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 |  probably stuff i think is funny. or aggravating. or both. |
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here's a quickie but soon-to-be-awesomey:
brand new! first week's contest is open! horror fans unite! or...run screaming in the streets! your pick.  big thanks to M. R. K  for this monstrous creation.  |
| howdy doo, y'all. hope the past few days have been good to you. i was attacked by unprecedented ennui over the weekend, and accomplished next to nothing. and by "next to nothing" i mean: no bathing, lots of whining and spinning in place with fuzzy slippers on (sensory thrill), and a smattering of reading/video gaming/movie watching/tv glomming. really, that's about it. i'm sure there was a starbucks in there, because there's ALWAYS a starbucks in there, but man, what a bunch of nothing. i even opened and closed d's chapters file about six times. no gumption. *SIGH* soooo....what're you guys up to? i did get my first scene rewritten. i've decided to change a few things up, like my protagonist's personality. no biggie.  i was finding it difficult to make her interesting, someone i'd want to read about, even though my intention was to keep her very average in the beginning. i decided completely average was a bad idea, so i'm spicing her up a bit. giving her a wee sense of adventure, a devil-may-care-but-i-don't kinda savoir faire....which fits better with her overall role in the story anyway. so, it's all good. and i'll stop droning on now about the novel. until august. then it'll be a big drone-a-thon. woohoo!! oh! and i was reading an article in a writing magazine today (sorry, can't remember which one--my apologies to JA Konrath, who authored the article, i think) about writing that opening scene. the four elements which have to be in there, or you'll lose your readers (and editors) before you've gotten them. (forgive my sketchy notetaking--this all made sense at the time). first: writer must successfully introduce the story-worthy problem--the "inciting incident" that triggers the first surface problem. second: hook the readers. (yep, i actually wrote that down.) third: establish the rules of the story. (style, tone, vocabulary, character personality, etc) set the parameters, and don't get all crazy and disregard later. fourth: forecast the end of the story. now, the 4th element i thought was really interesting. i received a review of one of my poems a long time ago from someone very helpful, and they pointed out that the first and last lines were revealing--revealing in message, in cohesion. that they could read the first and last line of a poem and see the overlying message from the author. i thought that was wild, revolutionary stuff. loved it. i like applying that to stories, too, just to see what happens. so this was a useful and intriguing idea, to me. foreshadowing the state of mind, the end of the journey for my protagonist in the first scene. cool. i suspect a lot of this is instinctual, because i mentally reviewed my rewritten scene, and almost everything was already in there.  if anyone's interested in finding that article, lemme know & i'll get the specifics for you. it's a current issue of one of the writing magazines, with a lady and something green on the front. a special issue, i think. i can track it down at work, no problemo. i also got some notes on developing a web presence as an author. but i'll save that for next time.  pizza for dinner. must go. |
| hi, y'all. this week's flash fiction:
it's a shorty, and a little different from my usual. if i have a "usual". been feeling funky....not in a "sly & the family stone" kinda way, more like a "what the hell am i doing with my life?" kinda way. i keep churning out short stories, sell one occasionally--very occasionally--and my stinking, festering heap o' novel just putrifies like dead mice on a summer sidewalk. i know! i don't wanna go near it, either.  i've been chatting a bit with marge, and we're considering making august a blog-free month. if we post on our blogs, it'll be project-related, and hopefully the shift in focus and "extra" free time will be spent working on our larger priorities. i think i may do it. i tell you now so you don't think i've fallen off the planet and floated out into space kicking & screaming, waggling my pudgy lil legs....because that'd be my first assumption if one of you abruptly stopped blogging. please don't do that, okay? anyhoo, so there it is. please take a looksee at my wee story for the week & let me know what you think. thanks! [apologies to d--i still have your chapters. i even bought highlighters and a pencil sharpener for editing. i'll read some chapters this weekend. it will be so!!] |
| hey, all-- great news! i received this email this morning from espressofiction.com: "I've been meaning to write to let you know that I would like to publish your story 'Dancing With Mrs Brown' on 5 August 2008." woohoo!! my second one. yay! |
| so, i got a haircut. i went in for a trim, but when the stylist showed me with a disapproving eyebrow how much of my hair was damaged, i agreed to let her cut it off. my hair's now just past my shoulders. funky. makes cute pigtails, tho. i've been debating (with myself) about whether to stay with wdc. i've been here for two years, and i've met some truly fabulous people here...but i spend almost no time here actually writing anything anymore. i'm not really into a lot of the social aspects of the site, and when i'm honest with myself i don't enter contests because my focus is supposed to be moving up to the novel writing...don't get me wrong. i still need LOTS of improvement with short stories, but for the most part i get more throrough, more critiquey reviews at my other writing site. so, i'm torn. when i think about not having wdc to come to i feel a little panicky. what if i'm not thinking of something? what if i won't realize this very important aspect to wdc (which i desperately need) until i can't have it anymore? i'll probably never decide. *harrumph* hope y'all are having a day of daisies and summer breeze. ps--if you likey the romantic suspense novels, check out laura griffin if you haven't. i'm halfway through her new book (out in the fall: thread of fear), and it's kicking serious ass. also, she's from texas. |
nothing exciting to report, except for my shiny new story i just wrote!
please give it a looksee & tell me what you think. or mock it mercilessly. whatev. hope you guys are good. hey, one of my good buddies is back on wdc!! y'all remember sully? he's back. he's back and writing short stories, too. yay! anyhoo, hope y'll are full of spit & vinegar, and sweet sweet cupcakes. and maybe an antacid. |
this week has been weird. it's taking much longer than a week should take. my time at work has been spent organizing various bookshelves around the store, which always leaves me feeling like i've spent several hours quasi-meditating, kinda stoned and energized. i love books. i love the idea of books, the ideas inside them, and i love the physicality of books. i like the heft, the smooth covers, the sound the pages make when i turn them, the fonts. i love that the pages can give you vicious papercuts if you're not careful, if you don't respect the book and handle accordingly. i love titles, and acknowledgements, and first sentences. and most of all, i love that while i'm reading one, that author is speaking only to me. there's really nothing like it, and i'm laughing right now because this totally isn't the subject i was gonna talk about. of course, i've forgotten now.....so, there it is. laurie's high on life, y'all.  i'm also writing a flash story about a bear attack, and i'm wondering if one open can of simmering beans-n-franks on a campfire would be enough to provoke massive bear injury. i haven't met any bears, but from what i've read they tend to avoid people except when baby bears are around and if tasty monkey food is within reach. anyone had any experience with bears? (hopefully no attack stories!  )in other news... "After motorist Mark Holder, 30, had a seizure in Boynton Beach, Fla., in June, his car swerved off the road and smashed into a sign, badly injuring him. Emergency workers arrived and, protecting against possible nerve damage, attempted to put a brace on to stabilize his neck. However, Holder became combative, and sheriff's deputies reported that they were forced to shoot Holder "several times" with a Taser to calm him enough that the brace could be fitted. [South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 6-14-08]" big thanks to http://www.newsoftheweird.com for that one. there's another one about a man in singapore getting imprisoned and caned several times for accosting women in elevators and sniffing their armpits...but i'll save that one for next time. hope y'all are having a freaky-deaky day, armpits & all. |
| oh, you guys. i want to write about something but feel intimidated and humbled, knowing i can't do justice to how big it is. the writer's dilemma, i suppose. how to get what's in our hearts out onto the page and into someone else's heart. that magic and mystery of communication, and not just communication, but metaphysical cause and effect. someday, i may be writer enough to attempt it, but for now i'm going to hold close and cherish and foster. maybe these feelings will ferment and shift into a force i can't prevent from bursting out, a force others will recognize and accept as their own. until then, know i am a grateful soul.  (and no, i am not stoned. ) |
| jeez...how is it possible i feel hounded by the very blog reminders i set up?? i know! but i do. i resent them. but i'm so passive-aggressive about it i won't change my settings. oh, i need therapy. sooo, i started taking my lunch to work instead of buying food--partially an economic decision, but also a nutritive one. i'm getting too old to eat fast food five days a week. i'm surprised i'm not a lot more overweight than i am! also, p & i are gonna start riding our bicycles to work. we have to dig them out of our back storage room and clean them up, inflate tires, replace a seat...but i'm excited! i'm so bad at riding a bike, but it's only three miles to work, and the trip there is at 4:30am, so the weather will be wonderful. i wanna get a basket with a plastic daisy on the front. lessee....the novel! i've been thinking about it almost constantly, and keep adding notes. i was concerned it would be too skimpy, but with everything i have yet to do with it, i think it'll end up just right. i mean, i have to create an entire second world (!) in this thing. i'll need the room! lots of topics to investigate further: extreme weather conditions, krav maga, auras, reincarnation, echo location, prophetic writing, strategic sneaking skills, survival skills, agricultural living and trade economy. wow. i've got a lot to do. the powers that be are cutting even more payroll hours, now. i'm classified as full-time, but i'm working 32 hours right now...would kinda like more than that. my immediate manager is trying to make these corporate fuckhead decisions tolerable, and i appreciate that, but i don't know. several of our employee perks are gone, now. i fully expect not to get a raise, if i'm still there in the spring--not because i don't rock (because i do), but because that's just "not in the budget". i expect to hear any day now our personal and vacation time is being shaved away. *sigh* and other stuff i can't talk about because it's work and there's a written directive about blogging about company stuff. i guess my point is i'm tired of my employer treating the employees as if we're a nuisance. i understand the entire service industry may be shifting away from live, human clerks....and that's a damned shame...but hello! hey, you! up there! we're not robots yet! how's about some carrot with that stick?? anyhoo...that's about all for now. hope everyone's having a fabulous friday, filled with gifts from the goddess of cotton candy. may fluffy sugary goodness shower down upon your blessed noggins! http://youtube.com/watch?v=yxW1TvHSyUU doom dee doom.... |
| hallo, all. you know what's creepy? a smiling doctor. i don't know why. that should be reassuring, right? but i was sitting there, in this exam room, and this very nice doctor kept asking me questions ("does it hurt when i thump you here?" "on a scale of one to ten, ten being excruciating, where would you say you're at right now?") and then sitting back to smile at me as i answered. like he knew something. something i didn't. i couldn't look him in the face, it was freaking me out so bad. nice man. no lolli after the visit, tho.  so, the novel's coming along. i read through the thing this weekend, making notes as i went--research needed to flesh out this thingy, changes to make so this thingy and that thingy fit together--and now, i'm working on making it all fit together. i have plenty of room to add on and still be of 'standard length'...but i wonder if i'm criss-crossing genres too much. nowadays, i see new novels landing in the sf section which incorporate all sorts of cross-genreing, so i'm not too worried. but how to make sure i'm hitting the right tone? i tend toward smartass when i'm short of options, and i fear my story's rife with that sort of thing. well, no point worrying right now. step one: FINISH!!!! the other thing i noticed, over the weekend, is how much less i wanna sit and watch tv. i think about this thing almost constantly. i dwell. i muse. i've chortled once or twice. i even took up crossword puzzles again! (totally unrelated, but interesting, nonetheless) what's happening to me? is it a tumor?  well, if it is, i'm recruiting it to help out. only fair, living off my brain like that. hope you all are recovering from your mondays, feet up, fists full of ice cream. |
| hi, all. happy 4th of july! i've been thinking....okay, to be honest, i've had a tiny crisis of confidence. i've been putzing around for two years, fiddling with short stories, contests, slammed through one nanowrimo, and have yet to prove to myself (or anyone else) i can be a writer. what's my goal? to write novels, get them published, and be paid for my storytelling. my ultimate fantasy goal?? to live off of writing novels. so what the fritz am i doing?? i've been very convincing, telling myself i participate in writing communities to find like-minded souls, to develop my writing, to network. all solid reasons. but let's be honest. that's all i'm doing. my novel? it's unraveling, and i'm losing touch with it. i'm scared for the first time in two years that i really don't have what it takes. that i'm fooling myself. the other side of me, the relatively well-adjusted one, tells me to fight for what i want. that this is the testing ground, and i gotta step up or shut my stinking piehole once and for all. find a new dream. so, i've moved my computer into one of the back bedrooms (the one that's almost finished), have fudged together a makeshift desk, and have limited my distractions to a can of diet coke (with lime) and an aged jambox. it's do or die, people. my dream hangs in the balance, and i have to make that first incision. if i'm not as present, not as involved here, i apologize--i gotta do this. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| you know, you guys really know how to make a girl feel nubbed. a sincere thank you for making my birthday special! i received love in the form of birthday merit badges, and thoughtful cnotes, and hilarious emails...i know i'm a big sap, but i treasure you all. you're the best! as for the rest of the world, i'm still disillusioned and bitter, but you guys are fabulous. so, i'm 40 now. working on my 41st year. yyyep. i like to ask people what they've learned in the last year, and to answer my own question, i've learned how to notice i'm happy. i'm such a fretter, i dwell on what needs to happen, what's not happening, what mistakes are made...very tiring! i've gotten better, though, at recognizing when i'm genuinely at peace. content. just letting those moments settle over me and sink in...*sigh* good times. as for wishes for the next year, i hope i'm still healthy and happy this time next year! not too much to ask for, right? am i being greedy? i am, i know. i should feel nothing but gratitude for the good in my life...and i do feel it...i just want more of it. (if you weren't sure before, i bet you are now: yep, i'm an american.)if i was gonna be really greedy, i'd ask for a more satisfying job....but that's up to me, i know. i'm just putting it out there, into the universe...nooooo pressure. for my birthday, p took me to see a wonderful movie (i'll get to that in a minute--don't worry, z. it wasn't another shyamalan flick. ), and then to a succulent lunch in a french restaurant. fabulous!!! i also received several birthday wishes from my friends & family, which warmed my wizened heart. i couldn't have wished for a better birthday. as for the movie, we saw "wall-e". amazing. seriously. this movie has heart, soul, smarts, hilarity, and illustrates the meaning of heroism. has such a great message for everyone, regardless of age, and was the most entertaining 97 minutes i've enjoyed in months. yes, even including "the happening", which had some of the same themes, but didn't tug at the heartstrings as much as "wall-e". i can't say enough about this show. pixar RULES!!! for the sake of humanity, go see this movie!! bring a friend or two, and hug them when it's over--you'll wanna, believe me. and no grabbing booty. it's not that kind of flick. all right, well. i'm off to bed pretty soon--i hope everyone's having a stupendous evening. wall-e quote: "Ship's Computer: Voice confirmation required. Captain: Uhhh... Ship's Computer: Voice confirmation accepted." |
| okay, is it time? time, yet? i think it's time. ahem. *clears throat* "haaaaaappy birthday to meeeeeee, haaaaaappy birthday to meeeeeeee, haaaaappy biiiirthday, dear meeeeeeeeeee...haaaappy birthdaaaay to meeeee!!" yep. on this day, forty years ago, i squooshed out into the world and took my first big snoot of fresh air. i'm sure i didn't like it much, as i've been told i started crying and didn't stop for six months. seems i'm a little high-maintenance.  since then, i've learned how to relax a bit more, how to tie my shoelaces, how to eat peas properly....you know, grown-up things. i've had an interesting life so far. i can't wait to see what happens next. i'm sure i'll be back in diapers, eventually. other than that it's all up in the air. hope y'all have a super monday, filled with surprise treats and confetti. wheee!!! "I hate hospitals, but it wasn't really all that scary. All the needles and stuff. It wasn't that bad. I'll tell you what the scariest thing is to me - the scariest thing to me is Johnny. It is. He didn't say nothin'. Not one word. At least I don't know what it is, and I think he really did want it, too. Just a boy - you know how I know? I heard him tell your pa to paint the cradle brown. You just wouldn't put a baby girl in a brown cradle. You just wouldn't." --ashley, junebug |
| i saw 'the happening' today, and i also read the range of reviews (pans, mostly). i think something beyond mere film criticism is going on, here. m night shyamalan's garnered a reputation for arrogance and ineptitude, and while i'm not gonna say he's the geniusest genius to come down the pike, i'm still farther in his tank than i am in most other directors. i think the attacks (reviews) are personal. i think these overblown smackdowns are grounded in a profound disillusionment about m night. and people, he's human, okay? we get it. he also is one of the few directors released in mainstream distribution who even attempts to tell original stories, rather than recycling the safe bets, the sequels and remakes clogging theaters across the country. each of his movies i've seen ('sixth sense', 'unbreakable', 'signs', 'lady in the water', 'the village', and 'the happening') posited an idea worth exploring, offered plausible (within their genres) scenarios, and provoked thought and discussion. his movies often have an allegorical fairytale feel to them, fantastical situations for his everyman characters to navigate, and elements of the spiritual/metaphysical. he builds suspense with implication, allows his characters to develop at a realistic pace, and each movie has given me something to chew on afterward--the importance of place and time in society, our definition of identity and destiny, the poetry of belief in the face of the impossible, the contradiction of power in the powerless...all set in wonderfully creative worlds where reality is open to interpretation. i feel something profound when leaving the theater after watching one of his movies: a renewed love for stories. what more could we ask from a storyteller? and why are so many people angry when he proves himself to be imperfect? anyway, most people are slamming his work and have been since 'the sixth sense', and as far as i'm concerned they're small-minded axe-grinders who should wipe the slate clean and watch his movies again, this time with an open mind. there. i said it. today's quote: "Plastic. I'm talking to a plastic plant. I'm still doing it." --elliott moore, 'the happening' (movie released in june....it's a stretch, but screw it. )** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| jeebus, i've been away for a week?! hm. didn't seem that long. busy busy busy! i've discovered an image website which is truly inspiring--new images uploaded every day, and my brain just fires away, looking at them. lots of ideas, if you're looking. check it out: http://pixdaus.com/ in other news, dragonfly~guess who's back? turned me on to a writing program, designed to help writers organize and troubleshoot their novel. i'm loving it so far! my novel's loaded into it, and i'm getting all sorts of ideas to help with those pesky plot holes and loose ends. it's downloadable software ($40) at: http://www.mynovel.biz/Default.aspxi'm all full of links today, but not much else. thppt. hope you guys are all good-- |
| today went well, i think. i'll make up my mind after a few days, see how the conversations settled. sometimes people seem fine, when they're just ruminating...but having the talks felt good, like i did the right thing. and i even kept outta the ice cream. big thanks to nice reikidreamer for the encouragement. today's quote: "How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?” --dr seuss! have a wonderful night, y'all! |
| so, i've got to have a difficult conversation tomorrow at work. i know essentially what i need to say, and the hopeful outcome, but i'm never good at these things. ironically, i left management because of these conversations but here i am, having one. *sigh* i hope it works out to a happy balance. the alternative may be my looking for another job, which would be a shame. so, i'm clenched. on other fronts, my imagination is clenched, too, so no writing. i played silly online fashion makeover games for a little while, hoping to drown my worries in design fantasies...i transferred my anxiety to girly things, instead. not much better...thinking about ice cream....avoiding ice cream.....okay, i'm all right now. still clenched, but not eating ice cream.  ...ice cream sounds really, really good right now. maybe if the talk goes all right tomorrow, i'll reward myself. tonight's quote: “How dreary - to be - somebody! How public - like a frog - to tell your name - the livelong June - to an admiring bog!” --emily dickinson |
| hi, everybody! man, was i having a slump. no activity anywhere online past a sullen glance at various politico websites, off my sleep, on my feed. i was mighty discouraged, wondering why i kept at this writing stuff. why i ever thought i had what it takes to 'make it'. well, i'm still wondering (), but i have also found inspiration anew! if you've never visited the website www.ted.org, give it a go. i've never seen a site like it. loads of thoughtful videotaped lectures on a wide variety of themes and subjects, many by people you've heard of--scientists, philosophers, pop culture icons...lots of really good stuff. i was cruising around, and found one which really hit home for me. check out j j abrams' talk on 'the mystery box': http://www.ted.com/speakers/view/id/182 he stammers a lot, but the message is good, and he's entertaining. here's today's stumpy fiction, after a four day drought:
not fabulous, but it exists! june quote: "Madeleine: You like this one? George Johnsten: Makes me happy... but I'm gonna buy the UFO." --'junebug' have a great night, y'all--skip barefoot through the summer grass (or shag carpet) for me. |
| i'm supposed to be working on several things right now: *blogging (hey, i'm doing that!  )*making notes on d's chapters 3-6 *writing 2 daily stories for my june challenge *critiquing stories in both scribophile & wdc worlds i'm just outta gas, today. plus, today's kinda weird. i have to go to bed at 6pm, because i'm in to work tomorrow at 3am. we've got our annual inventory tonight, and i'm part of the cleanup crew, so to speak. so, i've got 4.5 hours to get all tat done. i'm thinking it's not gonna happen. sorry, d. “And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days” --james russell lowell |
| someone made a comment today in conversation about how every once in a while i'll say something like "the old laurie". i haven't thought much about how i might have changed over the past eight years (how long i've known this person). another one of those surprising moments, when your overall understanding of yourself is turned a wee bit on its ear, and in a few ways. i never really felt people hit a certain age and then stay just like that until they die. unless, i guess, they die right after hitting that certain age... . i've always thought the opposite; that people are on a continuous journey, exploring new ideas, new experiences...so it's funny i didn't think of it. i'm usually so self-obsessed. so, how have i changed? hm. well, to this person's point, i was more outgoing, more "outrageous" then. i had a tendency toward making statements that were--on the surface--innocuous, but easily interpreted otherwise. but i'd say these things without any pre-thought. i was a great straight man. (no, i haven't changed THAT much...you know what i mean. see?? that was one right there! ) i wore more revealing clothes, i'd flirt with anyone. i'd tackle a few choice workbuddies when we were in the store before hours. i was big into hugging, tactile affection in general. no big surprise that i met p eight years ago. now, i'm more insular, more settled -- natural, i imagine -- MUCH happier. a little heavier . more focused and unfocused, both. focused on writing, less focused on details, it seems. which may not bode well for the writerly side of things......but there it is. i'm more confident, more opinionated. more comfortable with being cared for, and taken care of. i think overall, i like myself better now. one weird thing: i don't go out of my way to listen to music much anymore. i used to be fairly informed about what was going on -- the 80s & 90s were my era of supremo alterno-rock influences -- and working in a book & music store helps me stay hooked in more than the average joe, i guess. but i used to just sit and listen to music. not as a background for some different activity, or as a mood setting. as the main event. i remember blissing out to "nothing's shocking" by jane's addiction, "bug" by dinosaur jr, "perfect from now on" by built to spill, "surfer rosa" by the pixies, spacemen 3, mudhoney, butthole surfers, garbage, many more albums i forget the names of, now. i never was big on knowing titles, but i knew albums. i just don't seem to have time, anymore. or the inclination, apparently. hm. of course, right now i'd kill to hear "bruise violet" by babes in toyland...i'm gonna go take a wee trip to youtube. have a wonderful evening, filled with longing and lyrics. "we got busted in june when the cops found our spoon by the light of the moon" --johnny hart & brant parker |
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