Today’s word count: 3832. Can I just say how awesome I feel about this?Total word count: 73,987 of 90,000.Percent completion: 82%. Beautiful things: Martin, who is still hot; um, that’s all, the rest was pretty ugly Horrible things: zombie raccoon! Which explodes! I was so pleased with this I immediately put it on Twitter. So if there’s a rash of exploding zombie raccoons in your slush, you’ll know who to blame. Favourite sentence: “Gavin’s spirit mantled like a hawk, ready to rend.” Reason for stopping: eggplant. Fetishes: wooden ring on index finger: Bellwoods bottlecap necklace. Sustenance: soy maple lattes, a god-awesome sandwich with tempeh, kimchee and Baconnaise, a pint of Bellwoods’ Roman Candle IPA. Playlist highlights: Matt Mays, “Take It On Faith”; Cat Power, “Ruin”; Esthero, “Walking On Eggshells”. Warnings That Must Go On the Tin: Mum, you can’t read this book. Even if I forget and try to give it to you. It has too many zombie things which you would not like, plus bad driving, and ‘fuck’ at least once in every chapter. […]
Novel Enduro: Day III
Today’s word count: 3001. I really know how to nail that, apparently.Total word count: 70,126 of 90,000.Percent completion: 78%. Beautiful things: heartbeats; the Bentley Continental GT Horrible things: zombie sedan! Favourite sentence: “Painkillers didn’t kill the pain so much as put it on a nearby shelf, where it sat glowering over him until it could come close again.” Reason for stopping: Lapdogs pub night. Fetishes: South African bead bracelets, and pink shirt, because it’s Pink Shirt Day. Sustenance: white peach tea, olive bread, olive oil. Playlist highlights: Airmech. Again. […]
Novel Enduro: Day II
Today’s word count: 4295!Total word count: 67,175 of 90,000.Percent completion: 74.6%. Beautiful things: stair-spindles, winter grass, bright scraps, wallpaper flowers. Horrible things: Terrence’s people in hospitals, Terrence’s poor lungs. Favourite sentence: “His spirit saw it too: Chicago in all of itself, under the sun.” Reason for stopping: to write this blog post, because that’s what I felt like doing. Fetishes: South African bead bracelets. Sustenance: the rest of the corn chips, more grilled cheese, more Picholine olives, little tomatoes, soy maple latte. Playlist highlights: Airmech by Front Line Assembly. (Why does my novel about urban magicians require its soundtrack to be a concept album about mecha? I don’t know! The mysteries of creativity!) Bonus: although Tybalt mostly prefers the cat tree, he also napped on my copy of The Waste Land. Cute and literary! […]
Novel Enduro: Day I
Today’s word count: 3065! Right on target.Total word count: 62,880 of 90,000.Percent completion: 70%. Beautiful things: A crisp checked shirt. Corn pudding (maybe it is not beautiful, but I am hungry). Horrible things: Home truths. Coughing. Someone is watching “Cheers”. Reason for stopping: I need to wash the dishes. Fetishes: new yoga pants, Badger lip balm. Sustenance: corn chips, grilled cheese, Picholine olives, hibiscus-jasmine tea. Playlist highlights: Richard Thompson, “Pharaoh”; Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Pretty Little Ditty”; Wilco, “Reservations”. Bonus: the cats really like the new cat tree, and they stayed on it all day instead of messing with my desk! The laptop was only bitten once. […]
Public Accountability: The Novel Enduro Begins
Today begins a two-week writing marathon. My (rather ambitious) goal is to finish my novel-in-progress. Here’s a screen shot of my current stats (from Scrivener): 30,000 words to go; 10 business days to do it in. That means 3000 words a day. Folks, I’ve never written that much, that fast. But I have another novel lined up behind this one, which I really want to get started on; I’m thirty-seven and not famous yet; I’ve carved out this space from a demanding day job; and the only way out is through. Materials: Scrivener; my trusty Lenovo which I got at the end of last year’s novel enduro; a new pair of yoga pants; typing fingers; playlists. Plus a new cat tree, meant to keep the cats off my desk (wish me luck). Cuing up my playlists… pouring the coffee… wrapping a scarf around my neck… and GO. […]
Story Day!
Item the first: “Bleaker Collegiate Presents an All-Female Production of Waiting for Godot“ is live at Podcastle today, read by Tatiana Gomberg, who does a wonderful job as the voice of the young, jaded and vulnerable Deirdre. I am so delighted by this. Item the second: Congratulations to all of the Nebula nominees. Many of the works on this list I’ve read and loved, and I’m looking forward to catching up on the others. I see this as a very strong year all round and I’m full of joy at the strength, beauty and relevance of our genre, and awe at the, well, awesomeness of the people I know. Item the third: speaking of beautiful and relevant work, Kelly Rose Pflug-Back has a wonderful story at Strange Horizons right now which you should go and read. Item the third-B: the first comment on that story was a hilarious troll complaining about SH publishing too many lesbian stories. (If you are wondering: yes, all of my SH stories feature lesbian or bisexual protagonists. Viva la revolucion! Although SH has plenty of stories without lesbians, also.) (PS: The fun that was had on Twitter today… well, I found a whole bunch of […]