purchase another Yard Dog title and tell your friendly and helpful Yard Dog salesperson that you've already purchased Bride of Tranquility and we'll enter your name in the drawing once.

This drawing does not apply to purchases of Yard Dog titles made through Amazon. You must make your purchases from Yard Dog Press (http://www.yarddogpress.com) from November 27 through January 1.

I suppose I should make one thing clear on this word count. The numbers represent fiction only. The non fiction (steady, paying work) average is around 40,000 a week.

Fiction word count: 3,000

Stories Submitted: 7 stories

Also, my website has been updated with links to a new review for Bride of Tranquility, my tentative convention schedule for next year, and the details of a holiday giveaway for people who purchase Bride of Tranquility.

More excerpts from the new project.

The doorman held the door for her and pointed the way to a gilded cage elevator with a stained glass roof – another good sign as far as she was concerned. But even as she crossed to the elevator, Celeste felt the back of her neck prickle. An elevator shaft would be the perfect place for an ambush. Just blast the box into slag and pour whatever is left out of the basement when it gets there.

She resisted the urge to wrap herself in a safe little cocoon of magic. She wasn’t five anymore, and besides – magic cocoons never helped anyway. Not when you suck at making them and your opponent was very good at blasting things.

The door to the elevator slid open. Celeste gulped as she stepped on, feeling like John Wayne riding herd into a box canyon and wondering what all those smoke signals on the horizon mean. If John Wayne can get through a bad situation with just a little swagger, then so can I. Of course, she reflected. John Wayne had the added benefit of being John Wayne, and I don’t.

She crossed her fingers and looked up at the Tiffany-jeweled roof as the elevator began to rise. Just looking at the fancy ceiling made her feel better. It wasn’t the kind of elevator that one blasted for the sake of melting an enemy to slag. For that, one installed trap doors in the flooring. Celeste took a deliberate step away from the center of the elevator.

muses_circleasked me how important grammar is to writing a story.

Obviously, grammar is important to the writing process. At least up to a point. You need to be able to form sentences if you want to write. And it's a good idea if you know fiddly rules like the one about having subject verb agreement.

That being said, It's possible to get too bogged down in grammar. Grammar can be a detail in your writing. And getting hung up on details is one of the ways in which writing will get put off (Cleaning the oven is another, but that's a different story) .

There's an often repeated saying among writers: Write crap, edit beautifully. What that means is that if you have a story inside of you, the first step is to get it out. If you stop to fix your mistakes while you are in the 'get it out' process, you may never get the story written.

Once you've gotten the story out of you, then it's okay to worry about spelling mistakes, commas and the fact that you've buried your protagonist alive and your audience might not want to read something quite that dark.

Second drafts are for fixing plot holes, turning the shallow grave into a locked basement and working out the worst grammar errors. Then the third, fourth and fifth passes are for ironing out the pesky little grammar details and polishing the manuscript.

But the first step is always to get the story out of your head and onto the paper.

• 11:27 Comment from my husband reading my latest story: That's so funny it's almost hard to read. :) I could live for days on one of his complents. #
• 11:28 Comment from my husband reading my latest story: That's so funny it's almost hard to read. I could live for days on one of his complements. #
• 11:31 @koryou Yes, it would be mean. This is why I call myself a kamikaze speller. #
• 15:09 @whedonesque My college laundromat was a combination laundry/pool hall. Singing there would be just asking, nay begging for trouble. #

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I've made a massive lasagna tonight in between assignments. I have to remember not to eat over the keyboard, though.

Also, I am now looking for a home for my story: The Hobos, The Devil and James Dean's Car. I wrote the story over a year ago. Yet I think it's going to be a harder sell now that Supernatural has done a 'James Dean's Cursed Car' episode. Oh well, If the story dosen't sell soon, eventually it will when the idea is less topical.

Word count: 3,000 words of fiction
Stories out: 7

• 22:51 On page 144 of 394 of Going Postal by Terry Pratchett bit.ly/31ywW5 #

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These are the first three paragraphs of the project I just started. The characters are the same ones that appear in my short story in Strip Mauled. The working title is This Story Needs a Good Title.

Sounds like a best steller, don't you think?

( Read more... )

• 19:42 Hmm. the S, D, an C keys are worn away on my keyboard. Just those. No others. Do I just hit those keys harder? #
• 19:45 @tmc4242 That's why a bedsheet makes a really good backdrop. It's already creased. Of course I've got to use several, and then photoshop. #

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• 12:25 Wednesday writing blog: All about Collaboration. writertracy.livejournal.com/100431.html #
• 12:39 @tmc4242 You actually have a white photo backdrop? I usually end up raiding the linen closet for spare bedsheets. :) #
• 12:45 I suspect I should stop doing the writing for fun and start the writing that pays by this point in the day. #

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