What's been happening?

That is the question. Again, it has been months since I updated here - which is a statement on how things fare on the creative front.

I chose Restore as my word for 2016. One of the things I've restored is submitting a fiction piece each month. Thus far, I am 4 for 4 on rejections, with 1 story outstanding. It was a little disheartening to fill out the submission form on the last submission and realize the last time someone paid for my fiction was 10 years ago.

And I've been stuck. Editing and revising but not really creating anything new. (Editing, revising and uncertain what to do with the end product.) It's been months since I wrote a short story and two years since I've written a new novel. I'm feeling totally disconnected from the world of the Chaos books and I'm not sure what it will take to get me back there again.

The second section of Camp NaNoWriMo happens in July. I'd like to take part again but I have no idea what to write. I just know I need to step away from editing and revising.

Small update

The lack of posts in this blog is a reflection of the lack of writing currently happening. Most of my focus has been on sorting/clearing/cleaning/packing my current apartment. (A move in a few weeks will do that to your focus.) When I'm settled in, writing (and blog entries) will resume. Promise.

At the moment, the only update I have is a rejection for a short story submission. I'm not surprised. It was a long shot. I do have one other submission out there. I feel a bit more confident about that one. But that's what submitting on spec is all about. Waiting. Hoping. And then resubmitting.

So ...

It's been a while, hasn't it? My total output over the past two weeks is +2 words. (Deleted 13, changed 1 and added 15.) There has been a lot of story thinking though.

Work has been taking up a great deal of my time and energy lately. However, I am officially on vacation for the next week. My original plans fell through but I contacted other friends and will be heading east and north for the week. Along with visiting, there will be words.

I'll report in when I can. If you don't hear from me until next weekend, assume I'm enjoying myself too much to be on-line.

What the muse needs

Getting vacation time can be a challenge. I discovered this week that 2 of my team of 5 have already booked off the week between Christmas and New Year. (Unlike some industries, mine doesn't have a lot of slow times and we have to maintain a certain level of service.)

I have the last week of September off (hopefully for a writing retreat with friends) and now the week of Thanksgiving. Yes, that's only two weeks later. I already have work scheduled for the week following that, so if I want time off, I have to jump on it.

That week, I'll be spending time at my favourite B&B, walking along the river and lake, drinking tea, reading and writing. I won't set a word goal but there will be writing every day. Promise.

Progress - July 15, 2011

Title: Blade and Bone
Words Total: 4900
Words Today: 694
Reason for stopping: The first draft is done. It's a very drafty first draft but it's done.

Wordage I liked: "Tell me why I shouldn't destroy every bone in your hands. Why I shouldn't slit your wrists and leave you to bleed out on the floor."

His gaze traveled her robe-covered body. "You could do that before I stopped you?"

She pulled the bone comb from her hair, burying its point in the table and grabbed his hand again before he could react. His hands grew cold beneath hers.

Things to discover: What my Alpha reader thinks of it.

Progress - July 13, 2011

Title: Blade and Bone
Words Total: 4206
Words Today: 906 (403 at Little Bean/503 tonight)
Reason for stopping: Little Bean - I needed to pick up my CSA share. Since a friend was meeting me there, I had to stop. Tonight - I think I'm approaching the end of the first draft and my brain is too tired to work it out tonight.

Wordage I liked: As he tried to wrench his hand free, she let the smallest trace of her power slide along their connection. She focused it on the knuckle of his little finger, twisting the joint until it swelled and purpled.

Things to discover: What Alya is going to do.

Progress - July 10, 2011

Title: Blade and Bone
Words Total: 3300 (For some reason, the program gave me the wrong number last time.)
Words Today: 423
Reason for stopping: I need to work out a few more things before I can go on

Wordage I liked: Alya stopped and rose from the chair. Taking up the candle, she lit all the others so the room held no shadows.

"Why?" Toreel asked from his place near the door.

She returned the candle to the dressing table, then turned to look at him. "I need to see your face while we talk."

Things to discover: The truth

Progress - July 8, 2011

Title: Blade and Bone
Words Total: 3366
Words Today: 637
Reason for stopping: Finished a scene and I'm getting hungry

Wordage I liked: The signet ring flashed in the candlelight as he tossed it to her. She caught it in her free hand, glancing at it to ensure it was hers, before placing it on the table.

He raised an eyebrow. "From its condition, I would think you wear the ring often."

Alya kept her eyes on him as he took another step closer. Nothing about this felt right.

Things to discover: What the prince really wants from Alya. What Alya won't do.

What I discovered: Writing seduction scenes in a public place is like reverse voyeurism. Even sitting with my back to the wall, I get nervous that someone will read over my shoulder.

Progress - July 6, 2011

Title: Blade and Bone
Words Total: 2237
Words Today: 203
Reason for stopping: Finished a short scene and I needed to pick up my CSA share

Wordage I liked: Rumor had it Prince Chard enjoyed the finer things - beautiful women, rich food, anything exotic or one of a kind. Rumor didn't tell the whole story.

Things to discover: What the prince wants. Why Toreel needs to hide from the prince. What Alya won't do.

Long time gone

I'm finally writing more regularly. I discovered a coffee shop a few blocks from the bus terminal with good coffee and cake, tables, sofas and an atmosphere that my muse enjoys. (She also likes the root beer they sell.)

I'm taking a page from a number of other writer's blogs and will post progress reports on whatever I'm currently writing.

See the next rock for the first of these.

Home again

I'm back from my desperately needed vacation. My goals were to relax, read & write a little.

I read a book that somehow had been on my shelf for nearly a year. I relaxed which had an unexpected result - I've long felt the building where I work is not the healthiest place. After being away for 12 days, having had one headache (weather related) and no real issues, I was back for less than 2 hours before my head was pounding and my allergies had kicked in hard. (Hard enough to set off the vertigo/dizziness.) I must take a look at what I can do to counter them.

I did do some writing. I spent time in the garden at the B&B and at The Sleepless Goat - very different atmospheres but both allowed me to get words down. I also came to some realizations about my main character. Now to keep the momentum and get more words down.

Trying something different

In an effort to reconnect with my WIP, I'm taking a break from my novels' world. Just for a time. No notes. No research. No deliberately thinking about plot, etc. Will it work? Time will tell.

Between now & then, there's an old piece that has been asking for attention - a different genre and something I've been thinking of expanding for some time. I have a new notebook, a list of existing characters & the beginnings of a list of research I'll need to do. Looking forward to my vacation & having time to write whenever I want.

Small update

Well, the short story has officially been shelved. As much as I wanted to submit to that anthology, the story just wasn't coming together. Perhaps without the deadline, I'll be able to wrangle it into something cohesive (and hopefully interesting) and send it elsewhere.

I decided to make a list of things I'd like to do/accomplish before my next birthday. One is to update this blog more often. The other is to complete the first draft of Chaos Unleashed.

I've been doing a lot of inner work over the past year. I think it's time to apply some of the things I've discovered about myself and my processes to my writing.

Wish me luck.

Weekend thinks

This is Ad Astra weekend. For a number of reasons, I decided not to attend this year. In some ways, I regret the decision but seeing people is a struggle when everyone is on panels. There wasn't the balance between the cost of attending and what I perceived I'd achieve by going.

Yesterday, I took the GO bus to Mississauga for shopping/visiting with V. I tried writing on the way there - very hard because the girls* behind me spent the whole trip pushing on my seat, loudly cattily gossiping which would lapse into bad singing. The trip home went better from a writing point of view ... although the warmth of the sun did have me napping for part of the trip.

Today, I scribbled a bit at breakfast. Now, I need to add yesterday & today's scribbles to the file. Hope I can read my handwriting. :-)

* In this case, girls = university students

April?

If I judge my writing progress by how often I update this journal ... well, it's probably fairly accurate. The day job and some other issues have done a number on my creative output.

I have been poking at a short story for a few months. I still don't know exactly where it's going but it appears to be picking up a bit of steam. Since I have a deadline of the end of the month for the first draft, that's a good thing. If things don't start to gel, I'll either need to get out and push or give up on the story.

February

I don't even want to think about how quickly January passed. Did I accomplish my writing related goals of 'claiming my writing space' or 'developing an idea for an anthology short'? Sort of.

One thing I did do was send my regrets to the concom running Ad Astra. There are too many things happening and something had to give. In this case, it was the convention. Hopefully next year.

Will February see the completion of the first draft of the short? Will I find the creative thingies for my writing space? Time will tell.