Character Portrait: The Brief

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 some of the Heroes graphic novels for NBC.  I stopped by hoping for some behind-the-scenes info and/or spoilers, and stuck around because I liked his art and his funny stories.  *g*  When I emerged from the self-induced haze that was my last days finishing OHN and started reading my blog subscriptions again, he was posting about commissioned portraits he had done, and I decided I had to have one.

So I zipped off an e-mail and received his reply in short order.  Could I prepare a "brief" outlining what I wanted, and then we could work out terms and details.  I set to work.

The Brief

My brief...was anything but.  As regular readers may know, it's hard for me to "write short" hehe.  What I sent Jason was a 10-page, single-spaced Word document full of descriptions and pictures, explaining my thoughts on pose, emotions, detailed info on each character, ideas for background, etc.  Some highlights:

Pose: leaning towards ¾ of both.  (Or perhaps ¾ of one and full frontal of the other?)  I'd like them standing close to each other, touching in some way, but not in full contact.  (Okay, this is for a romance novel, but I'm not looking for bodice-ripping cover art here.  *g*  However, I do want their pose(s) to indicate their relationship – which includes friendship, trust, and deep love/affection.  In other words, a casual pose that still conveys their connection.)

One way would be have Elspeth standing slightly in front of Alec, and both of them angled – like / – again in ¾ profile.  Alec's back hand could be on her shoulder or waist.  (His free hand could maybe be on his sword-hilt.) ...

I then went on to offer a few other ideas on pose and then went into the characters.

DETAILED INFO: 

Okay, here's the kicker: this is time-travel, so the characters are from two different centuries, about 300 years apart.

Alec (Alasdair Colin MacGregor) is a Scottish Highlander from 1691.  This means full kilt (the big, cloak-y kind), bloused shirt, bonnet, dirk, sword (basket-hilted broadsword), sporran…the whole shebang.

Elspeth (Elizabeth Renee Martin) is a modern twenty-first century physicist.  I see her in jeans and a t-shirt, possibly with her knapsack or a bo staff.  Oh!  And the crystal.  (I'll get to that in a minute.)

So, the specs for each character…

ALEC MacGREGOR

General appearance:  He has shoulder-length chestnut (reddish brown) hair, very blue eyes, dimples.  He's right at 6 feet tall, muscular but not bulky (think lean and strong – he's a warrior, trained to fight with a sword and walk the Highlands all his life, not a scrap of fat on him, his muscles are well-defined but he's not a bodybuilder…or, for that matter, a typical comic-book hero).

I went on here to give him the chunk of MS where Elspeth meets him for the first time and thus he is described.  Also a handful of pictures of Martin Henderson and others that I used for reference, and quite a few screenshots from the movie Rob Roy and pics of men in Great Kilts for clothing reference, along with close-ups of basket-hilted broadswords and Doune pistols, etc...

ELSPETH MARTIN

General appearance:  Mousy brown, slightly-wavy hair, just past shoulders; large, dark brown eyes, oval face.  She's 5'6", 140 pounds, size 12, 34B cup size (not huge breasts! on the small/average side).  She carries her weight through thighs and butt, so a little bottom heavy but not grossly disproportionate or lumpy – still very attractive.  (Alec calls her his "callipygian Venus".) 

She's a trained fighter herself, a black-belt in kempo, and she carries herself like it.  Aside from a little extra fluff (mainly on her rear, see above), she's pretty fit and athletic.

I don't have as many pictures of her, mainly because I haven't found a real-life counterpart.

I gave him what I had for Elspeth - mainly a Yahoo! avatar and a few other odds and ends, suggested some accessories, mentioned the crystal, and then suggested Kilchurn (where else?) as the background image and gave him the Flickr links to the pics you see here on the blog whose photographers generously gave me permission to use them.

He was impressed with my thoroughness, and likened my writing to his art: they both required a lot of research to do well.  I could tell already this would turn out to be great, but life intervened for both of us.  I got pulled away from the book for a few months, and he took on a few major projects that kept him busy.  We left things at the brief stage until about 2 weeks ago...

Sharing Friday

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.  It's pretty rough, but I think it might just be diamond.  Hard to tell in this light…" 

He stood up out of the shadows where they'd pitched the picnic blanket, and wandered along the wall into the sunlit space of the former bailey to get a better look.

"Nate, stop where you are."

Her warning registered, eventually, but not before he'd taken a few more steps.  A low chiming sounded from somewhere—it seemed close, but he couldn't locate it—and he was startled to feel the crystal grow warm in his hand.

"Hey, Lisbet, check this ou—" He looked up at his sister, grinning, only to see on her face a look of such terror that he stopped mid-syllable.  "What?"

"Nattie!  Drop the bloody stone and get the hell away from there as fast as you can!"

He looked down at the crystal in his palm, still warm and now giving off a faint glow, and back again at the others.  Alec had already scooped up Colin, he saw, and was sprinting from the spot as fast as he could manage.  Which, given his brother-in-law's ground-eating lope, was pretty fast indeed.

Elspeth herself seemed torn, perched on the balls of her feet as if to run after her family, but with one arm outstretched to him to pull him back from whatever abyss she could see yawning behind him.

"Now, Nattie!  Drop it now!"

Tag Line

[Well, the other "missing" posts finally showed up so hopefully e-mail blogging is working again.  We'll see.]

 

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 friends and people who liked the book would add it.  Okay, well, forgive me my delusions of grandeur *w* but I was trying to come up with a tag line for OHN and this just popped up.

 

Two times...One destiny.

 

Or somesuch.  I'll be playing with this in my head a bit.

 

Too corny?  Too cliche?  Too vague?

 

Suggestions?  And if you could come up with a tag line for your OWN book, what would it be?  (I know, the $64,000 question, right?)

 

Keep an eye out for upcoming posts on the different stages of the project (see below post for teaser pics), just as soon as I get access to my data stick and some free time to write it up.

Testing...

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

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 comment and tell me how YOU see them.

Hints

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 the one doing most of the work.

 

*I cannot imagine writing another book without doing this kind of project.  Before or after it is finished, I can't decide.

 

*After the "big reveal" (hopefully tomorrow) I plan a series of posts walking through the entire process step-by-step.

 

*If the book is ever published, I can use this project for promotion.

 

I really hope you guys think this is as cool as I do.  As long as I'm happy with it (and I am so far!) I guess that's the most important thing.  But I'll feel kind silly for all this secrecy if everyone's just like "oh, that's it?"  *g*

I've Been Tagged

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.

 

Hmmm...I've told a lot already but I'll see if I can come up with anything new and interesting.

 

1.) I've never lived anywhere outside of Kentucky.

 

2.) Despite my best efforts, I cannot speak with a Scottish accent.  (Cockney, yes - thanks to Monty Python.  I can even manage a passable Irish.  But no' Scottish, alas.)

 

3.) I changed majors - from chemistry to physics - halfway through college, and chose not to take the single remaining chemistry class that would have gotten me a chem minor.  (I did minor in mathematics, and was 1-3 classes away from additional minors in history and psychology.)

 

4.) I am a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician as of March 28th, 2008.  (Ask me about car seats - Precie already did!)

 

5.) The first book I ever wanted to write was a Star Trek (Originial Series) novel featuring a Chekov, Uhura, Sulu, and a new Russian lieutenenant named Natasha.  I was in 7th grade.

 

6.) I am related to both Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S Grant.  Also Henry Clay (by marriage) and Mary Todd Lincoln.  I am eligible to join the DAR because my great-great-great-great(?)-grandfather, Benjamin Berry, fought in the Revolutionary War and recieved a share of a 5800 acre land grant to settle in Kentucky.

 

Tags: Cindy, Beth, Jo, Brooke, Shaylin, Aerin

Project Update

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

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 a hint: remember I said I needed to "reconnect" with my characters?  Well, I'm connecting!

In case you missed it on Facebook

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

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 Contest

Their 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 LOLspeak.  For tips on the latter, check here.  And for total immersion - the quickest route to fluency - try here.)

It cuts both ways...

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, too.  Which I have been doing since Monday.  To the point of constantly staying logged into my e-mail and pouncing on any new message as it arrives.

 

So far, nothing, but I imagine those of you in this hemisphere might hear my "squeeeee" when what I'm waiting for comes through.

 

Until then, patience, young Grasshopper...

 

(Oh, and I didn't make it over to the workshop last night, partly because I was miffed at my MIL and had to go have a nice vent with the other good ladies at the BabyCenter carseats board, and partly because I decided to skim through my DVR'd episode of Dancing With the Stars and see who got the boot.  And then I got sucked in by The Deadliest Catch - now THAT's reality TV.  But I'll be a good girl tonight.)

In Progress

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 storyboards and timelines and dossiers should come in really handy.  Oh, and the automatic saves and change-tracking and word counting, and all that.  *g*

 

I think I'm going to head over to the Forum's sister workshop tonight and cash in some long-held critique credits (from NARC...now FAKING IT...did I mention "long held"? hehe).  I hope there's not an expiration date on crits!  It should be enough to let me get my first five chapters or so up, and then I'll see how that goes and decide whether or not to keep critting in order to run all 34 chapters + epilogue of OHN through the workshop.

 

I also submitted a short (750 words - boy, that was tough to keep down!) synopsis and the original rough draft of my first 5 pages to Barbara for the Next Level Workshop on revising fiction.  I *know* I'm not happy with the first 5, and told her as much, and I basically threw the synopsis together in an afternoon in order to submit it to her.   She hasn't gotten back to me yet, so I'm hoping the slap-dash passed muster.  I think if I am able to participate the course will really do me good.  Nothing like paying a fee and working under a deadline to keep Jenny motivated.  *g*

Happy Dance

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 cleared my mind and finally gave my lagging momentum the extra jolt needed to get working.  Work I did, and work I will.  Rewrites, here I come (for real this time!)...

Catharsis

Okay, I've had this growing burden for the past couple months and I just have to get it off my chest: I'm pissed at myself.  PISSED.  (And for my international readers, I mean that in the angry sense, not the drunken one.  *g*)

Why?  Mainly for completely avoiding the Firsts Workshop and missing the opportunity of a lifetime as far as being at the point where I needed exactly that kind of advice.  I dunno, maybe I just wasn't in the right "place" mentally or emotionally with the story to get as involved as I needed to be.  But I just can't accept my own excuse.  And I feel that terrible triad of shame, anger, and guilt for the shortcoming.

The guilt, I think, is largely responsible for my hesitancy to re-enter the Forum and get back into the writing world.  Visiting CompuServe and seeing all the posts from the Firsts Workshop - and all the posts referencing those posts - would be one slap in the face after another.  "See!  See what you missed out on!  See what you SHOULD have been doing?"

And of course those spin off into feeling utterly lost and adrift with regard to rewrites.  I'm growing to despise even the memory of my opening, because I know in my gut it's not "right".  And I know that in the (sub) genre I'm writing in It. Has. To. Be. Right. or an agent won't spare my story a second glance.  And I've already run through 6-7 different versions of just my first 300 words or so and I'm not satisfied with ANY of them.

So who needed an intensive firsts workshop more than anyone?  Me!  Who's paralyzed because she didn't participate?  Me!

I do of course realize that most of the people who were the instigators/major participants in said workshop happen to be my friends and [probably] reading this blog, but I'd feel crappy to ask you do to it all over again with me when I had the golden opportunity and dropped it.

There's always the sister workshop, but not everyone whose opinion I value and would have wanted participates over there.  Still, some help is better than none, I suppose.  And I'm considering doing an intensive revising workshop, but it co$ts and for all that I make decent money, we're still a single-income family on a fixed budget.  I can't justify dropping $400 here for a commissioned portrait (hence my determination to raise the money on the side) and $700 there for a writing workshop.  Especially since I work 50-55 hours a week as it is, so the "free" (ha) time available to try to earn extra cash is practically nonexistent.  My big moneymaker research study fell through, and spending 4 precious hours a week donating plasma for a spare $45 or so will take for-ev-er.  I'm running out of options.

But I do feel better at least publicly owning up to my mistake of not participating and acknowledging the trickle-down effect it's having on my writing.

And I actually did venture on to the Forum this evening.  I skimmed some threads and looked for something to catch my interest but I think I need to reconnect with my characters before I can get back to actively writing.  I let them go off on a honeymoon of sorts, after finally getting their HEA, and I need them back fresh and vibrant in my head.  If Jas ever has enough time to get back to his commissions, I think the portrait will go a long way in that regard.  Until then, I've got my "soundtrack" playing - I swear, this music is inextricably linked with the book now, since it was on a continuous loop my last few intense days of writing - and I'm visualizing the characters and just trying to get back into the "zone".

The silver lining in all of this is that I finally feel motivated to do something, anything, to move forward on this book again.  My other "distractions" are much less of a temptation to me even tonight than they were this afternoon at work.  Just don't anyone send me Flair on Facebook; that stuff is addictive and time-consuming.  *w*

Fortune Cookie

A vendor brought lunch in for our department today and it was PF Chang's (posh Chinese).  I had trouble opening my fortune cookie and the reason ended up being I got a "triple" fortune.  I guess the machine that cuts the strips missed a couple cuts.  Anyway, here's what they said (in order):

 

Do not let great ambitions overshadow small success.

 

You are a lover of words, someday you should write a book.

 

Doors will be opening for you in many areas of your life.

 

I swear, I'm not making this up.  Guess I'd better get on those rewrites, huh?  Sounds like I'm going to get published.  At least, that's how I read it.  *g*

My Haunts

So, when I'm not blogging - which is pretty often, lately - where am I [spending inordinate amounts of my day] online?  Here are my main haunts:

 

CompuServe Books & Writers Forum

(I know, I've been MIA since February sometime...but I'll be back soon.  Once I can get over my fear of being ovewhelmed by all the catching up I have to do!)

 

BabyCenter Car Safety Tips

(Aka "the car seats board" - I'm back on there now that I'm a CPST.)

 

China Adopt Talk

(I keep telling myself "you've got 3 years...give it a rest until then" but I'm like a moth to flame with adoption stories!)

 

Archwired.com Metal Mouth Message Board

(For adults in braces.)

 

I Can Has Cheezburger

(Nothing like LOLcats to brighten your day!)

 

Other places I might pop into:

my local playgroup's message board (you have to be a member to see it)

Facebook (about once a week or when I get a notification)

iGoogle and/or GoogleReader (LOTS of time here!)

local news websites

MSN.com (I know, the Evil Empire! *g*)

Laws of [Writing] Motion

I realized today that my writing momentum is very much governed by Newton's First Law (humor me, I'm a physicist).  To wit: when I'm clipping along, I keep clipping along, and it takes a lot to slow/stop me.  But conversely, when I've stopped writing for whatever reason (even a planned break), it is really hard to get moving again.

I should be well into rewrites.  In actuality, I'm only halfway through the lists I made a few posts down.  I partly blame the return of Dancing With the Stars, my only reality TV guilty obsession.  I largely blame sheer exhaustion.  Every night after Little Boy goes down, I feel like collapsing, myself.  Quite a few times this past week, I've passed out cold on the couch and slept HARD from about 8:30-9 pm until DH finishes his schoolwork and wakes me for bed.  At first I thought it was just the past 18 months (creeping up on 2 years!) of sleep deprivation - from the book, not my son! - catching up to me, but then I realized I haven't been taking my vitamins/iron supplements for a little over a month.  I'm borderline anemic and I start to notice when my iron levels drop, so maybe that's it.  I made sure to pick some up at Wally World tonight and took them already.  Hopefully they'll kick in soon.

For now I'm off to work...yes, you read that right.  We've got a patient starting tomorrow that requires QA (quality assurance) tests on his treatment plan beforehand.  But I couldn't get on the accelerator this afternoon because our service engineer had to replace some parts that should have come in Monday.  He said it would be a 5 hour job.  So, witness me, heading back to work at 10 pm to do 2 hours worth of tests and hopefully be home and in bed not much after 1 am.  I love my career, I really do, but sometimes...

Breaking the Silence

I do still exist!  But I'm practically offline this week (I haven't checked my e-mail in 48 hours, if you can believe it of me) as I am taking a weeklong course to become a car seat "tech" - the official term is Child Passenger Safety Technician, or CPST.  So I'm away from the computer all day and by evening I'm brain fried. 

I can't say for certain when I'll get back to writing full-time, though I am getting closer with every day and each thing I can mark off my list (see goals post below).  For now, ask me about Emergency Locking Retractors with lightweight locking latchplates and how that would affect the installation of a convertible child restraint with a rear-facing tether.  *g*

I can't believe I missed it!

Talk Like a Physicist Day

 

Way cooler than pirates.  *w*

 

Ah, well.  Only another 357 days, 8 hours, and 19 minutes.  I'll be prepared next time...

Strike!

Oops, I didn't get the memo.  But that's okay, I haven't been working for 2 months anyway...

Novelists Strike Fails to Affect Nation

My favorite quote: "While the strike has been joined by an estimated 250,000 novelists—225,000 of whom have reportedly stopped in the middle of their first novel..."

Ahaha.  *g*  I've got a lot of work ahead of me, and I may not ever get published (though I certainly plan to try) but I. By. God. Finished. My. Novel.

Still fighting crud, though it's devolved into just a constant sniffle/runny nose and occasional cough with concomitant hoarseness.  Card party tonight with church friends.

Still working on a beta read.

Crud

I has it.

 

Starting yesterday morning I had a sore throat.  That's always how it begins with me.  That got worse and by last night had morphed into sore throat/upper respiratory congestion.  Today it's sore throat/upper respiratory congestion/runny nose/sneezing/occasional cough/low grade fever/general malaise.

 

Joy.  Looks like o.j. and ginger ale (virgin screwdriver? or would that be a virgin mimosa? at any rate, it's an excellent drink when you're sick).

 

Thankfully my workload has been light, and I plan to leave at a relatively normal time this afternoon.  Don't know how much use I'll be tonight, though.  It always happens when I get motivated to "do stuff".

 

Unrelated note: the previous post was my 300th post.  Wow.

 

Oh, and I got notified today that my results weren't consistent enough to remain in the NASA research study, so now I have to find another way to finance half of my portrait commission.  Pooh.  At least it seems I've got time to do so...  I'd really hoped to avoid resorting to plasma donation (too much time) but it's a plan B if I need it.

Review: The Perils of Pleasure

The Perils of Pleasure

Julie Anne Long

 

First off: don't be fooled by the title OR the cover of this book.  They seem to be stock romance novel title and cover, and they seem to have relatively little if anything at all to do with the book itself.  (Not the author's fault, of course.)  Good thing I read the description, or I might have passed it over entirely.

 

The premise is:  Colin Eversea has been framed for a murder he didn't commit, but as he is about to be hanged he is saved by a "clever - and beautiful - mercenary" (per the back cover copy) named Madeline Greenway who was hired to rescue him, but who then becomes a target in her own right.  The two of them have to join forces and clear his name while figuring out who tried to kill her and why, and who set him up in the first place.  And of course they fall in love along the way.

 

Plot.  It was a bit convoluted (as others have complained) but I feel like I was able to follow it pretty well.  (I liked the very first Mission: Impossible movie, too.  Before Tom Cruise got weird.)  Most of the resolutions made sense, though one of the big reveals - perhaps THE big reveal - was a bit underwhelming.  I felt it needed more closure, but maybe she was leaving room for subplots in future books. 

 

Writing style.  Well, my first impression was that I liked Long's voice.  She adds snappy one-liners and quirky, witty observations that were fun to read.  Some parts read as a bit over-written, though (prologue included), and I did wonder why all the working-class characters in the book seemed to speak with Scots accents, rather than Cockney.  And the head-hopping...I guess I've just trained myself to think in very strict third limited and so the head-hopping, which felt clumsy to me at first but may very well be legitimate third-omni, threw me a bit until I just got used to it and let it slide.

 

Characters.  I did come to like Colin, perhaps because we spend so much time in his head, but elements of his character didn't jive with me.  As others have pointed out, his professed love for Louisa didn't ring true (though he does realize his delusion at the end of the book, which ameliorated my annoyance somewhat).  And he seems an honorable sort, despite constant - and I do mean constant - references to his reputation as a rake.  Again, his own confessions and personal realizations make that easier to stomach, but still, it feels like the author felt the romance hero should be a rake (for the sexual experience, maybe?), when she really wanted him to be honorable, and we were just told he was a rake over and over to make us believe it.

 

I wanted Madeline to be a little more badass and sure of herself than she was.  C'mon...beautiful, clever mercenary?  She is very...competent, but even that wasn't consistent, as she didn't realize she had bad gunpowder at first but we're supposed to expect she's a crack shot and knows firearms in general for the rest of the book.  Don't those kind of things go together?  And we were kept from knowing her past for a long time, I guess to make her more intriguing but really just making her a more distanct character.  When her past life and how she became a mercenary (a slightly misleading term for her, btw) is finally reveal, it too was a little underwhelming.  I did come to feel more for her as a person - the thought of losing my husband and/or young son strikes fear deep, deep into my heart - but I remained unconvinced.  I guess some parts of her didn't live up to the idea of her I formed from the back cover copy.

 

But I did believe in how Madeline and Colin's relationship developed - even if it was on a condensed timeline under stressful circumstances - and I was glad when they got together in the end.  (But still, more loose strings: what about the farm in America she scrimped and saved to pay off?)

 

Overall I consider the book an enjoyable escapist (hardy har) read.  I will certainly look for and purchase books by this author in the future, but she hasn't yet impressed me enough to make my "permanent keepers" shelf.

 

Recommended?  Sure.

The Return

...and I'm back.

 

Didn't mean to drop off the face of the blogosphere like that, but my computer time at home was incredibly scaled back - usually just long enough to scan my blog subscriptions, check my e-mail, and respond to anything urgent (and if you're waiting on a detailed reply from me, I've been saving it until I had the time to answer fully, so that's why you haven't heard anything at all) - and at work I haven't had the time to do much of anything besides, well, work.

 

But I'd given myself until after Little Boy's birthday party to do other things, and so I have been.  We almost didn't have Little Boy's party - a late snowstorm and almost a foot of snow put the kibosh on Saturday's plans - but thankfully almost everyone could make it up Sunday instead after they got the roads clear.  So, much fun (and pizza and cake) was had by all, and now it's time for me to once again get BIC on a regular basis.

 

I'll be easing into it, likely for the rest of this month, as I also have some other commitments to catch up on.  Rather than post a set of goals, I'll put up my list and mark things off as I go:

 

To-do list:

 

Finish and post promised review of book

Finish long-overdue beta-read

Beta-read short story

Finish writing up proposed changes for OHN

Transport OHN into LSB for rewrites

Rework first page/first five pages (AGAIN) and post on Forum for comment

Catch up on Forum posts and Firsts Workshop

Respond to e-mails

Update blog

 

Non book-related:

 

Clean out aquarium

Send care package to brother

Get motor scooter serviced for riding season

Write to sponsored child in Columbia

Attend CPST class March 25-28 (yeah, I'm a carseat safety nut)

Liquid Story Binder - Get it 66% off today!!!

(Yes, I'm back.  I'd planned - still plan - a blog post discussing what I've been up to and what my plans are now, but for the moment I just wanted to get this out there...)

 

Thanks to an anonymous tip comment on my post about Liquid Story Binder XE I found out that it is being offered at 66% off today ONLY.  That's $16, folks.

 

Check it out HERE.

 

I'd been planning to purchase the full version sometime soon, as I really delve into rewrites.  Now I'm glad I waited.

 

For those who wanted Scrivener but mourn their lack of a Mac (heh), this is your answer.  And really, for $16 you can't beat it.  I highly recommend you go buy it today.

 

And for the record, I'm getting no kickbacks for this message.  Just a good deal.

Ganging aft agley...

Here's what I get for actually getting motivated to write: a crapton of work.  Not only did a deluge of due-tomorrow (meaning today) plans arrive on my desk late yesterday afternoon, but our accelerator broke down and as our other physicist was not available, guess who got to babysit until the engineers came to fix it late last night?

 

So yeah, I didn't get to work on my first page/first 100 words for the BookEnds contest until I got to work this morning.  At 8:47.  With a 9 am deadline.

 

I finished a rough draft and rushed to post it in the comments.  It went through, thankfully, but the time stamp read...9:01 am.

 

*headdesk*

 

FTR: my computer still said 8:59 and I was in the process of posting at 9 am no matter whose clock you go by, so hopefully they'll give me the benefit of the doubt.

 

If not, I'll keep working on my rewrites and just hope they like it when and if they see it as a result of my query.  And I will certainly be able to learn from their commentary on other entries.

 

C'est la vie.

Oy. Oy. Oy.

After my timely entry into the first lines workshop over at the Forum, I kinda slipped off the radar.  I intend to get back into it, hopefully with my first page, but definitely with my first chapter.  To that end, I was BIC for the first time in over two weeks last night.  Unfortunately I didn't get around to actually working on my book, and I know why.  (Besides my little side-trip on adoption research.)

 

Avoidance.

 

I know I will expend so much effort to get the first line/page/chapter *just so* that it's easier to not think about it on the evenings when I just don't have the energy/mental focus...which have been most evenings lately.

 

Because lets face it: in my subgenre, with my premise, I have an uphill battle.  There are whole groups of readers who - when and if I'm published - will buy my book on the basis of it being a Scottish time-travel alone.  (And believe me, I've met some - they're not NEARLY as picky as we writing types.  Some of the books in my subgenre that I thought were lackluster at best and terrible at worst they rave over.)  But they're not the ones who will determine if I get published, and agents especially, not to mention helpful crit partners, are generally predjudiced (that's too harsh of a word, but I can't think of a better one) against my setup from the get-go.  "Oh, another one of these?  It'd better be good..."  Which is actually a good thing, because it will make me work hard to get a perfect or nearly-so first page, and hopefully that will set the tone for all my rewrites and result in a better, tighter book overall.

 

With many thanks to my kind friends who have been helping me and the folks at CompuServe, especially Beth and Mark and everyone who's pitched in on my separate first "page" thread (the workshop is timely, but I figure since I am actually at that point in rewrites I can ask for direct, specific help as well) I have been mulling - and hopefully getting closer to - the proper format and setup for my first page.  I've been meaning to actually sit down and set-to but as I said, haven't been able to really "get into it."

 

And then this morning I see this post over at BookEnds.  (cf. the end of the post, and the new contest)

 

Oy. Oy. Oy.

 

I have until tomorrow morning to come up with some kind of decent 100 words.  At last, motivation...and a little panic.

 

Not the end of the world if I don't "win" but of course I'd like to do well, as I hope to query this agency eventually.

 

So...looks like I'll be fiddling with Elspeth's meeting with the "overly-perky" desk clerk on what should have been her wedding day off and on all day today.  Wish me luck (and good luck too if anyone else is entering!).

 

In other news, I've found a way to finance the commissioned portrait of Alec and Elspeth (it wasn't cheap) I wanted...I'm reprising my role as a professional lab rat.  Yup, the local university has quite a few research studies ongoing, and I've been in contact with a few.  They pay $50-$200 per study, for participation in 3-10 sessions of about an hour each spread over a few weeks.  If I can line up 3-4 of these, that will pretty much cover the cost of the picture.  Jason's backlogged with work and other commissions at the moment, so I should have time to get the money together.  His work is awesome; I'm sure it will be worth the wait and the various experiementation. *g*

Where's Jenny been?

So yeah, aside from the odd random post and a couple of memes, my online/blog presence has been practically nonexistent.

Thing is, I've been kind of avoiding my computer in the evenings.  Maybe it's a backlash against all the hours I spent practically chained to it for the past 6 months or so, and certainly the last weeks of my SFD-push.  I've also been working a lot, and I have stuff to do around the house, ranging from laundry to little projects to sitting on the couch watching DH play Assassin's Creed on his Xbox 360.  *g*

My "official" start time for rewrites will be after LB's birthday the first week of March.  I initially thought I'd take a month off, then decided to give myself until the end of February for an even six weeks (I think I've earned it!).  But his birthday is only another week or so beyond that, and it made sense to put major writing work off until after party plans.  And I've still got stuff to catch up on and some nights it's kinda nice to have *gasp!* actual free time.

(Even so, I'm doing a bit of story work here and there.  Some initial feedback is coming in, I'm doing the firsts workshop over at CompuServe, and I'm putting together lists of changes and arcs and added tension to hit the ground running when I do get started.  This week I really need to get over to the Forum and get into the first paragraphs thread before it blows out of all proportion, which it may well have already done, but first I have to rewrite my first page - again - so I know what my first paragraph is.  I hope to get to that tonight.  We'll see.)

All this isn't to say I haven't been online at all.  I have.  But for the past week or so (and to a lesser extent in the few weeks previous) when I've been on the internet I've been doing mostly one thing only: obsessively researching international adoption from China.

Yeah.  What's really crazy is that I'm doing so and we're not even eligible yet.  Minimum age for adoptive parents is 30.  We have 3 more years before we can even start our paperwork.

In that time, DH and I plan to have at least one more bio child (ideally in fall '09 after I pass the oral board exam for my medical physics certification).  But for years now, since about the time we were married - and before we started having kids - we have felt called to adopt a little girl from China.

I'll think about it from time to time, and research like I'm doing now, and then knowing I've got years yet before it's a possibility, the drive will go dormant until something brings it up again a few years down the road.  But over the years, the desire to adopt from China hasn't diminished, as an impulse would have.  In fact, the closer I get to 30 the stronger the desire is.

This particular go-round was prompted by the decision of a couple in our Sunday school class to adopt a little special needs boy (he's deaf, or partially so, but they think it can be corrected with surgery and hearing aids) from China.  Of course I told them of our plans, and I've been following their blog as they prepare their paperwork and hope to travel to get him this summer.  It's the closest I've been to the whole thing (it's slightly different for a special needs child, but large parts of the process are the same) in all the time since we made the decision, and it's sent me into a flurry of internet research - on the paperwork process, homestudies, the new requirements for potential adoptive parents, attachment issues and bonding, and transracial/transnational adoption attitudes within the adopting family and within society as a whole.  (I admit the idea of it being a "transracial" adoption hadn't really occurred to me.  I never thought of a potential adopted daughter as anything but that - a daughter, a child who needed a family, and one we would welcome with open hearts and arms.  But there are issues of "race" and cultural identity that international adoptive parents need to be sensitive to and able to help their child deal with as they get older, in addition to the issues associated with adoption in general.)

So for now I'm just absorbing the information and filing it away, following a few adoption blogs and websites, and trying to stay generally current without spinning my wheels uselessly for the next 3 years.  In case anyone is interested, here are a few of my recent haunts:

Adoption.com
Shaohannah's Hope
A Helping Hand Adoption Agency
China Adopt Talk
Families with Children from China (FCC)
Half the Sky Foundation

(If you go to none of the other sites, go to Half the Sky.  Have a box of tissues handy.)

Anyway, looks like no writing tonight.  LB is still crying - he's been in bed for almost 2 hours, and one of us has been up to him at least 4-5 times now - and I may have to lie down in his floor till he falls asleep.  So I'll post this and try to get him to sleep and get a few other small things done.

Oidhche mhath.

Meme

1) Are you currently in a serious relationship?

If you consider lifelong committment serious.  *g*

2) What was your dream growing up?
I wanted to be a vet that specialized in cats.  Then I wanted to be a scientist.  (Scientist won out.)

3) What talent do you wish you had?
Telekinesis.  *g*  Seriously, uh, maybe singing.  Not professionally, just decently. 

4) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
Whatever you wanted, but if I were picking it'd be a mojito or some kind of flavored daiquiri or margarita.

5) Favorite vegetable?
Broccoli.

6) What was the last book you read?
Finished?  One Night for Love by Mary Balogh.

7) What zodiac sign are you?
Taurus (anyone surprised?).

8) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.

Double-pierced ears, and one upper cartilage piercing in my right ear.  Tattoos...I have more than two but less than five.  Two involve roses, one a cross, one my son's name in Hebrew, and two of the locations are my ankle and my back.  Confused?  *w* 

 

9) Worst Habit?
I talk.  A lot.

10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
Depends.  Do you look like an ax murderer?  *g*  Honestly, I like to help people but I'm cautious when I'm out by myself.  So it would depend on the situation. 

11) What is your favorite sport?

Baseball.  (Not to play, to watch.  I don't play any sports.)

12) Do you have a Negative or Optimistic attitude?
I can be negative but I think my overall outlook on life is optimistic.

13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
Make conversation.

14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
That's a tough one.  Some bad things have happened but I feel blessed overall and know a lot of people have had it a lot worse...

15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
I can move my eyes independently of each other.

16) Do you have any pets?
Four cats, two dogs, and some fish.

 

17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
I'd welcome you in but make constant excuses for the state of the interior.  Hope you don't mind fur on your clothes...

 

18) What was your first impression of me? (hmmm...careful!)

I got this from several people's blogs, so I'm skipping this one.

19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
Meh.

20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
My thighs and butt.

21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
Heh.  What's the crime?  *w*

22) What color eyes do you have?
Dark brown.

23) Ever been arrested?
Nope.

24) Bottle or can soda?
Bottle.

25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
Sadly, pay off some debt.

What happened to 26?
A black hole.

27) What's your favorite place to hang at?
Home.

28) Do you believe in ghosts?
I believe in the supernatural.

29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
Read.  Ceramics.  Write.  Garden.

30) Do you swear a lot?
Not much.  I didn't used to at all, but my husband is a bad influence.  *w*  When I do swear, I swear like a Brit.

31) Biggest pet peeve?
Idiot drivers.

32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
Gah.  No, that's not my word!  I mean I really don't know how to answer this one.

33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
Heck yeah.  I've found my soulmate.

35) Do you believe in God?
Absolutely.

Kilt Day!

Yup, that's right.  Today, February 5th, 2008 is the Official Kilt Day!

 

Check out this site: kiltday.com

 

From the site: 

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
You don't have to be a cowboy to wear blue jeans or a cowboy hat.
You don't have to be an athlete to wear a tracksuit.
You don't have to be a pilot to wear a bomber jacket.
You don't have to be a baseball player to wear a ball cap.
You don't have to be a hunter or a soldier to wear camouflage clothing.
You don't have to be a man to wear trousers and...
You don't have to be a Scot to wear a kilt.

Now if that would only work on DH...he's got great legs.  *w*

 

A return to regular blogging soon.  I've been trying to finish a promised beta-read and get stuff done around the house before starting rewrites.  Those are looking like a major undertaking (which I kind of expected) but I really need to get everything else caught up because they will be taking a lot of my time once I start.

 

(And those of you waiting on me for Scrabulous moves, I'll try to get to them.  *g*  But I don't have as much free time on the computer at work lately, and I haven't been on the computer at all *gasp* at home in the evenings.)

SEFPC

Well, I did it.

 

I actually spent most of last night revamping the entire first 500 words of OHN  (it had to happen sometime).  But then I looked over some of the other entries and realized the ones that held my attention had treated it not as a "first 500 words" contest but an actual "first page" contest and broken off their story at a moment of high(er) tension instead of just running to the end of their tether.  I checked those wordcounts and they were closer to 300. 

 

So I went with my gut (and something similar to Christy's suggestion) and cut my own off after about 300 words at a good breaking point.  (From there she's just going outside and observing the setting until she runs into Old Teresa, which is an interesting exchange but doesn't have a good break until around the 700-word mark.)

 

Here it is, FWIW:

 

From One Highland Night (c) 2007

 

Today was supposed to be her wedding day. 

 

Elizabeth Martin should have been standing in a little church back home in Kentucky, surrounded by friends and family.  Instead, she stood in the lobby of the Loch Awe hotel, a massive granite structure in the Baronial style nestled quaintly in the Scottish highlands.  The person looking back at her was not her husband-to-be but an overly perky desk clerk who apparently didn't know the difference between polite chatter and prying.

 

If I am forced to answer one more personal question from a nosy Scot—especially that question—I will find the nearest haggis and cram it down their throat.  Sideways.

 

Outwardly, she forced a smile and accepted the brochure the clerk handed across the counter.  "No, I don't have 'a fine braw laddie' to go out on the loch with.  I'm by myself."

 

She was not going to cry.

 

The clerk shook her head, setting short, tight black curls to bouncing, and clucked her tongue.  "Ah, now that's a shame.  Pretty lass like yourself with your great dark eyes...  Did ye no' go and pick some St. John's wort last night?" 

 

Her incomprehension must have shown on her face, for the plump-cheeked young woman leaned forward over the counter and whispered conspiratorially.

 

"They say it will tell if you're to be married in the comin' year—if the flowers dinna wilt.  It's best to do it on Midsummer's Eve, ye ken.  But I'm sure it'd still work if ye tried tonight."

 

"Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for some," she lied as she turned to go. 

 

Married this year?  Not likely.  She didn't need folk tales to tell her that was not going to happen.  Doug had done so quite effectively three months ago, when she caught him making out with her best friend. 

 

She was absolutely not going to cry.

 

----

 

*Interesting side note: I was actually really getting into revamping this thing.  It gives me hope and renewed encouragement to get into rewrites (first round of many, no doubt) soon.

Where in the World is...The Spymaster's Lady?

Nope!  Not Waldo.  *g*  And not, strictly speaking, Annique herself.

 

We're talking your actual, physical copy of Joanna Bourne's wonderful book The Spymaster's Lady.  (If you haven't read it, see my review below, and then go get a copy!)

 

Take a picture of your book, with or without you in it, at a place of local interest near you.  Submit it for judging by February 16th.

 

The prizes?  A free, signed copy donated and autographed by JoB herself, and a gorgeous bookmark made of "rose quartz, amethyst and mookiate semi-precious stones, Czech and Brazilian glass, Swarovski crystal and sterling silver wire".

 

How can you resist?

 

Keep the signed copy for yourself, place beautifully marked with the one-of-a-kind bookmark from Firefly, and then you can share your other copy with friends and relatives!  (Or better yet - keep both copies and make them buy their own! *w*)

 

Head on over to Claire's blog for all the details and how to enter.

Patry Francis Blog Day

As a writer who - in my alternate guise as mild-mannered (!) medical physicist - also fights cancer, I can't help but get involved in the blog event to support author Patry Francis and her book THE LIAR'S DIARY.  Even if I am coming late to the game.

Copied from Precie, who copied it from Backspace...  *g*

----

Aside from being authors, what do Kahled Hosseini, Neil Gaiman, Jennifer Weiner, Lisa Jackson, and Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford University Irvin Yalom have in common? They're all blogging today to boost the sales of another author's novel.

Patry's Francis's debut THE LIAR'S DIARY came out in hardcover from Dutton last spring. The trade paper release is today, January 29th, but a few weeks ago, Patry was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. She's had several surgeries, and her prognosis is good, but given that she doesn't have much energy for promoting, these five authors, along with over 300 others, have banded together to do it for her.

In support of Patry Francis and this remarkable blog initiative, Penguin Group USA would like to offer 15% off the paperback edition of The Liar's Diary when purchased online from us.penguingroup.com until 2/15/2008. On the shopping cart page, enter PATRY in the 'coupon code' field and click 'update cart' to activate it.

----
copied from the Backspace web site.

Please see Lit Park for more information on how this day came about.

Torn...

Well, pretty much everyone knows about the SEFPC over at Nathan Bransford's blog.  Because I'm a glutton for punishment, too, and because someone actually recommended I enter *blush* I'm gonna toss my hat into the ring.

 

But I'm torn on exactly what to enter.

 

Oh, it's definitely the first page from OHN, which I'm relatively happy with.  But how much of it?

 

Nathan originally said up to 16 lines (I think) consitute a first page.  Well, mine's 11, though I could maybe include the next few.  But now he's saying up to 500 words, which is my first page and most all of the next one.  And I really like the punch the first page had (involving sideways-crammed haggis, hehe) by itself, which lessens slightly as you move on into the next pages and the setting up of the location and action-to-come.

 

So should I put my literal first page only, at a mere 11 lines and measley 136 words?  (And look dinky - that's "small" in American slang *g* - compared to other entries?)

 

Should I stretch it out and include the next 9 lines, which takes us to the next decent breaking point? That'd make it a total of 20 lines, and 267 words.

 

Or should I seriously rewrite the entire first 500 words and give it as much punch at the end as possible?  (Which, yah, I know I should - and likely will - do anyway, but wasn't planning on yet.)

 

Thoughts?  Comments?

 

Until then I'll keep myself busy working up a proposal for that sketch of my characters.  If I go through with it, it's gonna cost - over $300.  But, as I told DH in LOLspeak: WANT.  Want, Want, WANT!!!1!  *g*  Maybe I'll go back to selling plasma for a few weeks to pay for it...

Downtime: Week 2

I sympathized with Jen's feelings over the weekend, thinking "why isn't anyone blogging?"  Then I remembered I wasn't, either.  Heh.

Well, last week at work kicked my ass.  Worked late (meaning past 7 pm) Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.  (This after getting there around 8 am.  Yeah, I was pushing 60 hours.)  And I was busy most all of that time, so unfortunately not much blogging Forum or anything besides work.  I was lucky to see Little Boy before he went to bed.

Had Book Club with my playgroup Wednesday night, during which we discussed The Time-Traveler's Wife.  I also passed around my copy of TSL - hey, we were in a bookstore - and recommended it in case there were some closet romance readers (or anyone interested in becoming one, or who liked books about spies).  *g*

Saturday was spent almost exclusively with LB at a playgroup thing, giving DH the day off to bum around the house.  Sunday was church and then in-laws (the fun ones).

And so passed my second week of "rest" before diving into rewrites.  I'll probably do that around February 15th, give or take.

I decided this week is all about the fiction for me.  I just finished One Night for Love by Mary Balogh, one of my favorite Regency authors.  (Save TSL, I hadn't read much Regency since starting OHN, so it was a nice change.)  I'm also reading Hand of Devils and The Peculiar Princess *nods at Christy* and coming up in my TBR are the Kinsales and Woodiwiss that the good folks at the Forum recommended for me.  Also Child of Awe, which I never finished.  Hmmm...and I've got The Sixpence Bride by Virginia Farmer, another time-travel which looks good - cover art notwithstanding! - and The Highlander's Touch by Moning (I wasn't overly impressed with her first, Beyond the Highland Mist, but I've heard her later stuff is better).

Next week will be the non-fic, the craft stuff, that I was putting off reading (or rereading) until I had a first draft.  Sin and Syntax looks as fascinating as grammar books can get *g* and I have Writing the Breakout Novel by Maass (some of you *cough* may know him).  Also The Novel Writer's Toolkit - signed! - that I picked up at a Crusie-Mayer workshop.  And such staples as The First Five Pages (Lukeman), Self-Editing for Fiction Writers (Browne), and Characters and Viewpoint (Card), etc.

We'll see how many I get through.  Hopefully all the reading will get me charged up for plunging into OHN and making it really shine.

I also need to fiddle with Liquid Story Binder and get everything set up, since I think I want to do my rewrites in there and take advantage of all the nifty features it has.  I've already set up character dossiers and photo galleries for Alec and Elspeth.  I can do a timeline, storyboard, track changes, auto-backup...

Gah, it's after midnight, and tomorrow I don't get to go in late like I did today.  (I went in at 11 am this morning, after a leisurely family breakfast and some errands, thanks to my gracious and understanding boss, who suggested it after all my hours last week.  Unfortunately I was also at work tonight until almost 8 pm.  *sigh*)  So I'm for bed.

OH!  I just sent off an e-mail to a really awesome comic book/graphic novel artist (Jason Badower - see his blog here) who is accepting commissions to find out how much he would charge to do a drawing of Alec and Elspeth.  How kick-ass would that be?  Extremely kick-ass.  So I hope I can afford it and he has time to do it before his next big project.  *crosses fingers*

Burns Night

Tonight, January 25th, is the traditional night to hold a Burns Supper and celebrate his works along with Scottish culture in general and, of course, haggis!

 

In honor of the occasion, here is the famous Burns poem (from this site):

 

Address to A Haggis

by Robert Burns

 

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An' cut ye up wi' ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn, they strech an' strive:
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve,
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
'Bethankit!' hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi' perfect sconner,
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro' bluidy flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll make it whissle;
An' legs, an' arms, an' heads will sned,
Like taps o' thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o 'fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,
Gie her a Haggis!

For an English translation and more fascinating information about haggis, see this page from the World Burns Club.

 

And those of you who can enjoy the wonder that is haggis *g* tonight, please do so on my behalf!  It's banned here in the States.

Back to the Grind

(The day job, that is.)

 

After my long weekend I am rested and relaxed, though I wish I had MLK day off, too.  I indulged in some long-awaited retail therapy and boy, did I pick a good weekend to reward myself for finishing a novel - every store was having a huge sale.  I revamped my work wardrobe and got some nice casual stuff too (I needed new jeans).  All in all I got over $700 retail worth of clothes and accessories for $300 in gift cards and about $22 cash.  Bonus!

 

I also managed to get the chaos that was my not-so-walk-in closet finally cleaned out and organized and it is once again possible to "walk in" it.  Hehe.  Following my current rule that for every new piece of clothing I buy or accept as a gift, I have to remove one piece (I have way too many clothes) DH and I both ended up with 3 big bags - 6 total - of clothes for Goodwill.

 

Now I'm back at the office and it's time to catch up on some delayed work projects. 

Bracing myself

Well, Wednesday was good and not-so-good.  Having had a decent night's sleep for a change, I was very energetic.  *g*  At that point, the excitement over finishing the book really hit, and I got a little giddy.  Unfortunately, I had about 2-3 days' worth of work to do, and only one day to do it in since I was taking the long weekend.  I ended up not leaving my office until after midnight.  Bleh.

Then, as most of you know, I got braces yesterday.  For all the gory details, you can go here.

After that I went to the spa.  Man, that was awesome.  I'm talking fluffy-robe-with-chocolate awesome.  I had an hour-long custom facial, then a 20-minute "hydrotherapy" (it was basically the natural child of a bathtub and a jacuzzi), followed by a one hour massage.  I think I slept through part of the massage, hehe.  Forgot I had braces, though.  *w*

Today's been good.  Slept 10 hours last night - that's twice my recent average.  I've had hardly any pain from the braces, really, and I finally got all the Christmas stuff put away (!) as well as some laundry and general cleaning.  It's a good feeling, this getting things done...

Ten Things About Me as a Writer

Meme the second...

1. Your genre(s)?
 

Scottish time-travel romance, if you want to be specific.  (It really is a subgenre.)  More broadly: Scottish historical romance, time-travel romance, or simply Historical Romance.  I also like "Romantic Historical Fiction" as a descriptor, because it implies I'm actually making the setting, y'know...historical.

2. How many books have you completed?

ONE!!!  (Sorry, still riding that high.)  *g*

3. How many books are you working on now?

I guess two.  Just finished the SFD for One Highland Night and while I'm letting that sit prior to rewrites, I'm starting to think more about the second book, One Highland Wife, for which I actually have a plot brainstorm and several extant scenes written already.

4. Are you a linear or chunk writer?
 

I usually call myself a chunk-linear hybrid, though I like Claire's term "outlining chunker" and may steal it.  *w*  Basically, I'll chunk until I get an overall idea for the plot, then I'll write an outline so I know most of what happens, but I'll continue to write scenes out of order as they come to me, and switch back into linear for the final tying-together.

5. The POV you're most partial to?

Deep Third, a.k.a. Third Limited

6. The theme that keeps cropping up in your books?

Now you're starting to sound like my high school English teacher...  Well, in OHN it's - I think - the sacrifices we're willing to make for the one we love.  And looks like OHW will incorporate that as well.

7. How many days a week do you write?

On average, I'd say five.  I try for seven, and succeed often, but sometimes stuff comes up.  (And sometimes I take months off, despite my best intentions and still mentally working on the story.  *sigh*)

8. What time of day do you get your best writing done?

It was late evening, around 9 pm-midnight.  Lately I've been doing well in the early morning (5 am-8 am or so) as well.

9. Who are your mentors?

Depends on how you define mentor.  If it's someone who has specifically influenced my development as a writer, I'll credit most everyone at the CompuServe Books and Writers Forum.  Especially Jo(anna) Bourne, Beth Shope, and all my friends/future betas reading this blog.  *g* 

10. Who are your favorite authors to read? (different from mentors)

I still have to include Joanna Bourne here ('cause hotd@mn I loved her book and look forward to the next one).  Also Diana Gabaldon, Mary Balogh, Lisa Kleypas, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Mercedes Lackey, and many more I'm leaving out but to remember and list all of them would take ages...

Ten Things I've Done that You Probably Haven't

Looks like it's meme time in the blogosphere again.  *g*  Consider yourself tagged if you see this.

 

Gah, I live a fairly normal, boring life really.  Some of these will probably be pretty lame.  I haven't eaten grubs or gone undercover or anything like that...  *w*

 

1. I've been invited to audition for Jeopardy!  (Never got called, though - and last week a woman from my city was on and failed miserably.  I couldn't help thinking "She took my spot!"  *sigh*)

 

2. I've broken/snuck into an archaeological site in Israel (that takes care of you, Claire *w*) after hours.  (Full disclosure: I was with a group, and our guide was an IAA archaeologist with clearance to the site, and we were just running late so he took us around and we all climbed the fence and went up the back side of the tel.)  It was Tel Megiddo, the supposed site of Armageddon (from har Megiddo - mount/hill of Megiddo) if anyone's interested.

 

3. I've played the part of Satan in the wordless (okay, I'll say it - mime) drama entitled "A Tale of Two Kingdoms" while on a missions trip to Mexico.

 

4. On that same trip, I was on a bus with a woman possessed by a demon (or several).  Seriously.

 

5. I've...ah...well...you know what up on a service ledge in the tube room of a very large research Van de Graaff accelerator.  Beam wasn't on, though; it was after midnight and the lab was shut down for the night.  And at least one person reading this can say the same thing.

 

6. I have, in fact, started beam, tuned, and done research on the gamma spectrum of Te-118 (an isotope of the element tellurium) with the aforementioned Van de Graaff accelerator.  That also involved filling the HPGe detectors with liquid nitrogen.  You can have lots of fun with liquid nitrogen.  *g*

 

7. I've broken a $50,000 piece of physics beam scanning equipment by rotating a multi-ton linac (LINear ACcelerator) gantry into it while I was in grad school.  They didn't kick me out or make me pay for the repairs, thankfully.

 

8. I have a literal right to the moniker "Bahama Mama", considering my son was conceived in a cabin on the cruise ship Carnival Fascination, somewhere in the waters off Nassau.

 

9. I've solved a mathematically-impossible puzzle.  Honestly.  But I was 12 or 13 at the time, and the puzzle was presented to me as merely "hard."  I spent the better part of a day on it, found a solution, had this confirmed by quite a few people, and promptly lost it.  Some years later, I was presented the same puzzle and dismissed it with "oh, I've solved that one."  Presenter: "No, you haven't."  Me: "Yes, I have!"  Him: "You can't've - it's impossible." Me (obstinately): "Well, I did."  (I've never been able to solve it again.)

 

10. I offered to elope, immediately, with my high school boyfriend if he could solve same puzzle.  I was serious, and would have followed through if he'd done it.  (He didn't, but it all worked out for us in the end.  See #5 and #8...)

 

Wow, I can't believe I'm about to hit publish with some of the stuff I included here.  Let the Reader Beware.  *w*

In honor of the occasion

I googled "percent writers finish novel" to see just what statistic I broke this morning at around 7:47 am and found this quiz (not that I need to take it now, but still):

 

Are You Ever Really Going to Finish that Novel?

 

My results, FWIW:

 

Mostly Bs: You just might have what it takes to finish your novel and lead a relatively normal life (which means you're probably lying).

 

Heh.  And no, I'm not lying.  Book = finished.  Life = anything but normal.  I really did answer mostly B's.

The announcement you've all been waiting for...

I'M DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm utterly exhausted and kind of in shock at the moment, but just typing those words did kinda bring it home and made me a little teary-eyed.  Appropriately, even though chunking, the last scenes I wrote were the end of the final chapter and the epilogue.  Alec and Elspeth have their HEA at last.

Final word count: 111,587 (give or take)

418 pages

It's completely SFD - emphasis on the S - and riddled with brackets but it is a complete, contiguous story after 18 months of work.

I'll be excited once I've had some sleep, but for now, I have to get ready for work.

Line of the Hour, Monday morning edition

From Chapter 28:

 

It had started to rain, a fine, misty drizzle just this side of snow that seeped into her clothing and chilled her to the bone.   Where was she?  Kilchurn—the knowledge blossomed and she clung to it, an anchor in her swirling confusion.  When was she?  Ah, now that was the rub.

She stumbled through the empty ruins and found the spit of marshy land that connected the once-island to the loch shore.   Later than the nineteenth century, at least.

The sound of voices caused her to turn.   A group of brightly colored and heavily clothed tourists walked around the edge of the castle from the direction of the pier.  She caught snatches of their conversation as they drew near.

"Her clothes—"

 "She looks burned—"

 "Miss?  Miss!  Are you all right?"

"The date, what is the date today?" she asked urgently.

They gave her odd, concerned looks but someone said "March first" in hesitant Gaelic and it was only then she realized her own question had been in Gaelic as well.   She turned toward the sound of the voice.

"What year?" she asked, this time in English.

"Two thousand eight," said the voice.

"Oh, thank God."   And she closed her eyes and fell blissfully unconscious.

The Reality

Heh.

When you get within 2500 words or so of finishing your WIP, you get pretty optimistic.

Then you realize that's still over 5 hours writing at the top of your form, with no breaks, and somewhere around 4 am you start to slow down.  No matter how much caffeine you've consumed.  *w*

To that end, I think I'm going to call discretion the better part of valor and turn in for a few hours of sleep.  I'll pick up full steam from there.  I will definitely finish this tomorr-- er, today.

Looks like I'm going to hit 110K, which is more than anyone (myself included) guessed.  The front end is heavy and the back end is light, but that's what revisions are for.  Also gives me room to cut where needed and still maintain a healthy final wordcount.

Line of the Hour

Heh, no LOTD for me, I'd be too far behind.  *g*

But I've always like this line, and reading back through the scene it's in I was impressed with it again.  (I allow myself these little enjoyments, because I generally feel like 80-90% of my stuff is complete tripe.)  Well, okay, I'll give you a whole snip.  This is from chapter 27.  The line in question is the one about singularities.

She squeezed her eyes shut against the smoke and heat and certain death.  Please, God, let it be quick.  The fire shrieked and roared in her ears and then it was utterly silent and she knew in that instant she was about to die, felt herself falling into the abyss even as the ropes that bound her burned away.

But no—she knew this feeling, recognized it on some primordial level.  This wasn't death; she wasn't moving toward the light but toward a void, a different kind of unknown.  The wormhole.  The shrieking had been the stone, the warmth of its resonance lost in the heat of the flames.  Where would it take her?  Home?  Or would she find herself in another time—past or future—where once again she must start from scratch and try to fit in and survive? 

No matter what, there would be no Alec waiting for her on the other side, no friend or lover to guide her even if she did return home, and that prospect was very nearly enough to make her hope the flames claimed her before the portal opened fully. 

All this she thought in the moment when time slows, the one that comes before death and at the edge of singularities.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends…

I am finally, finally done with Act III, the climax.  Within Act IV it looks like two half-chapters (about 1K each) to complete and some other odds and ends.  Maybe 10 pages.  And a bit for the epilogue.  The rest is in place.  Rolling on...

The Rush

I think it's got me.

That mad dash to the end that some writers say catches them up and propels them onward.

Finally.

It's 1 am and I'm quivering with excitement.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and at last it's drawing nearer.  Pass me another Mountain Dew, and has anyone seen my caffeine pills?  It's going to be a long night.

But I am about to finish this book.

Sorting

Not as much writing progress as I'd hoped for today, mainly because Little Boy woke up from his nap too early.  *g*

But!  I have gotten through chapter 25 "in the black" - which is to say, in completed form.  (In my spreadsheet, the wordcounts for each scene are black if that scene is complete, red if it's "in progress".)

Chapters 26 and 27, which I had hoped to complete, are still only half finished.  I was going to finish them tonight, but I decided instead to finish sorting all the extant bits and Act IV.  I finally have everything organized!  Right now it looks like there will be 34 chapters and an epilogue.

I have about 20 more pages to write, give or take, to finish the SFD.  Can I do that in two days?  Dunno.  It's certainly within the realm of possibility.  I'll just really have to make sure to stay on track.

But with the aim of being as productive as possible tomorrow, I think I'm going to go to bed.  I write faster if I've had a decent amount (which for me is 6 hours, anymore) of sleep.

Oidhche Mhath...

Win a signed copy of The Spymaster's Lady!

Win a free, autographed copy of the most excellent (see my review below) book The Spymaster's Lady by the incomparable Joanna Bourne.

Just go HERE.

Leave a comment about how you heard about the book.  Winner will be randomly selected on January 25th.

Good luck!

Scottish Fantasies

No, that is NOT the new title for my book.  *w*

 

It's this CD I just got:

 

Scottish Fantasies for Violin and Orchestra

 

A piece from this came on the radio in our office about a week ago, and my boss turned it up for me.  I really liked the music, especially since I've been looking for a Scottish "soundtrack" to write to that didn't involve bagpipes.  *g*  Turns out he knows the violinist.  I ordered the CD that day, and it came in today.

 

The music is beautiful.  It puts me "there" and there's also an extra connection with Alec since he plays the fiddle/violin.

 

Now back to work.  I'm trying to wade out of the end-of-week morass at my day job, and I've got bunco tonight.  Over 1800 words written so far, and moving well along through chapter 23.  Hopefully I'll continue that momentum tonight when I get home (whenever that is).

Blackout

tick-tock...tick-tock...

 

My time until deadline is dwindling, and my reserves are flagging as I've been hitting this so hard for almost three weeks now (thought it would be a few days at most) so I am once again descending into a self-imposed blackout.  I'll likely keep blogging, though I make no promises.  But I probably won't respond to comments or e-mails until later.

 

I'm also gonna hold off on commenting on the rest of the January X's.  And those of you waiting on my Scrabulous moves, it might be a few days.  *g*

 

After most of yesterday spent researching and brainstorming, I finally have a clear plan for my current sticking point.  Unfortunately that involves completely ditching and rewriting all of Chapter 23 and the first part of 24.  (Also the last bit of 22, but I did that last night.)  I'm going to *try* to get that done today.  Then 27 still needs about 1500-2K on it, and into Act IV where there is a lot of stuff to cut and replace.

 

My wordcount will likely start to fluctuate as I add and cut stuff.  Who knows where it will end up?

 

I can't spend all day tomorrow working as I have the past few weekends, and Sunday we have a family thing out-of-town.  But Little Boy will be going to Granny's house from there, and not coming back until Tuesday afternoon.  DH is working on a term paper for school ( Ph.D. level, so pretty intensive).  Therefore Sunday night and likely all of Monday afternoon/evening will be focused on writing.

 

See you on the other side!