Doing the Write Thing

Been a While...

2010-09-22T23:26:00.002-04:00

So...yeah.2010 has been a rough year. Don't get me wrong, I know how blessed I am and how "smooth" my "rough" may seem to some. Even so, I spent the first half of the year in a fug of pressure, physical/mental burnout, and mild depression.BUT! This blog is not meant to be a pity party. It's about my writing.And I'm happy to say that in May I passed my board exams and am now a fully-certified

New Year, New Start

2010-01-16T15:43:00.001-05:00

Hey, I'm back (again--doesn't it seem I start a lot of my posts that way? Indicative, I guess...) and I'm actually posting this from the midst of the KYRW meeting on Social Media Marketing, led by our very own Maddie James. She's blogged on the topic, here: Tweets, widgets and blogs, oh my!Very informative. I'm at the point now where I'll be delving back into the world of all my social networks

Word Meters

2009-11-28T09:55:00.001-05:00

And, hey, while I'm on a posting spree (and procrastinating on my 11th hour rewrites, hehe) I finally found a replacement for the beloved, now defunct, much-lamented Zokutou Word Meter:http://svenja.atspace.com/wordmeter.html They're slick, easy to make, and display well. And they have the look of the Zokutou, which I liked. Check out mine in my "Progress" sidebar to the right.For some other

Comment Moderation

2009-11-28T09:29:00.001-05:00

I had to turn Comment Moderation on (for older posts) and added word verification to all comments. I like keeping open and easy comments so people feel free to drop me a line, but spammers somehow managed to find me and I'm getting more and more spam comments on some of my Google-trigger posts. Once I get them to go away, I'll come back to the "open and easy" format. Sorry! And for those of you

Check out this new blog

2009-10-13T13:36:00.001-04:00

Friends of mine, four very witty and enjoyable ladies with lots of good things to say about the writing life, have started a new blog. Check it out!All The World's Our Page They're giving away books, as if you needed any more reason to stop by. *g*

My life was about to change...

2009-10-13T13:34:00.001-04:00

...and I didn't even know it.Haven't been by the blog in a while--obviously--for reasons that shall become clear. But I dropped back by today, as work on the MS is picking back up in preparation for the Golden Heart, which I entered. And I noticed the date on my last blog post. August 13th, 2009. Little did I know while I wrote that post that across town, in the hospital where I did my

Slate Article: Time-Traveling for Dummies

2009-08-13T14:47:00.001-04:00

With the recent release of the movie adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger's (really most excellent) book The Time Traveler's Wife came this article on Slate:Time-Traveling for Dummies In which a physicist lays out some ground rules for the use of time-travel in fiction.A couple favorite quotes from the Slate article: Quantum randomness must obey well-established laws, and Novikov showed that the

Newspaper Article

2009-07-19T23:25:00.001-04:00

An article in the local paper about our KYRW group:http://www.kentucky.com/964/story/866958.htmlOverall some pretty good press!

Snippet Saturday - Going It Alone

2009-06-14T00:06:00.001-04:00

Today is not an "official" snippet Saturday - and I see by my clock that it is actually now Sunday - but since I missed the first one and I'm actively revising I thought I'd put another one up for fun. I meant to spend tonight finishing up the first chapter (AGAIN), but ended up in Glencoe. Here we see Alec's actions in the previous week's snip coming back to bite him: From ONE HIGHLAND NIGHT (

Snippet Saturday

2009-06-06T11:11:00.003-04:00

Fellow KYRW member Anya Bast has started "Snippet Saturday" and today's theme is Fight Scenes. Since I'm (finally!) back on the blog circuit, I'm diving in:From ONE HIGHLAND NIGHT (copyright 2008, Jennifer R. Clark):Elspeth lay in her cell, staring up at the dark ceiling, and waited. She thought of Alec, wondered if he even noticed her absence. They had talked of her need to return to Kilchurn

I'm baaa-aack!!!

2009-06-06T09:47:00.003-04:00

con⋅di⋅tion /kənˈdɪʃən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [kuhn-dish-uhn]Origin: 1275–1325; ME condicioun < AF; OF < L condiciōn- (s. of condiciō) agreement, equiv. to con- con- + dic- say (see dictate ) + -iōn- -ion; sp. with t by influence of LL or ML forms; cf. F condition Related forms: con⋅di⋅tion⋅a⋅ble, adjective Synonyms:1. See state. 8. requirement, proviso.(from dictionary.com)What

Please don't give up on me!

2009-04-30T23:07:00.003-04:00

I still exist. I haven't given up on Alec, Elspeth, or OHN. But I'm one month out from my oral board exams (American Board of Radiology; I'm going for certification in Therapeutic Radiologic Physics) and that is All. I. Can. Think. About. Work, work-related projects, and study...that's all I do. Very little internet, practically no fiction reading, and not much TV. If I can get past this

DABWAHA Final Four: Jo needs YOU!!!

2009-04-04T22:39:00.001-04:00

VOTE NOW for Joanna Bourne's The Spymaster's Lady to proceed to the final round of the DABWAHA tournament. It's nail-bitingly close (3 votes, last I checked!) and voting ends at midnight tonight. Jo needs YOU!!! http://dabwaha.com/blog/

FULL REQUEST!!!

2009-03-28T23:13:00.001-04:00

Today I attended my local RWA chapter's "Spring Into Writing" workshop, and was talked into pitching to an editor who attended. SHE REQUESTED THE FULL!I told her I have some changes to make and she said send it when I was ready. AND her husband is a radiation oncologist so she actually knew what a medical physicist was. All in all, a good meeting. *g*

3...2...1...

2009-03-11T01:21:00.001-04:00

I have come to the conclusion that I cannot be productive on the book in late winter (Jan-March or so) but that is the topic for another post. (Coming soon, I swear!)I am typing this on my new, super-cute little netbook...yet another post waiting to be written. But of most pressing and immediate relevance is that fact that I am in Florida, after a 15 hour drive (including stops - not bad with a

Breaking the Silence

2009-02-13T22:48:00.001-05:00

It's been a while, hasn't it?I actually got my computer back a week or two ago, but life since then has kept me from blogging. That, and the massive backlog I had going after a month without regular internet access. First up was the planning and orchestration of two surprises for my mom's 50th birthday. A flamingo "flocking" - wherein my brother and I snuck to her house (2 hours away) in the

Computerless

2009-01-02T15:52:00.001-05:00

A belated Happy New Year/Hogmanay to all!Since just before Christmas, my trusty laptop had been acting up, mainly due to its tiny and overfull hard drive. My dad got me a new hard drive (160 GB!) for Christmas, and started "cloning" all my data from the old to the new on Monday, but the process was excruciatingly slow, and eventually hung up. SO I had to send the whole thing to his house, where

A Fun Christmas Survey

2008-12-21T15:37:00.001-05:00

I was tagged by Carol. I tag: anyone reading this who hasn't done it. *g*Insert your own answers and pass it on to whomever you feel would respond – including the person who sent it to you 1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper - I consider wrapping gifts an art form, and oddly-shaped packages a special challenge.2. Real tree or Artificial? I grew up with a real cedar tree cut

Bookwormed!

2008-12-21T14:17:00.001-05:00

I've been bookwormed! By a few people by now, I think. *g* Anyway, I'm supposed to find the nearest book, open it to bage 56, and copy down the 5th sentence and the following 2-5 sentences. Nearest book to my computer was When the Duke Returns by Eloisa James, which I finished a few days ago. (Highly recommended! It's moved from my TBRead pile to my TBReviewed. Someday…) Anyway,

FANFARE

2008-12-01T00:30:00.001-05:00

Reporter: So, Jenny - you just finished a massive overhaul of your MS by deadline! What are you gonna do now...?!?Me: Forget Disneyworld, I'm going to....SLEEP!!!Actually, not yet. I did just finish revisions, but I still have to get everything together to actually submit for the contest. That means formatting the MS into a singular document (LSB keeps chapters in separate files) and burning

Add yours to the list!

2008-11-30T14:00:00.001-05:00

Go to THIS BLOG and log-in your book purchases towards the "Buy a Book, Save the World" campaign. Help us reach One Million! And while you're at it, join the Facebook Group....now back to your regularly scheduled rewrites panic. *g*

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...

2008-11-30T01:01:00.001-05:00

Through 26 and into the home stretch. I just tied up the last (I think) of the new story arcs, so there shouldn't be much more new wordage to churn out. The remaining six chapters (and epilogue) just need a clean-and-polish. If I can finish that tonight--or rather, by the morning--I'll sleep for a few hours, go with DH to visit my MIL and pick up Little Boy and eat turkey dinner, round 4(!),

The Big Push

2008-11-29T10:23:00.001-05:00

Here we go...4 hours sleep and I'm back in the saddle. Sorta. Gotta run and take a shower soon, and put in my contacts (glasses make my eyes water if I'm on the computer very long) but then it will be like a marathon today. I'm probably only gonna stop to eat, potty, and help DH get our outside Christmas decorations up before it gets frigid again. Ten more chapters. Good thing I have plenty

Revisions Update: Getting There

2008-11-29T05:30:00.001-05:00

Two more chapters down and I am now two-thirds of the way through revisions. Ten chapters left to go, and two days left to do them. I'm up through Chapter Twenty-Two, the "money scene" - Alec and Elspeth's handfasting on the night before his execution. Interestingly, this is Scene Zero, where I started writing the whole book. All the rest of the plot has spun out from this scene. Let's hope

Revisions Update: Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T09:26:00.001-05:00

Tuesday I didn't get much done, because I fell asleep waiting for DH to get home from Boston (there was a minor snafu in his travel plans, but it was relatively easy to resolve) and then went on to bed with him rather than stay up writing. Wednesday I was back at work, and settled in late last night for what I planned as an all-nighter, to make up for Tuesday's lack of progress. I was fairly

Revisions Update: Two for One Night

2008-11-25T04:18:00.001-05:00

Despite Little Boy's refusal to nap this afternoon and my own exhaustion, I managed to knock out two more chapters today, thus proving that this crazy, mixed up, middle-of-the-night routine is working for me.After finishing the first scene in 15 this morning while LB was at preschool, I didn't get a chance to work again until he was in bed. I dozed for a few hours, then perked myself up with

Revisions Update: The Wee Hours

2008-11-24T04:09:00.001-05:00

Out of Fourteen and into Fifteen! I'd hoped to be farther along than this by now, but it bears pointing out that these are the chapters formally known as "Sixteen" and "Seventeen" - through revision, reordering, and general tightening, I've lost two. There are 32 plus the epilogue at the moment, and I wouldn't be surprised to see that drop to 30 or so by the time all is said and done. Amazing

What to do, what to do...

2008-11-23T01:32:00.001-05:00

I have been staring at my computer for hours, making very little headway, because I am trying to decide what to do about a scene. Should I cut it entirely, revise it significantly, or let it stand?The scene in the SFD involves Alec and Elspeth on their way home from Kilchurn. Alec has just rescued Elspeth from Ormelie, who kidnapped her. On their way back to Glenstrae, they pass a croft in

Character Lookalikes/Casting

2008-11-22T03:40:00.001-05:00

Since Jen and Nina posted pics of people they wanted to play their characters, I thought I'd join in.Of course, I KNOW what my characters look like--that's them over there in the right sidebar. Click the pic for a bigger version. But who would play them in the movie version? (Hey, a girl can dream!)Alec would absolutely be played by Martin Henderson, of course. As for Elspeth...I kinda like

Revisions Update: Hoping to Catch Up

2008-11-22T03:21:00.001-05:00

Last night I let myself doze after Little Boy went to bed, in order to recharge my batteries after averaging only 3-4 hours of sleep per night this week. DH was supposed to wake me up so I could write, but he only tried a few times (I did warn him to keep at me) and so I peeled myself off the loveseat at 2 am and crawled in bed. By consequence, I was much refreshed today. *g* Now DH is in

Revisions Update: Chapter Eleven

2008-11-20T02:26:00.002-05:00

I actually got less sleep last night than I did Sunday night into Monday. And yet I was in a much better mood today, more alert, and more productive. The difference? Momentum.Sunday night I'd worked all weekend on the same chapter. MASSIVELY rewriting said chapter, but still. Last night I got through three, and finally felt like I was making real progress.Today I only got through one -

Revisions Update: Double Digits!

2008-11-19T04:17:00.001-05:00

Rewriting the front end of the MS has taken a lot more time than I expected. Nevertheless, today I at last broke into double digits on my chapters. And based on wordcount, I'm about a third of the way through the book as a whole. We're up to Elspeth's kidnapping, which opens Act II. I've got to get through this week, and then my mom will be staying with me and watching Little Boy this weekend

Argh

2008-11-15T18:49:00.001-05:00

I just lost the past, oh, hour and a half's worth of revisions when LSB froze up. I thought I had set it to auto-save, but apparently that feature got turned off last time I updated the software.*headdesk*

Revisions Update: Chapter 7 down

2008-11-15T10:22:00.001-05:00

Chapter 7 had a lot of restructuring, and I rewrote over half of it from scratch. But now it's in the hands of betas and I'm on to chapter 8. Yesterday I was too brain fried to write, but I did manage to plan out the order of scenes and what new stuff I needed in 8 and 9, so hopefully it will clip along. Today I'm also attending my first meeting of the Ky. Romance Writers as a full member. We

Revisions Update

2008-11-10T02:14:00.001-05:00

I have finished revising up through Chapter Six, and now I'm for bed. Some last-minute research and a brief stint of panic while it appeared my data stick had corrupted slowed me down a bit, otherwise I would have been asleep much sooner! I also did some rearranging in chapters 7-12, actually cutting some stuff and consolidating 10 and 11 into one chapter. So I only have 5 more to get through

On Deadline

2008-11-05T23:57:00.001-05:00

...in more ways than one.The biggest is, of course, the submission deadline for the Golden Heart, looming ever closer on December 2nd. I must finish revisions in time to send the full MS, along with partials and synopses for the first-round judging. The one I'm under right now is for my accountability circle. To stay on track for the GH, my posted goal to have revised chapters 1-12 by next

New Look, Updates, & Some Fun Links

2008-10-22T00:28:00.001-04:00

I took some time on my last "free" day at the library (Saturday) and updated the blog a bit. Nothing major, but you'll notice a few new things in the sidebars, and some things have been moved around. I added the "Follow" widget over there on the left, just above the archives, so if you're a regular reader, please click "Follow This Blog" so I know you're there! If you have a blog and I

Rewrites: Phase One - Update

2008-10-16T18:49:00.001-04:00

8 working days. 7000 words written. Also quite a few hours spent researching and firming up details, and one evening spent learning Scottish Country Dance (see post below).I'm not where I wanted to be at this point, but when I put it that way, it still sounds pretty respectab(igg)le! The 7K was not, unfortunately, story wordage. But! I'm glad I wrote it. I'm still in the "organization" phase

Alec's pistol

2008-10-16T15:46:00.001-04:00

And I do mean Alec's. *g*HERE is the link to the page on the National Museum of Scotland website. It is a Doune pistol made by Thomas Caddell (the First) in 1678. Alec was 15 in 1678. His father bought the pistols for his birthday, to signify his status as a man of the clan. When he arrives in modern day, he sells them - Doune pistols are very rare collectors' items, quite literally worth

Tidbits

2008-10-16T15:29:00.001-04:00

My computer is filthy. It's something you don't recognize at home, but since I've had it out and about the past week or so, the smudge on the screen, the crumbs and cat hair in/around the keys, and the dried splashes of milk (I sometimes work at the breakfast table, near where Little Boy sits) are all glaringly obvious. Yet I keep forgetting to clean it. I spent the better part of Tuesday

Rewrites: Phase One

2008-10-11T13:45:00.002-04:00

Still at it. Work on the second ubersynopsis (revised edition) continues. Yes, it is a BEAUTIFUL Saturday afternoon and I am back in the library. But that's okay. I hope to finish the synopsis and the timeline by tonight. Then I will begin pulling stuff out of the SFD to make room for changes, and possibly inserting stuff if a scene starts to form. We'll see how it goes.In other news, YIPE!

Rewrites: Phase One - Organization and Structure

2008-10-08T23:19:00.000-04:00

There's a lot to do is this round, and we spent 3 weeks (as opposed to the usual 2) on it during the workshop. Even then I barely touched the tip of the iceberg in terms of all the organizing I need to do. I wouldn't be surprised if I spend the next couple of days on it, even going full-tilt. But that's okay, because it should make everything else that much smoother. So, this session - as you

Getting into the groove

2008-10-08T11:57:00.001-04:00

I've settled into the nearest branch of our local library to work, and I'll probably be found here for most of my remaining time off. They've got nice tables with outlets for hooking up laptops, and wifi. Also there's something about the quiet atmosphere and being surrounded by the sight (and smell) of thousands of books that aids in my concentration. Only problem is, they don't open until 9:30

The kickoff

2008-10-07T09:52:00.001-04:00

Well, yesterday was a wash due to some other commitments, but today I've settled in to a very quaint internet cafe - just down the road from my office, actually - and I'm spending the morning catching up on teh interwebs before launching Jenny's Massive Revisions Push. The web surfing is due in part to leaving my all-important USB data stick at home in my rush to get Little Boy to preschool, but

Ramping Up

2008-10-02T23:41:00.001-04:00

Again with the radio silence, I know, but all that's about to change. I did the unthinkable and took 2 whole weeks off work to really push forward with revisions for OHN. (I had about 5 weeks of vacation time saved up, so they kind of owed it to me!) I do work this Saturday, and I've got stuff going on this weekend, but from about October 6 until October 19, it's "all revisions, all the time".

The results are in...

2008-09-25T22:54:00.003-04:00

...AND I PASSED!!! The ABR exam I took back in August, that is.Whew, what a relief. It only took:Just under 48 hours of studying, 6 24 oz. bottles of Diet Mountain Dew, 2 (or was that 3?) caffeine pills, and 1 all-nighter to pass 4 hours of exam on only 1 hour of sleep.Oy.Next up - the oral boards in May. God have mercy on my soul...

gulp

2008-09-23T16:29:00.001-04:00

It is done.By fortuitous circumstance, I received my RWA confirmation e-mail this afternoon, and was able to access my online account.As of about 10 minutes ago, my entry into the 2009 Golden Heart contest has been accepted in the category of Paranormal Romance. I did pick a pen name, and I have registered the domain (.net, because the .com was freaking expensive, but lots of people use .net so

Decisions, decisions...

2008-09-23T13:53:00.001-04:00

So, I was all set to enter the Golden Heart yesterday, as soon as it opened. But when I printed the form, I realized it wanted a lot of info I thought I had time to decide. They want a word count, which is still in flux, but I'm gonna estimate my end goal and give them that. (I mean, they probably just want to make sure it's long enough but not TOO long, which will definitely be the case.)

To Dream the Impossible Dream

2008-09-15T22:42:00.001-04:00

I've been so overwhelmed this summer with work and life and the book and the workshop, that I've come very close to saying "enough for a while" and deciding to put the book away once the workshop is over, live my life with free time in the evenings for a change, piddle with the story here and there, and then pick it back up next year sometime, after the new accelerator goes in and my next board

Sick

2008-09-03T23:49:00.001-04:00

Me AND Little Boy, that is.I spent the majority of my Labor Day weekend tending a toddler with the stomach flu, and the latter part sick with it myself. I was back at work today, and I had the first real food I've eaten in about 48 hours. On the upside, I've lost 5 pounds! But though LB was well enough to go to preschool yesterday, today he was home again, and I just came in from spending the

My brain hurts

2008-08-24T08:44:00.000-04:00

I swore I would get a full night's sleep before my board exam, after late nights and interruptions all week, so I would be in top form. As I continued to study (and not move as quickly through the material as I'd planned) that got revised to getting in bed by midnight. Then 2 am. Then... The exam was at 8 am yesterday; I had to be there by 7:30. I slept one hour ("power nap") on my couch in

Radio Silence

2008-08-21T09:09:00.001-04:00

I am still here. Life (as usual) has been hectic, but I have not forgotten the book or this blog. I have actually been working on the book - maybe not as much as I'd hoped, but I am making steady progress. The blog, unfortunately, has come under the knife of my extremely limited internet/computer time. When it comes down to either writing or blogging, I've chosen writing. But! Things are

Follow-up to FREE Liquid Story Binder XE

2008-07-18T18:01:00.001-04:00

As I said in the other post, the offer to get LSB for free is for today, Thursday, 7/18/08 only. I noticed last night when I was on the GiveawayOfTheDay site that those offers are good until midnight *Pacific Time*. So that's 3 am my time...or noon on Friday in Australia (unless that funky daylight savings offset has thrown it off - probably so). From my experience with GOTD, you download a

Liquid Story Binder XE - FREE TODAY!!!

2008-07-18T17:47:00.001-04:00

A commenter (thanks, Rick!) gave me the heads up last week that LSB might show up for free again and guess what - today it has. I got my copy a few months ago for the bargain price of $15 but today (7/18/08) ONLY you can go to: www.giveawayoftheday.com and download LSB XE for free. The newest version, even! (I'm running 2.71 but once you have it registered all updates are free, so I'll be

Wordle and other fun stuff

2008-07-12T22:57:00.004-04:00

Stolen shamelessly from Jo (and everyone else)...For this blog:For OHN:And a fun cartoon Deniz sent me that I tracked to the artist's blog online:

More slashing and burning

2008-07-11T00:50:00.001-04:00

Another 2700 words cut tonight, and that despite me not getting and staying focused until after 10 pm. That brings the MS down to just over 102K, almost 10K less than the SFD. I still have a lot more to cut, though, especially considering all the new stuff that has to go in. I'd like to be done with this phase by the weekend, and seriously re-plot through next week.In other news, I've got

Yay, caffeine

2008-07-10T00:22:00.001-04:00

Revisions with me are proving to be mind over matter. I was exhausted tonight, and the temptation to turn in early and get a good rest was strong. But I get to sleep in tomorrow (working late - planned for once - so going in late) so I made myself take the little yellow pill and it perked me right up. I picked up where I left off with Chapter 12 and started cutting some more. Among tonight's

Scenes

2008-07-09T00:06:00.001-04:00

So I took a break from the "hacky, slashy, poky-poky" of last night to work on this week's assignment for the revisions workshop.Right now we're looking at scenes: what makes a well-balanced, complete one, things a scene should and should not do, etc. Our assignment was to post a pivotal scene from the MS, and I chose Elspeth's confrontation with Breadalbane and her bargain for Alec's life. On

Slash and Burn

2008-07-08T00:29:00.001-04:00

So, first night of the new routine seemed to go okay. Little Boy went to bed late, so I only got a solid hour of work done. Still, for a change, I feel like I actually made some progress.I made it through the first 1/3 of the MS (chapters 1-11) in my slash-and-burn rampage. According to LSB (Liquid Story Binder) I cut almost 2600 words tonight. (I've done a little bit previously, too.) The

A new schedule

2008-07-06T22:31:00.001-04:00

Okay, I'm trying to get myself on a routine, since things are still hectic but at least they're settling into some aspect of predictability.My new plan:8 pm: begin bedtime routine for Little Boy 9 pm: LB in bed; wash face, brush teeth, etc. while waiting for him to settle down~9:30 pm: at computer - go straight to work on revisions11:30-12 am: wrap up revisions for the night, check e-mail/blogs

Another meme, because Deniz posted it g

2008-07-01T20:10:00.001-04:00

(Y'all, I have so much to blog and absolutely no time to do it - what with the internet ban at work, and my evening computer time taken up by the revisions workshop - so I'll have to make do with this for now.)Stolen from Shaylin, who stole it from Jon, who stole it from Sandy: 1. What's in your pocket right now? Nothing. My cell phone about 15 minutes ago. 2. Have you ever gone skinny-dipping

Is. Not. A. Skirt.

2008-06-26T20:36:00.003-04:00

DH sent me this:see more dog picturesI especially enjoyed it coming from him, as his 7th wedding anniversary present for me was the purchase of a kilt on-the-sly and him turning up in it while we were in Gatlinburg.Nice. *w*

Happy (Belated) Birthday to Alec!

2008-06-25T23:14:00.001-04:00

I hate that I missed it and didn't post yesterday. But, well, the way my life's been lately, it's amazing I'm blogging at all.Anyway, Alec was born on June 24th, 1663, the second son of "Red" Malcolm MacGregor, Laird of Glenstrae, and Mary Campbell MacGregor. Going strictly by birthdate, he is 320 years older than Elspeth, give or take a month or so. In the "real world" of present day, he would

Proof Google is Stalking Me (and probably you, too)

2008-06-25T22:07:00.001-04:00

Move over, Big Brother.Just now I was on ThePeerage.com researching the antecedents for one Hugh Sinclair: tacksman to Malcolm MacGregor, Chief of Clan Gregor and Laird of Glenstrae; effectively adopted brother and good friend to one Alec MacGregor; potential antagonist/almost betrothed/ultimately good friend of Elspeth Martin; and eventual heir (with Andi Duluth) to Book 3 - One Highland

I'm still alive...

2008-06-19T00:57:00.001-04:00

...barely.The last 2-3 weeks have been crazy, and not in a fun way. Work is pretty much kicking my ass, and by that I mean sheer workload. Consistently working until 7-8 pm for weeks on end will tap me out in a hurry. Having no internet access while I'm there pretty much sucks, too. It completely mucks with my schedule. I mean, I understand they want top productivity out of us, but at least

Quote

2008-06-12T21:31:00.001-04:00

"When you write a story, you're telling yourself the story. When you rewrite, your main job is taking out all the things that are not the story."-Steven KingOn Writing--- I am so tired and overwhelmed with work and life and this workshop (in which I am hopelessly behind, and the first session isn't even over yet) I could curl up and cry. Or sleep. Or something.But in my desperate reach for

It was a dark and stormy night...

2008-06-10T00:43:00.004-04:00

Well, here in Kentucky at least. I'm glad it's raining - the heat lately has been more like late July than early June, and my grass is looking crispy.I'm wiped. An impromptu orthodontist appointment this morning, yet another blob of stuff in my mouth preventing my back teeth from meeting, a looooong day at work, and the last 2 crits for the workshop have taken it out of me. I should have been

Torn

2008-06-08T17:43:00.001-04:00

I want to do the June X over on CompuServe. I want to rather badly. (Not least because part of our first assignment for the revisions workshop was a 750-word synopsis, so I've got one ready!)BUT I still have 4 crits to do for the aforementioned workshop, and a whole heck of a lot of timelining and organizing and extraneous-scene-culling from the MS to complete in a little less than 2 weeks.

500 Miles

2008-06-06T14:21:00.002-04:00

Those of you who've read the last scene from OHN will get why I enjoyed this:more graph humor and song chart memes

It's ba-ack...

2008-06-03T21:46:00.003-04:00

See the post "Tedium" below the ether post for what I wrote late last night. Not much, but hey - at least it's there.I'm off to get up to my eyeballs in timelines.Also, I added Jo's up-and-coming release to my "Recommended Books" section. Wow, I'm on a roll with the updates!

Into the ether (again)

2008-06-03T01:05:00.002-04:00

Well, I wrote a post from Gmail about what I've been up to the past few nights that - while not as detailed as I had in mind - still took a fair bit of time in my current exhausted state.And then it disappeared into the cyber-ether. *sigh*Past "vanished" posts have shown up in a day or so. Keep your eyes out.In the meantime, I've done two minor updates to the blog (more coming). Jason's shiny

Tedium

2008-06-03T00:47:00.000-04:00

I planned a detailed post about what exactly I'm doing and how that fits with the first part of the revisions workshop, but tonight I'm too drained. Maybe tomorrow. In summary: the past few nights have been spent finally (finally!) getting my butt in gear with Liquid Story Binder - henceforward referred to as LSB - and setting everything up for large-scale revisions. Unfortunately for me and my

Fanfare (for various reasons)

2008-05-31T02:00:00.001-04:00

First and foremost, congrats to Carol on her release! Head over to The Wild Rose Press and purchase her book. Then pop by Jen's blog with your order number for another contest! As for myself...tonight I officially resumed work in earnest on OHN! The Next Level Workshop opened properly yesterday, but I was exhausted and brain-drained and so I didn't really dive in until tonight.Thank God for

Character Portrait: Artist's Take

2008-05-25T21:00:00.002-04:00

WOOT! Jason's got a post up on his blog about my commission of Alec & Elspeth, so head on over to check it out:1000 WordsBe sure to give him some comment love and tell him what a good job he did. *g*T-minus 4 days till revisions workshop. I may or may not be a larger online presence during that time; it depends on how busy Barbara keeps us. *g* Tomorrow's holiday is slated for more outside/

Book Giveaway!

2008-05-22T09:32:00.001-04:00

Author, blogger, fellow Forumite and friend Carol A. Spradling has her first book Cost of Freedom coming out (digitally) next week by The Wild Rose Press. Print version releases in November. Yay, Carol! *g* Cost of Freedom Release Date: Digital May 30, Print Nov. 28ISBN #: 1-60154-241-0Publisher: The Wild Rose Press Jen is sponsoring a contest to celebrate, and you could win your very own

Sick

2008-05-22T09:25:00.001-04:00

Ugh. Little Boy's been sick for the better part of a week (upper respiratory infection; read: bad cold), and he passed it along to me just before he left for Granny's house on Sunday night (she kept him until yesterday, so DH could finish the last of his papers for school). For the past several days, I've had a persistent, unproductive cough, and as of yesterday the lymph nodes in my neck are

A Meme about Various Things

2008-05-20T10:22:00.001-04:00

Carol got me! Here goes... 1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read the player's blog. 4. Let the person who tagged you know when

Happy Birthday to Me

2008-05-19T11:21:00.001-04:00

Today is my birthday! I'm 27, for those keeping track. I actually got carded buying beer last night at the grocery store, though the nice older lady who checked my ID then said "Oh, no, you're definitely okay! But the years have been good to you, haven't they?" I thought it was odd, considering I've only been "legal" for 6 years now. But hey, at least I still look young! (I think it's the

Elspeth's Birthday

2008-05-12T11:52:00.001-04:00

Today is Elspeth's birthday. (She's 25, for the record and according to the birthdate I decided on. Though in my head she's still a nebulous kind of 24-and-a-half. It's weird to think of the events in OHN in a strict sense of real-time, in which case the climactic events have already happened, but the book's conclusion is still the better part of a year away...) Her birthday horoscope (

Productivity

2008-05-06T10:26:00.001-04:00

...just not the writing kind. I had a very productive weekend. Among the many projects I completed were:-Final sanding, re-spackling, and final-final sanding of new closet in upstairs hall, culminating in painting the new wall of said closet on Sunday afternoon. Now I just need to get the same kind of trim paint as in the rest of the house, and do the frame and door. -Laundry. It may not

Character Portrait: Final (Colors and Background)

2008-04-30T14:30:00.001-04:00

Yup! This is it - the final version!Jason sent me a colored version last week and I asked for two changes - he's been so patient with me, hehe - but then he was offline due to computer issues until recently. He made the changes I asked for and I got the "final-final" version yesterday, to my great excitement!What? You want to see them? *g* Oh, okay, well since you asked nicely...(Image copyright

Character Portrait: Tones

2008-04-29T22:09:00.003-04:00

Jason often calls this his favorite stage, and I can kinda see why. The characters become three-dimensional, and you can really appreciate the depth and detail of the image before becoming distracted by colors. Not that there's anything wrong with colors! But this is kind of the point at which the images begin to have a feeling of life about them. There's also just something elegant about

Character Portrait: Lineart

2008-04-28T23:07:00.003-04:00

Y'all are in for a treat. *g*It's hard to describe how excited I was once we agreed on a pose and I was waiting for the lineart. Even knowing all the upcoming stages and how much more detail they would add, the lineart was still my first chance to really see my characters for the first time. I left my e-mail open all day at work, and I would compulsively check the bottom of my screen to see if

Character Portrait: Sketches

2008-04-27T23:37:00.002-04:00

After sending my (not-so-brief) "brief" to Jason in January, the commission was put on hold for about 3 months, while he worked on a big project. The timing actually worked out well, because those were my months "off" from writing (not to mention the time I was saving up the money by doing research studies) and the very week I regained my momentum and got excited about rewrites - in fact the day

Character Portrait: The Brief

2008-04-25T23:15:00.001-04:00

So begins my series of posts on the "project" I've been keeping under wraps, which some of you had already guessed was the portrait of Alec and Elspeth I commissioned back in January.For this project, I've had the privilege to work with a very talented comic/graphic novel artist, the inestimable Jason Badower. I found his blog through the 9th Wonders boards and a discussion about his work on

Sharing Friday

2008-04-25T22:19:00.002-04:00

I'm joining in on the fun Susan started...and since I'm currently not actively working on a particular bit, you're in for a rare treat: a preview of Book 2, AKA One Highland Wife...---"Where'd you get that?" His sister's voice was sharp, unreasonably so, but not enough to make him look up from his inspection of the stone. "Some old woman down by the loch shore—she practically made me take it

Tag Lines

2008-04-25T09:44:00.005-04:00

So I was just thinking...okay, I was browsing Flair on Facebook, and it got me thinking...a lot of books have "tag lines" either used for marketing, or even just on the front cover somewhere to pique interest. Like an extremely short hook. And it could be a viral thing, like if/when OHN comes out I could make a Flair button (see how I got here?) that had an image and/or the tagline and all my

What's Up?

2008-04-24T11:23:00.005-04:00

Well, as I told Precie, I *have* tried to make 2 posts since the last one. Only they didn't go through for whatever reason, and seem have vanished into the cyber-ether. (I usually send my posts from Gmail. For some reason I find that easier.) If they suddenly show up, you'll see they weren't much.The past 2 days at work have kicked my ass, so I haven't been up for writing a lot when I got home.

Testing...

2008-04-24T08:46:00.000-04:00

I usually blog by e-mail anymore, but last night I sent a post and - instead of showing up on the blog nearly instantaneously, as is the usual case - it seems to have disappeared into the cyber-ether. So I'm just testing this out...

Descriptions

2008-04-23T21:05:00.000-04:00

So, while we're all waiting (yes, I am too, and yes - still waiting!) I'd like to hear from you guys...Those of you who have read snips - or more - of OHN, tell me: how would you describe Alec and Elspeth? What do you think they look like? As the author, of course I have an idea in *my* head, but people interpret so differently. I'm curious to see how others picture my characters.Leave a

Hints

2008-04-21T17:08:00.001-04:00

Since I've been stringing you guys along, I guess it's only fair if I give you a little more information on what I've been working on behind-the-scenes. *It involves Alec and Elspeth. *It is a gift to myself for having completed a 100K+ word novel, and motivation to continue with rewrites and attempts at publication. *I am not the only person working on this project. In fact, I'm not even

I've Been Tagged

2008-04-21T15:55:00.001-04:00

Carol tagged me. Since I'm still waiting for Tuesday, here goes... The rules:a. Link to the person who tagged you.b. Post the rules on your blog.c. Write six random things about yourself.d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. e. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Project Update

2008-04-20T08:18:00.001-04:00

I've had no word since Friday. So I don't know if it will be today after all.But I asked for a lot, and what I have so far is really incredible. Worth the wait, in my opinion.Off to church now.

Sunday

2008-04-18T01:02:00.001-04:00

Yeah, I know it's Thursday...I guess Friday now. And as Nina (not Claire or Rachel, hehe) was so kind to point out, it was Friday in Australia over 12 hours ago.But Sunday's the new Friday, or so I've been told. Remember, I'm not the only one in on this project. And it's going to be sooo worth the wait. To me at least; I hope everyone ends up as excited as I am. I'll try to tide you over with

The Oddities of My Profession

2008-04-17T09:52:00.007-04:00

Ahahaha!!!A friend and fellow medical physicist from my graduate program sent this picture today:CLICK HERE FOR PICTURE(I thought better of having that up on all my screenshots of this blog for the next few days...)It's a cake one of their patients brought in to commemorate his HDR - that's High Dose Rate brachytherapy - prostate treatment.Yes, the procedure does involve a number of catheters

In case you missed it on Facebook

2008-04-16T22:51:00.001-04:00

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*deep breath*Okay, that's the prelim squee. Expect (at least) another one tomorrow sometime. Still counting down to Friday...

Best of Both Worlds

2008-04-16T17:54:00.001-04:00

Oh, this is too good. Behold, the Smart Bitches, they have combined two of my loves, the LOLcats and romance novel cover snark: LOLCover Snark - A ContestTheir examples are fricking hilarious. I can't wait till the comment string of entries gets roaring... (Warning: may contain material of a crude or offensive nature to some readers. Also completely OMGWTFBBQ if you aren't fluent in

It cuts both ways...

2008-04-16T15:52:00.001-04:00

I've gotten quite a few messages saying I'm driving people crazy with the waiting for Friday. *g* Well, I'm pretty excited about it and I hope you'll think it's as cool as I do when the time comes. But never fear. Though I am reveling in the anticipation of a big reveal, the anxiety cuts both ways. See, I'm not the only person involved in this project, and it involves waiting on my part,

In Progress

2008-04-15T15:55:00.001-04:00

The surprise is coming along nicely. First step is done, and I'm ready to see how the next turns out. Intrigued? Hehe, don't worry: you'll know Friday. And I'm actually getting really jazzed about rewrites. I'm spending my evenings learning Liquid Story Binder so I can get comfortable enough with it to try and do everything in there. The features (if I can figure them all out) like

Happy Dance

2008-04-11T12:01:00.001-04:00

I got a bit of good news today! Actually a couple of different bits, but I'm going to have to keep them on the down-low for a while. Don't worry, you won't wait long for at least one of them, if everything stays on schedule. Needless to say, I'm very excited! And no, I don't have an agent or anything. *g* Ha-HA, like the MS is anywhere near presentable right now. BUT last night's post

Doing the Write Thing

Been a While...

New Year, New Start

Word Meters

Comment Moderation

Check out this new blog

My life was about to change...

Slate Article: Time-Traveling for Dummies

Newspaper Article

Snippet Saturday - Going It Alone

Snippet Saturday

I'm baaa-aack!!!

Please don't give up on me!

DABWAHA Final Four: Jo needs YOU!!!

FULL REQUEST!!!

3...2...1...

Breaking the Silence

Computerless

A Fun Christmas Survey

Bookwormed!

*FANFARE*

Add yours to the list!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...

The Big Push

Revisions Update: Getting There

Revisions Update: Thanksgiving

Revisions Update: Two for One Night

Revisions Update: The Wee Hours

What to do, what to do...

Character Lookalikes/Casting

Revisions Update: Hoping to Catch Up

Revisions Update: Chapter Eleven

Revisions Update: Double Digits!

Argh

Revisions Update: Chapter 7 down

Revisions Update

On Deadline

New Look, Updates, & Some Fun Links

Rewrites: Phase One - Update

Alec's pistol

Tidbits

Rewrites: Phase One

Rewrites: Phase One - Organization and Structure

Getting into the groove

The kickoff

Ramping Up

The results are in...

*gulp*

Decisions, decisions...

To Dream the Impossible Dream

Sick

My brain hurts

Radio Silence

Follow-up to FREE Liquid Story Binder XE

Liquid Story Binder XE - FREE TODAY!!!

Wordle and other fun stuff

More slashing and burning

Yay, caffeine

Scenes

Slash and Burn

A new schedule

Another meme, because Deniz posted it *g*

Is. Not. A. Skirt.

Happy (Belated) Birthday to Alec!

Proof Google is Stalking Me (and probably you, too)

I'm still alive...

Quote

It was a dark and stormy night...

Torn

500 Miles

It's ba-ack...

Into the ether (again)

Tedium

*Fanfare* (for various reasons)

Character Portrait: Artist's Take

Book Giveaway!

Sick

A Meme about Various Things

Happy Birthday to Me

Elspeth's Birthday

FANFARE

gulp

Another meme, because Deniz posted it g

Fanfare (for various reasons)