Entries tagged with nanowrimo

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: MSNBC

Entry tags:

Dept. of Up From the Depths

She Emerges, Blinking at the Light, From Her Cave

Good lord. It's been an entire month.

And I don't think my absence did teh intarwebz much damage at all.

Still, in the spirit of potentially self-delusional belief that posting at least intermittently will keep me connected to the outer world, I'm doing just that. I haven't the slightest idea of what to write, however. Every time I think "I should post about that," or "this could be an interesting thing to post about," I'm never anywhere near my laptop and I consistently forget that I have a tiny notebook in my purse. I never got into the habit of writing thoughts down as they occur; my loss, of course.

So I'll start in the easiest possible way; with a list.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: determined
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: the furnace

Entry tags:

Dept. of Catch Up

Positive Things

That includes me, unfortunately. I'm now at *checks* three weeks two days of apparent COVID infection. My doctor's team, which I've contacted twice about this, tells me that it's not that uncommon. Their advice, which was to say that I don't have to isolate if I don't have a fever, as long as I mask when I leave the house, made me feel a little better. because that's what I've been doing. Still, my nose wants to have a serious talk with me about my regular attacks on it with swabs ....

Wuxtry, wuxtry, alert the press - I finally finished the NaNoWriMo novel I started back in November 2021! It's roughly 87,000 words, and took me 15 months to complete it as a first draft. For me, that's lightning fast. I have a couple of people - my Bob and

a_phoenixdragon - who will take a look at it, so that I can tighten and polish it up a bit, but I have no intention of putting it out for consideration anywhere. It's much more apt to be put out to pasture.

(I may put a more edited version of it up here, or start another journal specifically for any original fiction I might write. I'm not sure yet. It's original, so it can't go to the places I normally park my fic. We shall see.)

Still ... I finished it! That makes me very happy, although I'm trying not to get a swollen head about it.

And now I can do one of two things: get back to work on my 2022 NaNo novel, which is probably only half completed at this point, or tackle an Arcane fic plot bunny. I find it interesting that in the past year, I've written far more original fiction than fic.

And in other writing news, the private school for which I wrote a feature is interested in giving me another assignment. I learned that on Monday. The same day, I got a call from the editor of the local news outlet to whom I sent my resume. She wants me to cover a meeting tomorrow night, via Zoom. Did I want that? Indeed I do, although getting prepped for the meeting will keep me busy today. I'm just geaering up for that now, but I wanted to post something of my own before doing that.

Here in Chicago, we have a winter weather advisory until 3 p.m. our time. Looking out my window, I see we already have about three quarters of an inch of snow on thee ground. I welcome the snow, since we haven't had much this year, but I worry about our unhomed residents who are living in tents around the city. At least It's not supposed to be too cold.

Current Mood: stressed
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: the furnace

Entry tags:

Dept. of Listicles

Remembering Mum, & Panicking Over Babysitting

It's truly a sign of my ability to forget; back on the 27th, I got a text from my brother, reminding me that it's been nine years since Mum died. I'd completely forgotten. I haven't forgotten her; I think about her many times a week, and hope, quite irrationally, that she's healthy and whole somewhere, occasionally keeping an eye on me and on my brother, and, just as occasionally, lending us strength when we need it. But I forgot the date and day she died. It's been almost a decade, but still ... my brother remembers every year. Perhaps that makes sense, since he spent so much more time with her during her life, especially in her final decade. He shouldered her burdens, and watched over her; that has to burn one's love right into the bone. No wonder he doesn't forget.

I'm trying to decide if it's worth putting together at least a superficial review of Power of the Doctor, free of some of the immediate raegOMG that I spewed in my last post. There was, for me, a lot to like about the episode, despite my sorrow at seeing Jodie and Thirteen say goodbye; there were also a few things to roll my eyes at. We shall see.

( Under here. )

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Air conditioning; wonderful, wonderful AC

Entry tags:

Dept. of Just Keep Swimming

Monday Meanderings (Since I Can't Think of a Better Headline)

( Brief mental health discussion, should you wish to skip )

Still plugging away at the NaNo novel, ever closer to its end, and also working on my original piece from back a while. I'm using July's Camp NaNoWriMo to try and complete it, aiming for a 25,000 word novella. I'm doing my normal figure-it-out-as-I-go-along foolishness, but I'm pretty sure I know where it's going, and probably where it's going to end. That's a plan, right?

( Taking to the streets, part 3 )

BB and I are waiting for a call from one of his neuros, to tell him when he'll get the first shots in his legs. He should get the call this week. That can't come a moment too soon, because his legs hurt so badly now that he can't really sit or stand for more than a few minutes at a time.

And finally, I'm still getting up early (for me, at least: 7:15-7:45 a.m.) and getting out for a walk. I've missed a couple of days, but not that many. It feels good. I sometimes walk south to visit the chicken coop people; sometimes I head north, a lot of times I head east, although I haven't walked all the way to the lake yet.

Current Mood: awake
Current Location: the living room
Current Music: The furnace. MMMmmm warmth....

Entry tags:

Dept. of Fandom Adjacent Fun

Mastery of Master of Kung Fu

It's Saturday, the first day of the weekend, and instead of being too sad or mad or otherwise negatively exercised, I'm focusing on a couple of positive things.

First, I had the chance to use my comic book nerd history to help a fellow writer. No, really. Since NaNoWriMo, I've been taking part in a morning writing sprint group on Zoom (30 minutes of writing, and 10 minutes following for chat, until the free Zoom meeting abruptly cuts out.) Most of these folks, both retirees like me and younger people, are trying to get published, and talk a lot about how to do that. I'm just honing my writerly skills for fun, so I generally say little during this conversations.

However, the lady who runs the group is trying to write a YA novel that involves, for various reasons of plot and character, the Kung Fu world of the 1980s. She mentioned that one of the bits of pop research she was trying to do was read copies of Marvel's "Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu" comics from that era. She lamented at how difficult that was, because she couldn't get her hands on any of them.

Well ....

Bob and I were dedicated comic book buyers in the 1980s and early to mid-1990s (and maybe later). We were largely, although not completely, Marvel fans. And among the titles we bought? You guessed it. I diffidently mentioned that we probably still have that title in one of two boxes of titles we've kept to read and enjoy from time to time and boy howdy, did her eyes light up with disbelieving joy. Could she borrow some, she asked. She said she'd be happy to wear gloves to look at them, and I assured her there was no need for that. We aren't collectors or speculators, I said; we read them for love.

So down Bob and I went to our storage cage; we manhandled the very heavy box with M-Z titles out to the basement floor, and I got out all the Shang-Chi books. We had more than I'd remembered; about 100. I let her know, and we'll set up a time where I can drop them off at her place. So my nerdy geekdom may help someone who is very definitely not a nerdy geek. I am amused.

Oh, and a big Union Win!!!

Workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island won their union election. It's a first for workers fighting against Amazon, and could prove to be a turning point in that effort elsewhere. The man Amazon fired for leading a walkout during COVID, to protest working conditions, and who they insulted as not being intelligent, went on to completely organize the warehouse with his comrades who were still on the job. Once again, management (who is swearing to fight the results, because of course it would) was the best organizer this grass-roots union could ever have had.

In other potentially positive news, the new union election at Amazon's Bessemer, Alabama, facility - the one the National Labor Relations Board ordered after finding that Amazon management used illegal methods against Bessemer's first vote - is now too close to call.

Hey, Bezos; I hope your head is pounding and your stomach is roiling. The employees you think of as peons are getting up on their hind legs, you revolting American oligarch.

Entry tags:

Dept. of February's End

A Quick Listsicle

1) Still watching Ukraine, and glad to see and hear world leaders standing together (or at least as close to standing together as nations can stand to be, says the pessimistic optimist/optimistic pessimist.)

2) Getting fucking exhausted with many of those I know on the far left end of the progressive spectrum indulging in "whataboutism" as they approach the Russian invasion:

We get it. The U.S. has fucked over black and brown nations with monotonous, nauseating, up and up racist regularity. We must address these wrongs honestly, in a way that Americans and those of us living in the U.S., of all political stripes, will find tremendously painful.
We get it. The U.S. is horrifyingly imperialist and colonialist. We have a responsibility to the world, to our own country, to ourselves, to begin the process of dismantling that, and it's going to be the absolute opposite of easy.
We get it. We shouldn't have done what we did in Afghanistan and Iraq, and what we didn't do there and other places. We don't have any excuses.
We get it; we need to be careful about slipping into jingoism about this invasion and war; we need to double check news coming to us, even if it's from our favored news sources.

None of that erases what's going on in Ukraine; none of that excuses what's going on. And to snidely refer to these things as if people other than your particular flavor of progressive don't get those realities - if you decide to politisplain patronizingly to the rest of us how we're either with you, or with OMG SECULAR CAPITALIST SATAN J'ACCUSE!!1! - you know what? You're assholes. Even if I like you, even if I love you.

3) I'm still working on the novel, and I'm getting oh, so very close to the end. Really.

4) Still dealing with my ongoing love of "Arcane". I mean that. I had a dream the other night about one of the characters who died within the 1st three episodes, in which that character survives. I'm also finding myself fighting Arcane fic plot bunnies. No thank you, brain - I'm dealing with enough writing tasks. On the other hand, I plan to watch the whole 9 episode 1st season again; it's absolutely brilliant.

Because my brain has been ping-ponging between Ukraine and Arcane and music, and since I've already banged on about Ukraine in this post, I think I'll leave you with a couple of music vids based on, or directly from, Arcane. Yes, one of them features an Imagine Dragons song written for the series, and yes, I love it, especially since it also features the young rapper J.I.D. Deal with it. I also love "Misfit Toys" by Mako and Pusha T.

NOTE: if you haven't watched Arcane past Episode 3 and plan to do so, don't watch the vids. I'll put them under a cut.

( View more... )

Current Location: the home office

Entry tags:

Dept. of She Lives. No, Really.

February is For Freezes

( Read more... )

Current Mood: sore
Current Location: the home office
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/605256.html

Entry tags:

Dept. of She Lives

Still Here

In pain, with back spasms, because I've spent too long at the computer every day. It'll get better. but right now, fuck, they're painful. Own damned fault, but still, I can grouse, right?

I've written every day this month and now have 38,540 words in the novel. I figured out part of the ending last night just before I drifted off to sleep; bedtime thoughts have been very useful in this exercise.

The kids and their kid will be here between 27 Dec. and 3 Jan. Time to get a little tiny Christmas tree; we hadn't planned to do anything, but when there's family to enjoy the holiday with, a tree is necessary. And pressies to buy, of course.

I'm reading Kara Dalkey's "Little Sister" and really enjoying it. I should have started reading Dalkey's work a long time ago. I love tales from Heian era Japan. She writes fantasy about that time. It's right up my alley.

Bob and I have finished Netflix's "Arcane" and it is, hands down, the best non-Japanese animated story it's been my joy to watch, possibly ever. The world-building is complex, the characters equally so, the art and animation is jaw-droppingly stunning, the story is funny, adrenaline-packed, full of love and magic and class struggle and a look at a very broken young woman and the sister who loves her, it's hopeful and tragic and impossible to look away from.

We're also watching Netflix's live action adaptation of "Cowboy Bebop". As fans of the 2D anime classic, we thought it had a lot to live up to. It's doing a pretty darned good job. A few missteps here and there, but John Cho is Spike Spiegel, and Mustafa Shakir is Jet Black. Daniella Pineda had one of the toughest jobs, turning into Faye Valentine, but she's getting there. The writing works to expand the world of the anime; again, a few missteps, but it's worth watching.

Now I have to go and a) take drugs b) lie flat on the floor and c) probably have a jacuzzi. Fucking back pain. Fucking idiot me. Ah, well ....

Current Mood: cold
Current Location: the home office
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/604947.html

Entry tags:

Dept. of This and That

Listsickles, Part Deux

I'm listening to Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark, and thinking about how well it helped me get through my late teens and early 20s; I could remember nearly all of the words for so many of the songs. I still love the windy feel of the music's arrangements. Today, I took a look at the people involved, and saw that Tom Scott played oboe; I also saw that Mitchell herself did the string arrangements. I still love listening to her words; she may never have found all the kinds of love she wanted (and how well she knew that she wouldn't), but she sure knows humanity, she's an amazing observer. Her later albums are less accessible, although they are truly good (Hejira and The Hissing of Summer Lawns are eminently listenable and extremely sophisticated, both musically and lyrically. I have yet to listen to Don Juan's Reckless Daughter.)

( More listsickledom beneath. )

Current Mood: drained
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: The furnace. MMMmmm warmth....
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/604788.html

Entry tags:

Dept. of Listsickles

More Than One Thing Makes a Post: so - NaNo and Who

( NaNo )
( Who )

Current Mood: amused
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/603868.html

Entry tags:

nanowrimo,
writing

Dept. of Riting Iz Hard

Watch That Breakneck Speed, Woman!

In the past three days I've written more than 6,000 words. Those of you who know my style reasonably well know that Your Humble Correspondent doesn't do breakneck. I'm more of a ShuffleShuffleShuffle kind of writer.

And yet, there it is. More than 6,000 words in 3 days.

*preens slightly*

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: the home office
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/603293.html

Entry tags:

Dept. of Writing

Writing Instead of Housecleaning: Problem? Y/N

After gleefully preparing for a sleep-dep writing week by taking part in the NaNo kick-off from 11:30 p.m. Sunday to 1:30 a.m. Monday, I find that I don't want to leave the computer. I want to continue to write, even though there are important things that need to be done around the house. This is unusual; usually I will turn to housework in order to avoid writing. I guess the past week or so of daily Zoom writing sprints have gotten me into a writing habit that I haven't previously had.

(That sleep deprivation I referenced? It did serve to blow off this morning's writing sprint, which I slept through.)

I think I'm going to give myself the next hour to do cleaning and such, and then I'm going to return to the computer.

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: "Sakura Flutters" on a loop
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/603046.html

Entry tags:

Dept. of Taking The Plunge

OK, It's Happening!

Well, it's actually starting with an online party at 11:30 p.m. Chicago time, so I'm going to be up late, starting my writing at 12:01 a.m. Which is, of course, quite ridiculous, especially since I'm also slated to do a writing sprint at 9 a.m. Monday.

I don't mind being ridiculous especially since I got a fair amount more done on back story (necessary so that I know the answers that my characters won't know initially, more world-building, and more problem-solving. (As in: "wait, I thought I'd have this happen, but it doesn't make sense, especially since I have this other thing set up, so let's change that").

And, in what surprised me a bunch, I actually got a teeny-tiny bit of traditional outlining done, beyond my own "Questions and Answers" style of outlining. Huzzah!

Also, today I managed to go see a wonderful block-long Hallowe'en display not far from our place, chatted with the lovely neighbors who put it up, and who gave out ribs, chili, hot dogs. punch and spiked punch to a steady stream of kids and grown-ups, all happy and costumed. It made me like our neighborhood even more than I already do.

Some time over the next 24 hours, Bob and I will watch the first episode of Doctor Who. *cries a bit because she doesn't want Thirteen to go*

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: vaguely Japanese ambient music
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/602537.html

Entry tags:

Dept. of Bumps in the Road

Slight Setback Is Slight

I got up this morning and took part in another writing sprint. With what I did in that half-hour, and what I managed to get done on my own in the next hours or so, I actually got over 800 words. It seems as if my numbers are creeping up, and that's good, especially since the words helped me turn an important corner in the plot.

( More under here, since I got wordy. )

Current Mood: intimidated
Current Location: the home office
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/602180.html

Entry tags:

Dept. of Not Quite What's Needed

What Makes One Bright, Or Perceptive, Or ... You know?

After finishing "This is How You Lose the Time War" by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone - which is a very good book and worthy of its awards - I am again reminded, as I am, inconveniently, at times, that I need to get better at writing, or stew in a lazy brew of jealousy and inadequacy.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: More ambient music. I love ambient music.
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/601969.html

Entry tags:

Dept. of Cranial Cuisine

Things Eating My Head. Again.

I swear ....

I have a habit of letting things consume my brain, yo.

( Read the recipes. )

Current Mood: nervous
Current Location: the home office
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/601679.html

Entry tags:

Dept. of Taking the Plunge

Pray For Me; I Signed Up For NaNoWriMo

I've spent much of the day wondering if it was the right thing to do, and the rest of the day being kind of excited about it. (Some time was also spent reintroducing myself to various Discord channels. Wow ....) I have, through the NaNoWriMo site, joined a group here in Chicago that meets and does early (early for me, at least) 30-minute Zoom-enabled writing sprints. I figure that could be a good way to prepare for Nov. 1.

*trembles in antici ...
...
... pation*

Current Mood: full
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Ambient music. Don't judge; it helps me think
Crossposts: https://kaffy-r.livejournal.com/601429.html

Entry tags:

Dept. of Tempting Fate

Two Undoubtedly Unwise Things

1. I made banana bread and about 5 dozen pumpkin cookies today, for reasons about which I'm not entirely clear. For someone trying to eat more healthily, this was probably not the best idea, especially since supper then consisted of two slices of banana bread and 5 cookies. I'm thinking of pawning most of them off on a neighbor, with a few left for Bob.

2. I'm thinking of doing NaNoWriMo this year.