Thursday, August 31, 2006

Reached the top of the mountain yesterday.

The goal is a first draft manuscript in 5 weeks. Yesterday at this time, I was 1000 words behind in the race. Yesterday, I achievd my goal writing and another 400 words before I fell exhausted onto the couch. Just kidding about the "fell exhausted" part; but not the 400 part.
This morning the score is minus 600 for me.
Today, I should have no difficulty making my extra words and the goal. I have a new human character to introduce and three new animal characters.
Cannot spend any time dawdling however, as DS2 is taking me out to breakfast.
Have a great day, I'm going to do my best to do that.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Chasing the Lead Dog

If I have to do anything; I need a goal to accomplish the task. I'm always competing with myself. Life says that I'm always second dog on the team, but that doesn't preclude me from running over the rear hocks of the lead dog now and then. In addition to that, you know what they say: If you aren't the lead dog, the scenery never changes.
As of right now, I'm about a thousand words back from goal for the past four days. The goal is that in 5 weeks I can write a full manscript and it can't just be a bunch of crap either...75000 and's, but's ,and the's do not work around here.
So let's lay on the excuses: yesterday I didn't feel good, the weather is changing and I woke with a snarling sinus cavity, the dog ate the computer, what do you mean I can not use that one, just because I don't have a dog. I ran spell and grammar checks as I went. I can't think of anymore. If I divide the missing 1000 words over the time until 8pm Sunday night, that comes out to an extra 200 words per day. I can probably do that. But the race results right now look like 5 weeks and 1.5 days. Manuscript 1, Jackie 0.
Have a great day...Hi ho, hi ho,off to write I go..

Monday, August 28, 2006

Just Apply Pressure

I calculated last night that if I wrote consistently every day for 5 weeks, I could have the next book written to the second draft stage.
I did not take into account mornings like this, when I have had coffee, and the only thing I have written is what I'm writing now.
The only excuse is that I slept in and I was looking at the Sisters in Crime webpage and the Sisters in Crime Guppies Chapters page.Then somehow that transpired into reading all the Stabenow newletters back to 2004. Am I crazy? I have writing to do, not reading someone elses writing.
I think I'll have another coffee warm up. Looks like 5 weeks and one day.
I discovered that Bless His Heart Old Computer can and still does have the grammar check feature. Ran through about 100 pages yesterday, until my eyeballs were about to drop out. Had a refresher for the eyeballs watching a DVD from the Horatio Hornblower TV miniseries.
All right ,I will fill up the coffee and write my own stuff.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

I'm writing again.

Last night I made three pages of the opening for the new story of Rocky, what is probably going to have to be series.
This morning I did a total rework of the ending of Mrs. Got Rocks. Much, much better this time. But dang his hide I still cannot get Deputy Bashful to grab Rocky and do what is in his head.
Maybe I will have better luck in A Pile of Rocks, or a Bag of Rocks or a Load of Rocks..whatever it is..Deputy Dixon is in the second book and he is going to be working his buns off. So far the dogs and Thumper are back. I like Thumper alot, so she is going to be doing some cute things, that I have written down just for her. There is a new character introduced on the first pages.
Yesterday, I made soup in the crockpot, it turned out fairly good, but I think I put in too much chili powder and cumino. A south of the border type Yankee vegetable soup.DS2 liked it.
Back to the story, break is over.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Rocky round two-no promises

Apparently, I have not finished everything I was going to say about Rocky S. Clancy(Mrs. Got Rocks). While researching for the projected next story, I was sitting quietly doing a timeline on the action scenes. I kept writing sidebars that were chapter headings that had nothing to do with the planned novel. They were suspiciously like the situations that Rocky would get into.
Then I went out for breakfast ,while waiting for my yummy mushroom and spinach omelet, the main situation popped into my head. Must have been my brain waiting for fuel, the synapes all snapping their little syn-fingers.
Now with two timelines to work, the next year should prove busy and interesting. There is also a plot note sitting in the Projects file. This takes place right here in Las Vegas and puts us right back into the mystery/crime genre. When I mentioned it to the writing partner he did get a big grin. I think I do not have the brain power to have three storys writing all once. If I did try it, I would have to put in 8 hours or more daily to make it work and that is a lot of sitting. I have a problem with three hours.
This morning I'm going back and write a new do on the ending of Mrs. Got Rocks. I will log onto the computer all the chapter headings in the new Mrs. Got Rocks, so I don't lose them. I will have to check a couple of things out for what can be done with some of the situations. I will log into the Vegas library and see what I can find. I also decided what kind of airplane that Rocky owns, I skirted around the whole issue in the manuscript just because I did not want to get too techno..but now I think I should put it in and describe that better. She has a Twin Otter...the Alaskan workhorse.
Working title: A Pile of Rocks...well, probably not permanently, but that may be it for right now.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

They Did What to Pluto?

Poor, poor Pluto. That darling little planet sitting out there with just three moons or is it two moons to keep him company. All these eons of time, just sitting knowing he is a planet, a small ,taking care of business,erratic obit, debris sweeping kinda guy. So what do Those Who Decide Planets do to poor little Pluto. They make him a dwarf planet! Like being a Great Dane one moment and the next you are a weinie dog. Someday years from now, they will change their minds and you dear sweet 9th planet,Ceres,Cheron and that lovely Xena will be renamed to your rightful place.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

That was Sticker Shock!!

I did what I tasked myself yesterday. Around the seven loads of laundry,dishwasher and the other mundane junk. I went online and looked at three university online education programs. Deleted two because there was not a course offering I wanted to take. Then, I did find an interestng course and went to the bottom line knitty-gritty. I almost croaked, the cost was very close to an entire months pay, fer pete's sake.
There will not be an MFA degree in the future of this old lady.
Well, I may revise that.I'm checking out U of Nevada Las Vegas regular courses. If there is a huge difference in cost, I could almost take a taxi to class and still come out ahead. Too far away to take a bus..would be about a six hour round trip. Now that would be stupid.
Editing Mrs. Got Rocks...no, of course I am not finished with yapping about it. I got this brainstorm about the time the second load of jeans came out of the dryer. I don't like some of the characters names, next week, Justin is going to be something else,Justin just sounds to nice and probably Deputy Dixon will have a more Dudley DoRight first name. Margie,Devlin.Rocky,Talltree,Doc Martin are fine. Next week the ending will be rewritten, not changed in content of Rocky and Tony riding off into the sunset, but I do not like the way I said it. I can do better.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Mrs. Got Rock is Finished

Whew, I did it. I finished it at 7am Pacific time. My goal to finish was today at 8am. Hee hee..talk about your anal writer.Actually the goal was the end of September ,so I'm really ahead.
There are some hours of houskeeping things to do, such as page numbers and chapter breaks. Actually, make that chapter breaks, then page numbering. It finished out at 78890 words, 339 pages. As I wrote yesterday, I'm tired of it. So, the Rocks is getting to sleep for awhile. Now is the time for the writer to become businesswoman and start in on the long nasty process of getting someone to publish it. Then I can stop calling it a manuscript and call it a book.
I have three of my A list publishers to start with. My sister has a friend who started his own publishing company to get his book printed, and of course, she wants me to send him a copy. I will send his publishing company a letter this week. I googled the name and got no hits.
Well, I'm going to go celebrate the completion of my second novel by loading the dishwasher and mopping the kitchen floor.

Other book news, I got a chance yesterday to go to my local used book store(and also the closest bookstore) where I found a signed copy of one of Dana Stabenow's book. Cost me an arm and leg, but I got it anyway. Small world squared, the owner of the bookstore is a personal friend of hers. Isn't that peculair since we are in Vegas, and she lives and writes in Anchorage, Alaska.
I'm looking into the Harvard University Online Education program. This is a program I believe that Harvard started last year. I would like to work on an MFA, but getting around is getting more difficult for me. An online program would be a real life answer. U C San Diego has a MFA also, I might hop over there today, and check out the online courses.
Just too much to do, I think I will need another lifetime to squeeze it all in.

Monday, August 21, 2006

I Love this Monday Morning

Why? There are only 35 pages of Mrs. Got Rocks left to edit...yay. I'm taking a Pepsi break and then back at it. My goal is 8AM, tomorrow morning.
I have an interesting book by Barbara Tuchman on General Joe Stilwell to read. I do not usually read books on military history but it counts as background for the next manuscript.Tuchman also wrote Guns of August so I know that this book will be interesting.
I'm not going to get Mikey's hooded sweater knit before they move. Dang it. I'll will finish it and give it to Paige. She is almost as old as Mikey, and the color will be cute for a little girl in jeans.
Have a wonderful week, everyone, I'm back to my search for the run on sentence.

Friday, August 18, 2006

What am I going to do now.

This is an interesting afternoon. Mrs. Got Rocks is all finished posting to the blog, and I deeply appreciate all of you who took the time to read it. Your comments thrilled me to pieces. Really, they did.
I have about 100 more pages of the first edit and rewrite of Rocky to complete. It is now at 326 pages, getting closer to the goal of 350. I have several hundreds of new words written, more deleted and/or rewritten. I think it is coming along being tighter and still the warm fuzzy story I wanted to tell. I still like the concept, though quite frankly at this point, I'm sick of reading it. I will finish the first edit task this weekend. Then Rocky will take at least a week of rest and then I will sit down and read the story through. I will begin the second edit and rewrite any thing that is too nasty. Like I already am not thrilled with that weak butted ending paragraph, even though when I wrote it a year ago, I thought it was pretty durned good. That is what is up with Rocky. Then if it is looking good, I will send out her letter asking an agent to present her to a publisher.
I have already begun the task of research of my next big project. This will be another adventure novel based on a true story chronicled by one of my uncles about another of my uncles.
But since that research will take about a year and then another year to write the book, I need something to write along with that.
I would like to do a series of essays and those I will probably post as blogs, which many blogs are essays, though the writers would go eehew, if they were known as essayists.
I have an idea for a soapmaking how to book concept that I want to present to Storey Publishers.
I am planning to take DS2 spy novel and get it back on track, he just doesn't have the time to devote to writing that I do, and his job provides him with the creative outlet he needs. There is no impearative there to write, as there is with me.
I guess I'll figure it out.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

I'm Homesick for Alaska

I have been reading a series of mysteries by Dana Stabenow. She was born,raised and still lives in Anchorage, Alaska. Not only does she write well, I think, but she gives a realistic modern telling of what it is really like to live in Alaska. This week I devoured three of her books. One is just a short story, but it is so well done I was not disappointed.Her descriptions of places in Anchorage is like going on a tour of the city. Not a tour bus tour, but as if I took you in my car and we sooped around town.
I have never seen these books in a bookstore or in hardbound, my local library in Vegas has them. Can you believe??? Love Vegas' library system.
Anyway, the three this week are: A Fatal Thaw...: Blood Will Tell and the last one A Fine and Bitter Snow.
If you can find them--and are the least bit interested in the Alaskan lifestyle grab them and hold them close.
I cried though a lot of A Fatal Thaw, it made me so home sick.
Tomorrow, Friday morning, I will put up the next piece of Mrs. Got Rocks.