From the Attic

Words & Rain

2009-11-09T13:23:00.003+10:00

The rain was welcome on the weekend, but we need more of it. I had a lovely time writing on Saturday morning while the rain teemed down the windows. In fact, Saturday and Sunday mornings were my best writing days yet for NaNo. Everything flowed freely and there were no interruptions. Today is not so good though, and tonight probably won’t be much better, but all in all I’m having a great time with it. I’ve listed the last three days progress below as of course I don’t have internet at home, so let’s see if I can keep up the pace. Yesterday's progress was marred, temporarily, when I was stung by a bee (between my toes). I stood on the little sucker, who had somehow managed to get inside. Sweet Jesus, nothing stings like a beesting between the toes. The little bugger still kept going after he'd stung me so I hopped after him and finished him off with some Mortein.

For some great reading, head over to read Jameson T Caine’s A Cause for Celebration and also, Faith by Aaron Polson over at Every Day Fiction. Worth the trip, folks.

Day 6: 2,198 (Total: 13,929)
Day 7: 3,093 (Total: 17,022)
Day 8: 3,536 (Total: 20,558)

A Triple Header

2009-11-06T13:12:00.001+10:00

Last night we had three storms in a row. I was upstairs, writing by lamplight when I heard the first rumblings of thunder in the distance. The wind began to pick up and as the first storm broke the lights flickered and rain battered the windows. I switched to a scene where my main character is battling her emotions and an enormous amount of guilt while a storm is raging outside. Suffice to say I got 3,000 words hammered out while also viewing a spectacular lightning show. And judging from the sky outside we might be in luck for another storm tonight.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Day 5: 3,162 (Total: 11,731)

Thursday

2009-11-05T10:57:00.002+10:00

The writing went well last night. Words flowed and I'm getting more and more excited about this story. Nothing much else to report other than it's stinking hot here at the moment and the weather forecasters are talking severe storms tonight, so I hope they don't disappoint.

For some reading, head over to Nossa Morte to read Aaron Polson’s darkly intense short story Tesoro’s Magic Bullet. It’s worth the trip.

Day 4: 2,301 (Total: 8,569)

Notes Where Art Thou?

2009-11-04T12:37:00.001+10:00

In reply to the comments that my desk is very neat, it appears that all is not what it seems. I made some notes the other day about the third scene and do you think I can find them. I’ve searched high and low and can’t find them. I have the basics in my head but you know how it is when you can’t get back exactly what you wrote...I need those notes, dammit. It just goes to show that I’m not as organised as one might think, and certainly not as organised as I might think.

Day 3: 1,720 (Total: 6,268)

The Engine Room

2009-11-03T08:19:00.003+10:00

I thought I'd post a picture of my writing room, although the last few days I've been writing in bed - in some respects more comfortable although not so easy on the back.

I got off to a good start on Sunday with minimal interruptions and a partially clear head - I had a killer of a headache that didn't want to let up - and some of the words I'm sprouting are so laughable I might as well be writing a comedy, but I know it's all part of the fun and I'm just going along for the ride.

Day 2: 1,481 (Total 4,548)

October & NaNo

2009-11-02T10:34:00.001+10:00

Seriously, I think October went a hell of a lot faster than September, if that’s at all possible.

I had a publication this month (Woo Hoo!) and two rejections. I submitted two other stories and am waiting on answers for them. I got plenty of editing done (not as much as planned, but still...).

November is of course for NaNo and I’ll be updating daily with my word count as an exercise in discipline.

And so it begins:

Day 1: 3,067

Two Days to Go

2009-10-30T08:46:00.001+10:00

I have sorted out my calendar for November and have shaded most spare moments for NaNo. Sadly enough my social calendar for the entire month wasn’t that great anyway so there really wasn’t much to pull back on. So, in saying this, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to meet my daily word count and churn this story out in all its basic glory.

I’ll be doing daily word count postings on my blog as well, which will give me an incentive to work hard—so as not to look like a complete time waster, which I have to tendency to do—and not slack off by aimlessly surfing the internet, slinking off to bury my nose in a book, catching “a few minutes” of TV or going next door for “one” glass of wine.

My excitement is currently overtaking the enormity of the project—I expect that late next week I shall look up from the keyboard, semi-comatose and quite overwhelmed and mumble WTF! Ahh, but it's all part of the fun.

Good luck to everyone doing NaNo.

This will be interesting...

2009-10-28T13:09:00.000+10:00

I have two finished manuscripts in various stages of being edited. When I started out writing them I’d carefully plotted one and began the other with just with a rough plot. And that was fine, because I got to know the characters along the way and other plot developments came to me as I wrote.

One thing I knew with both stories though was how they were going to end. I like starting out with the ending swimming around in my head and I enjoy the journey to reach that final scene.

I have no ending in mind for my NaNo story. None whatsoever. Nada. I know how the story begins, have an opening scene in my head and then a basic outline. I’ve been getting to know my characters and making notes about them, but I have no idea how it’s going to end.

This will be interesting indeed.

A Stubborn Muse

2009-10-27T13:55:00.000+10:00

Sunday morning my muse left town in a hell of a hurry and she hasn’t returned. I struggled Sunday and yesterday to edit but there wasn’t a lot forthcoming. I got some reading done, watched a few movies, looked for inspiration, but there was none. I listened to Poison by Alice Cooper (the song that inspired the scene I was working on) about a million times on my MP3—better to listen to the same song over and over again on MP3 and not stereo, so as to avoid sudden attacks from pissed off neighbours—but even that did not lure my muse back to work. So, as NaNo begins in a few days I think I’ll turn my attention to that and return to Kiss Butterfly with a fresh eye, and hopefully my muse, in December.

A Long Weekend

2009-10-23T08:47:00.000+10:00

Woo Hoo! The internet is working properly and at full speed. Ahh, blogs, how I have missed thee.

I have another annual leave day on Monday to write and it’ll be one of the last chances I have before the end of the month to get stuck into editing Kiss Butterfly. I plan to do the same on Sunday as well so I should make a good dent in the pile of papers that is my manuscript. I’ve also pretty much outlined Nano, well enough to get me going anyway, and I’ll be ready, fingers poised over the keyboard when November 1 rolls around.

And now I feel like heading off for a nap. Why does the damn TV station have to put Family Guy on so late?

Desolation and the Joy of Technology

2009-10-20T17:40:00.000+10:00

Desolation is up to read over at Flashes in the Dark, so head on over and tell me what you think.

Have been experiencing major computer problems today and internet connection has been very sporadic so I’ve been seriously deprived of pretty much anything to do with the internet—no blogging, Facebook, Myspace, what the hell....

Anyway, hopefully all will be well in the land of technology tomorrow.

Stairs, and Why I Hate Them

2009-10-16T11:53:00.002+10:00

Well, not always....only when I fall down them....well, half a flight, anyway. I’m not injured, only bruised, and hell, maybe I’ll slow down or actually look where I’m going in future. This happened two nights ago. The stairs I fell down were mine and the reason for the fall was my haste to get to the phone. It was funny later on, much later on, but not at the time. Incidentally, I missed the call.

Yesterday my Book Depository order arrived so that cheered me up somewhat. I’ve started a new pile on the floor as the bedside table can no longer accommodate the piles of “to be read” books and I obviously can’t read fast enough. Or is it that I’m just struggling to get through The Time Traveler’s Wife at the moment. Anyone else who has read it, what do you think of it?

Anyway, despite the injury and the delivery of new books, I managed to get another chapter of Kiss Butterfly edited, but no work done on short stories. The two I started working on—even though I’d vowed not to work on any—are flailing and therefore I’ve put them aside. They’ll keep. Meanwhile, NaNo is now just over two weeks away and I’m behind schedule. I’m not going to PANIC though, not at all. I’m going to have a great weekend and hopefully get some more editing done.

Reading wise, head over to Yellow Mama to read BT’s story, Dark Rose. An excellent, very dark read and well worth the trip over.

Monday

2009-10-12T15:28:00.001+10:00

Because I spent most of yesterday editing, I allowed myself to make more notes on the new short story inspired by the coffin couch photo which I’ve titled Absinthe for the Soul. It rained pretty much all day so I had a pyjama day and edited from the comfort of my bed while the crows met up for some kind of social function outside my window.

I’m amazed at how quickly this story has come to me, including the ending, because most of the time I sit on a story for ages, waiting for the ending to come . And even more surprisingly—for me anyway—I’ve already got a bit of an idea brewing for 52 Stitches, opening on 31 October, so I think I’ll work on that today. I haven’t got a title for it yet, but it will come.

Inspiration

2009-10-09T14:10:00.003+10:00

Last night I was going through photos on my computer looking for something that I know I’d saved somewhere for Kiss Butterfly. I didn’t find it, but I did find this picture. It’s a coffin couch and I found the photo about a year or so ago - can't remember where - and in the few seconds I looked at it, it inspired a short story. I’ve only made a few notes so far because there will be no short story writing until December, but it’s something to think about, and make notes. I love it when a story comes to me from a photo.

For reading, head over to AlienSkin to read two great short stories – Melons by Aaron Polson and The Sea Hath No King by Jameson T Caine.

And now I'm off for the weekend. Have a good one.

An Acceptance!

2009-10-08T11:07:00.001+10:00

It’s been a while, but when I got to work this morning there was an acceptance email waiting in my inbox. Flashes in the Dark are publishing my flash fiction story, Desolation, and it will be going live on 20 October 2009. It’s actually the first flash fiction piece I’ve written, as I have a tendency to ramble and have never before managed to write anything less than 3,000 words.

Editing wise, I got quite a bit done last night. Am happier with how it’s moving along and have decided not to stress about running behind on my personal deadline and just pace myself. I’ll get there in the end.

And reading wise, Aaron Polson has a rather disturbing flash fiction story Policy Woes up at Hypersonic Tales which is definitely worth the trip over.

Time is of the Essence

2009-10-05T13:23:00.001+10:00

The fact that I did absolutely sod all writing wise on the weekend has sent me into a minor panic. I’m way behind on my personal deadline for editing Kiss Butterfly and am now frighteningly close to NaNo, which means at the end of the month I’ll have to put aside Kiss Butterfly, finished or not.

On the other hand, I have finished Harry Potter. I finished it in the early hours of Saturday morning and then I couldn’t sleep. When I did finally fall asleep I dreamt about them all. Seriously, there might actually be something wrong with me. I refuse to let myself dwell on it though, and I’ve dived into The Price by Alexandra Sokoloff. I’m also trying to get myself organised (yet again) to get back into editing, of which I intend to start tonight.

Maybe my procrastination has something to do with Harry, but I also think it has something to do with the manuscript itself. It’s been pointed out to me recently that there are quite a few leaps of logic in the story with the main character’s discovery of certain events. I put it aside for a few days and went back to have a look at it and I agree wholeheartedly, which leaves a horrible sinking feeling in my stomach. But, I’m pointedly ignoring it until the next draft, otherwise I’ll never get anywhere. It can be fixed, I know that, it’s just frustrating is all, and I can’t believe I didn’t see it, but maybe I’m just too close to the story. Meanwhile, NaNo is getting closer and closer. I’m not panicking. Not really. Okay, I am.

And in relation to NaNo, I’ve updated my page and anyone participating please friend me here. Only if you want to of course :)

October

2009-10-01T08:57:00.002+10:00

Oh, September, where the hell did you go?

I’m not so much as lagging behind my personal deadline as watching it race off into the distance. I did send three short stories (The Baited Psychopath, Desolation and The Witching Hour) back out into submission land (have so far got a rejection back on The Baited Psychopath) but did not write any new short stories. I get a lot of editing done on Kiss Butterfly but nowhere near as much as I’d planned.

And why?

Because Harry Potter has taken over my life. I’m half way through book 7 and struggling between wanting to rip through to the end at a maniacal pace and trying to savour the last few remaining pages I have before I get to the end and realise I’ll never again read Harry Potter for the first time. Bit melodramatic?

Anyway, October looks promising. There will be no Harry Potter (sob) as I’ll no doubt have finished it in the next day or two and will be free to edit, edit, edit, and also to prepare for NaNo.

So that’s October – editing Kiss Butterfly and preparing to write The November Sin.

Reading wise, here are some great dark and creepy stories to check out:

Planting Season at House of Horror by Jameson T Caine

Taking Root at House of Horrors by Aaron Polson

Strange Tooth at Everyday Fiction by Cate Gardner

Friday Meme

2009-09-25T10:47:00.003+10:00

Katey: K V Taylor has posted a Meme over at her blog that I thought was fabulous and had to do, so here goes:

1. Are you a “pantser” or a “plotter?”
I used to be a huge plotter but found that I got too bogged down and was taking too long to write the story. Now I delve just a little bit into the plot before getting the first draft down and then doing a detailed outline while I’m working on the second draft, so maybe half and half.

2. Detailed character sketches or “their character will be revealed to me as a I write”?
A bit of both. I’ll do character outlines for the main characters and smaller ones for the secondary characters but as the story develops and I get to know the characters better, their personalities evolve and I learn more about them.

3. Do you know your characters’ goals, motivations, and conflicts before you start writing or is that something else you discover only after you start writing?
Usually, but sometimes as I get further and further into the story I’ll have a brainwave to do with plot or conflict which can affect their motivations.

4. Books on plotting – useful or harmful?
Depends, I guess, on what or how much you choose to take from them. I think every writer works differently and you can't beat yourself up if you're not working to exactly the same format as the how to books. I own a couple, have read them and now they sit on a shelf. Should I read them more often? I don't know, I guess the proof will be in the pudding, huh.

5. Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?I’m a recovering procrastinator. I’m becoming much more disciplined with my writing but I still go through stages where I’ll “just do this first before I sit down to write” and meanwhile five hours have passed.

6. Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?
Bit of both, depending on the moment and how much time I have.

7. Are you a morning or afternoon writer?
I usually write in my lunch break and at night.

8. Do you write with music/the noise of children/in a cafe or other public setting, or do you need complete silence to concentrate?
Must have noise. I usually have music playing when I write, I hate silence.

9. Computer or longhand? (or typewriter?)
Lots of notes and conversations between characters in longhand but mainly the computer.

10. Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One?
Yes, I know exactly what will happen to the characters at the end, where they will be, whether they’re still alive, just not always the dynamics.

11. Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write?
For short stories yes, but for the novel I’m working on, no.

12. Editing – love it or hate it?
I’ve learned to love it. It was a long and frustrating process and sometimes I still don’t like it a lot.

A Good Result

2009-09-23T14:27:00.001+10:00

Monday was a success as far as editing went. I only read Harry Potter for one hour after I woke up (am still very distressed that one of my favourite characters died at the end of The Order of the Phoenix) and, fortified with coffee, I got stuck into it.

I was amazed at how fast the day went and even further amazed by how much I got done (I gave four chapters of Kiss Butterfly a thorough going over). I have another annual leave day next month and also two in November which I’ll be utilising for NaNoWriMo. The TV didn’t get turned on, even for the midday movie which I always watch if I’m home sick. Come to think of it, I didn’t even have music on, which is unusual for me. There are crows nesting in the trees out the back though and they provide enough noise. They also seem to like to congregate outside my writing room window and make a hell of a racket, but I don’t mind them. It reminds me fondly of the term “a murder of crows”.

Today we have a terrible dust storm. Outside is horrible shade of mucky yellow and I can barely see across the street from my office window. It’s also very windy, making things a lot worse as we’ve a high fire danger warning at the moment. I only just rembered before too that I left my bedroom window open. Oh, joy of joys, everything will have a thick layer of dust on it when I get home.

A Writing Day

2009-09-18T13:42:00.001+10:00

I’m taking an annual leave day on Monday to write. This is the first of several planned writing days between now and Christmas and I’m looking forward to getting up Monday morning (no Mondayitis! Woo Hoo! – of course now I’ll have Tuesdayitis) and sitting down to write, uninterrupted. I won’t be answering the phone, turning on the TV (the evil contraption tries to lure me into watching mindlessly instead of writing) and I won’t have the internet to distract me. I even contemplated leaving Harry Potter at work again but I’m going to use the small amount of will power I have to restrain myself.

Reading wise, head on over to The Absent Willow Review to check out Aaron Polson’s disturbingly creepy story, The Surgeon of An Khe.

Til Tuesday then...

Editorial Torture

2009-09-15T13:20:00.002+10:00

Sometimes the words just won’t come out right and I feel like I need to belt myself upside the head to spit out what I’m trying to say. Well, actually, what my characters are trying to say. That’s not to say I’d actually belt myself upside the head because I wouldn’t—that would be painful and silly—but it might help and the right words might magically pop out of my mouth and drop onto the page. It’s like there is some anti-editing torture device strapped to my head, compressing all creative ideas and inspiration so that they can’t get out.

As it is, I’ve left a dotted line where those damn, elusive words are to go and added "FIX THIS". Then I moved on. This chapter is giving me the most trouble yet. It shouldn’t, because what happens in this chapter isn’t that complex. Maybe that’s the problem—maybe there’s not enough happening. I think I’ll just move on anyway and come back to it later. Then again, maybe I’ll just read a little more of Harry Potter (currently half way through book 5).

Reading wise, head on over and check out Cate Gardner’s The Unfortunate Tale of Captain Unworthy for a truly great and creepy read.

A Fearsome Christmas

2009-09-07T11:30:00.006+10:00

Woo Hoo! This is the promo for Festive Fear, an anthology of original stories to be released by Tasmaniac Publications showcasing some of the leading horror writers working in Australia today.

14 disturbing tales that will make you wonder if Christmas really is something to look forward to. Limited to 150 numbered softcover copies with a release date of December 5th. Only $15.95 US (free shipping within the US & Aus).

Brett McBean
Marty Young
Martin Livings
Leigh Haig
Josephine Pennicott
Amanda J Spedding
B. Michael Radburn
Crisetta MacLeod
Stephen Studach
Felicity Dowker
Loretta Leslie
Mark Farrugia
Danielle Ferries
Steve Gerlach

.
I can hardly wait, and I'm totally chuffed to be appearing in an anthology with some of these supremely talented people!

Annoyingly Ill

2009-09-04T09:59:00.003+10:00

I was off work yesterday with a bad headache. They’ve been getting increasingly worse over the last year or so and they really knock me around. Suffice to say I haven’t been doing any reading. I finished K C Shaw’s Jack of All Trades on Wednesday night which I very much enjoyed and I now want an emperor dragon for a pet. I’m halfway through critiquing a story for a friend, three quarters of the way through book 4 of Harry Potter and about halfway through editing Kiss Butterfly, but yesterday I wasn't game to so much as pick up a book let alone look at a manuscript.

So I pretty much lay prostrate (is that even the right word) all day except on the few occasions I went downstairs for more water, pills, or to make tea (strangely enough I don't often drink coffee when I'm sick). While I was making said tea, trying to move as little as possible, I dropped the carton of milk on the kitchen floor. Normally there would have been much swearing and threats against the milk carton for daring to slip from my hand, however, I don't know whether it was just that I didn't want to risk the pounding in my head turning up a notch or whether my exercise to remain calm - "serenity now" for the other Seinfeld fans out there, but I got out the mop and filled the bucket with soapy water - without uttering a single word - mopped up the milk, and then went back to bed with my tea.

I’m back at work today, obviously as I am online (I have no internet connection at home - I can’t decide whether this is a good thing or not), so I don't know how well sitting in front of a computer all day will go, but here’s hoping my head is recovered enough so I can get stuck in over the weekend.

A Surname Meme

2009-09-02T16:45:00.004+10:00

This Meme has been popping up on everyone’s blogs and Aaron pretty much tagged the world, so I thought I’d have a go at it, just because it looks cool. Here be the rules....

From the biggest bookcase you have, pick out one book whose author’s last name starts with each letter of your last name. If you have no books by an author whose last name starts with a particular letter, go to the next letter. If you have two of the same letter in your last name, get two separate authors, not two books by the same author. Bonus: If you can, pick the first book you haven’t read off your shelf, unless you’re one of those people who’s read all the books you own.

Post the first sentence of each book, along with the author and title. Feel free to skip prefaces and such, especially if they’re by a different writer.

* * *

French, Nicci – Secret Smile (she writes great psychological thrillers): I’ve had a dream recently, the same dream, over and over again, and each time I think it’s real.

Eugenides, Jeffrey – The Virgin Suicides (A surreal but brilliant book): On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide—it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese—the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope.

Radcliffe, Ann - The Mysteries of Udolpho (Ahhh, Gothic novels, how I love ‘em): On the pleasant banks of the Garonne, in the province of Gascony, stood, in the year 1854, the chateau of Monsieur St Aubert.

Ransom, Christopher – The Birthing House (fantastic novel): Conrad Harrison found the last home he would ever know by driving the wrong way out of Chicago with a ghost in his car.

Irving, John – The Hotel New Hampshire (I’m so envious of Irving’s writing style): The summer my father bought the bear, none of us was born—we weren’t even conceived: not Frank, the oldest; not Franny, the loudest; not me, the next; and not the youngest of us, Lilly and Egg.

Evans, Nicholas – The Horse Whisperer (Great story, but the ending...): There was death at its beginning as there would be death again at its end.

Shelley, Mary – Frankenstein (I collect copies – every time I see a cover I don’t have I buy it. They have their own little shelf): You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.

First lines rock.

September

2009-09-01T14:16:00.002+10:00

I feel pretty good about what I achieved in August. I worked fairly solidly on Kiss Butterfly, I didn’t get any short stories done, but the editing is chugging slowly but steadily along so that’s a good thing. I’ve given myself a personal deadline of 31 October to get this draft of Kiss Butterfly done and I can feel the deadline goblin peering nastily over my shoulder, but I’m pretty confident I’ll get it done.

Never fear, I plan on September being twice as fruitful as August was (I’m feeling terribly optimistic at the moment). This month I plan to edit eight chapters of Kiss Butterfly (if I say how many out loud there’s a better chance I’ll reach that goal). And let’s not forget my current Harry Potter obsession. I’m beginning to think I’m going to have to put those books into a lock box at night, they’re starting to occupy my every waking moment. This month I also plan on writing a short story - the sequel to Sister Sunday which I have titled Dear Dead Dolly. I'm also going to give The Pennyroyal a bit of a working over and send it off somewhere else.

Apart from that, there isn’t much to report other than I’m editing, editing, editing, and sneaking in a chapter of Harry Potter here and there. And nearly finished Jack of All Trades. And watching late night TV. And pausing to drink more coffee.