I've been writing both here and off-line while focusing on getting organized for more writing. Hunger is now getting more body to it, and while the piece remains here, it has already morphed off line into something with more meat on its bones. I do believe I'll take one of my other pieces, Twinkle, and give it a good going over as well for final submission. All this over the coming weeks.

I have fallen back in love with poetry, though we went through a twenty year separation, we remained friends. Now expect to see the occassional poem show up in my portfolio and certainly several are also filling up my notebook off-line. I have re-discovered just how beneficial poetry can be to shaping the quality of all other writing one does. I find this especially true for my writing when I challenge myself with a difficult format, such as the Paradelle, which I discovered here on WDC.

My thanks to all who have provided valuable feedback recently, I believe my writing will continue to improve thanks to this wonderful community.

Back to writing. Expect more soon.
 

Following the disconnect, I embarked on a quest to refine my method off-line. As a result, I have completed and submitted a number of projects. Some are still in review, I have fingers crossed.

Upon returning, here, to my on-line writing home, I found pleasant surprises, encouragement and feedback. I am grateful to all of you, for keeping an eye out, even when mine had been struck blind by hot pokers.

The projects in this portfolio, many of them, have their place in my body of work. I will return to polish and complete them soon. However, I am devoted to my current project, which I wish to submit for evaluation in this quarter.

As soon as I have given that my full attention, I will return to address some of the portfolio pieces I began here. I believe I will start by curing the hunger for Hunger. It is very closely tied in with my other works, though from a different angle. A switch in perspective is always very healthy.

For those of you who expressed interest in more of that work, I believe I can now satisfy your appetite and delight your palate. Expect good things.

My thanks to EvilDawg for the awardicon and merit badge on 'The Big Squeeze.' I was surprised and flattered. Expect more from me, in future, of the outer limits, as well.
 

Despite technical difficulties. Expect more.
 

Between the Flu, the Computer Connections, and the Making Merry, I've left this blog without updates far too long. I have been working on my various projects in between, but I'm coming back to work. The Cruelest Month and Hunger will be my primary projects for completion in the coming weeks. Though, finishing the edits and preparing the submissions on my #NaNoWriMo project Check Mate is also a big item on the To-Do.

It's a full plate, and I'm looking forward to every bite.


 

I have been recovering nicely, but awoke from my fevers with visions of a Scotsman and a witch; likely fractions of delusional dreams brought on by high temperatures in a cold climate. Still, as my forehead cooled, they did not disappear. They were there, I could sense them, and I wasn't sure why, what they wanted to tell me, or why I should listen. This morning I awoke to find my world decorated in frosting, and I gave the little jump of glee and they little cry of "Yipee!" The snow did far more than make me happy, it reminded me again of the Scotsman and the Witch, and I knew that they had something in common with the white flakes, but I did not know just what. Then, as I thought of them, I remembered, a battle, a cave, a world lost in endless Winter. The Cruelest Month has been born (with thanks to Mystic_Writer for helping me tweak the title) and now it will be growing along with my other children. Each must have their time, but this Scotsman must have his say, and this witch needs to cast a spell.
 

No. I didn't. Don't worry. I did have some interesting and persistent computer issues that were keeping me off-line quite a bit, and as icing on the cake I caught Le Flu. I am healing quite nicely and soon will be back up to full steam ahead working on the projects, but I am giving myself the chance to be strong, because the screen was bothering my eyes quite a bit, during the illness.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Holiday Season.

Watch this space.

Much excitement to come.


 

First of all, let me say: WDC you rock! Thanks soooo much for putting up snowmen! I have know idea how you knew they were my favorite, but they are. This is is now one very cool site.

I wanted to share with all of you that I finished the second in my Hyper-Scribnia posts on the NaNoWriMo experience entitled Check Mate: Behind the scenes or 'Pass the Midol.' With special guest appearance from Kermit the Frog and Debbie Harry. I'm providing a link to that article here:

http://hyperscribnia.blogspot.com/2009/12/check-mate-behind-scenes-or-pass-midol...

In the post I cover the stumbling blocks I found on my road to completion, and what I will do differently as I continue to work on my writing. I also give credit and a big shout out to all my pals here on WDC, without whom, let's face it, this would have been much lonelier and harder work.

WDC you have my eternal gratitude for providing such an exceptional on-line writers office, for all the tools, the tips, the features and the support.

Much Love,

Clarisa




 

Well, I spent sixteen quality hours yesterday giving Check Mate it's own promotional blog. Find it here:

http://checkmatethenovel.wordpress.com/

This was really fun to work on and it gave me the opportunity to highlight the key points of the work in a manner that may help me to prepare submissions, once the editing work is done. It provides a lot of visually entertaining links to themes and issues that arise in the novel. Check it out. I believe you'll find something you'll like.

Editing commences this week. I expect to be adding more than subtracting, because I wrote the peace in a fairly streamlined fashion already. But I might be surprised, who knows. Once I do the basic clean up of the annoying typos, grammatical errors, and missing Character names or improperly assigned character names (I do that sometimes) I will have a draft ready for review within the WDC Community.

I am also preparing a summary of why and how NaNoWriMo was a positive experience for me entitled Check Mate: behind the scenes or 'What else did I have to do this November?' Here's the link:

http://hyperscribnia.blogspot.com/2009/11/check-mate-behind-scenes-or-what-else....

Another post on the trials and trepidations, the lows and the pain, and how to manage them, churning them into success, will follow. It is entitled Check Mate: behind the scenes or 'Pass the Midol.' I'll put a link up as soon as it is done.

Bottom line. Yes. It was a good thing to do NaNoWriMo. A very good thing. Will I be doing it again next year? Definitely.

In fact, I already have Script-Frenzy, from the same team that brings you NaNoWriMo on my calendar for April 2010. Can this prose writer manage a script? We're going to find out.

Have fun whatever you are doing, and whatever you are doing, I hope you're writing about it.
 

Of course, you and I both know the work has only just begun, but it is a coherent well flowing story, with a structure, good characters and those essential three elements: a beginning, a middle, and an end. I'm going to start editing and releasing tid-bits for review here, and asking all the great critical minds I've had the pleasure to meet on WDC to rip it to shreds and make it tight.

I'm very proud of having taken this goal on and accomplished it. I learned very much, and I will be writing a blog post of the experience in summation tomorrow out of one of my other blogs and posting a link here.

For all the encouragement and strength to get this done, I am grateful to my colleagues here on WDC and on Twitter.

Now to go back and edit this, tackle the conclusion of Twinkle, and address my Hunger.

(And oh yeah! Finish those other two short stories I still have in draft form.) Good. I won't be bored these coming weeks.
 

And it's finally here! Sure, I'm not living in the states right now, and I'm having Pizza for dinner today, but that is irrelevant. Today is the day that Check Mate finally makes the NaNoWriMo goal and reaches its ultimate conclusion. Well, of course, the conclusion has already been reached, and I've just been tying up pieces for days. You know that if you read my posts and Tweets already (you read 'em right?). Anywho..

I'm putting this thing in high gear and having a lot of fun doing it. I hope the story will be fun for the reader in the end too. That is certainly the goal.

I realize that in the coming weeks, I'll have a lot of editing and cleaning up to do, but, as promised, I will be opening up the story (part of it anyway) to you for comments and ideas on whether it's really a Wild Turkey or just stuffed.

Whatever you are doing today, enjoy it.