I contributed to this month's Samhellion, the Samhain newsletter. You can read my piece on the topic of "what I did over the summer" here:
http://www.thesamhellion.com/2008/september/
It's about the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which I've made an annual summer tradition.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
for the love of lists
I am a list maker.
I can't help it. It's just who I am. To-do lists, lists of books I've read and movies I've seen, lists of places I want to go... When I decorated my house, I painted a wall in my writing area with chalkboard paint. What do you think I write there? Lists.
So I like to play around on 43 Things and the List of Bests.
I have two big life goals that are centered around lists. One is to see all of Shakespeare's plays performed onstage. I'm about one-third done with that. The other is to visit all 50 states. I've been closing in on that one for years. Only 10 left!
And then there's movies. I love the classics and I'm addicted to Netflix. My first movie goal was one I set for myself when I was about 8 years old -- to see every movie ever referenced by TV private eye Remington Steele. I made a list when the show came out on DVD of the movies I hadn't seen yet and watched the ones that were available on DVD. It's really fun accomplishing childhood goals, however silly they might be. After that I watched all the Academy Award Best Pictures, and then the AFI 100 Movies. Now when I don't know what to watch I work on the other AFI lists and the Time magazine list. Which Netflix helpfully has on an "award winners" page.
I don't know what it is about lists. Maybe I like things organized, or maybe I feel better if I know what to do next or have a goal I'm working toward.
I can't help it. It's just who I am. To-do lists, lists of books I've read and movies I've seen, lists of places I want to go... When I decorated my house, I painted a wall in my writing area with chalkboard paint. What do you think I write there? Lists.
So I like to play around on 43 Things and the List of Bests.
I have two big life goals that are centered around lists. One is to see all of Shakespeare's plays performed onstage. I'm about one-third done with that. The other is to visit all 50 states. I've been closing in on that one for years. Only 10 left!
And then there's movies. I love the classics and I'm addicted to Netflix. My first movie goal was one I set for myself when I was about 8 years old -- to see every movie ever referenced by TV private eye Remington Steele. I made a list when the show came out on DVD of the movies I hadn't seen yet and watched the ones that were available on DVD. It's really fun accomplishing childhood goals, however silly they might be. After that I watched all the Academy Award Best Pictures, and then the AFI 100 Movies. Now when I don't know what to watch I work on the other AFI lists and the Time magazine list. Which Netflix helpfully has on an "award winners" page.
I don't know what it is about lists. Maybe I like things organized, or maybe I feel better if I know what to do next or have a goal I'm working toward.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Excel nerd
Because I am a freak, I can tell you that I'm averaging a speed of 38 words per minute on my new WIP.
I am not a friend of numbers, but for some reason I love keeping track of things in Excel spreadsheets. I got into the habit during NaNoWriMo, because writing 50,000 words in 30 days is all about numbers -- the minimum amount to write each day, and for me, how much to catch up/get ahead, because I've never been the type to write every single day. (Though I really should!)
My spreadsheet tracks time in minutes, total words, words in that particular writing session, the date, and how many words I've done on that day if I've written in more than one block of time. New for this WIP I've added a column for percent done, since it's not NaNo and I don't have a handy progress bar to keep track. And I added the WPM column just for fun.
The last thing I worked on, I kept up the same format when I was editing the first draft to the second. In that case, the word count got smaller as I trimmed the fat.
I am not a friend of numbers, but for some reason I love keeping track of things in Excel spreadsheets. I got into the habit during NaNoWriMo, because writing 50,000 words in 30 days is all about numbers -- the minimum amount to write each day, and for me, how much to catch up/get ahead, because I've never been the type to write every single day. (Though I really should!)
My spreadsheet tracks time in minutes, total words, words in that particular writing session, the date, and how many words I've done on that day if I've written in more than one block of time. New for this WIP I've added a column for percent done, since it's not NaNo and I don't have a handy progress bar to keep track. And I added the WPM column just for fun.
The last thing I worked on, I kept up the same format when I was editing the first draft to the second. In that case, the word count got smaller as I trimmed the fat.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
review!
I got a review! A really good review! From Good Bad and Unread!
I went from feeling completely down to having my day absolutely made within the span of about an hour. Whee!
I went from feeling completely down to having my day absolutely made within the span of about an hour. Whee!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
on writing avoidance
The hardest part of writing for me is getting started.
Not just at the beginning of the project, but every single day. It feels so great when I finally sit down and do it, get involved in the work and let my imagination go. But that near-euphoria never seems to factor in to how incredibly hard it is to drag myself back to it.
I don't know why that is.
I realized today that I'm the same way with vegetables, though. I love vegetables. They're so delicious and I feel so much better when I'm eating right. But if there's any other choice to be had, I will have it instead.
At least I know the writing thing is common. There's the cliche of the writer who says their house had never been so clean until they started trying to write (and thereby trying to avoid it). There's a quote that goes, "I don't like to write. I like to have written." I thought it was Dorothy Parker, but it turns out it's not. It's no less sharp or wise.
Not just at the beginning of the project, but every single day. It feels so great when I finally sit down and do it, get involved in the work and let my imagination go. But that near-euphoria never seems to factor in to how incredibly hard it is to drag myself back to it.
I don't know why that is.
I realized today that I'm the same way with vegetables, though. I love vegetables. They're so delicious and I feel so much better when I'm eating right. But if there's any other choice to be had, I will have it instead.
At least I know the writing thing is common. There's the cliche of the writer who says their house had never been so clean until they started trying to write (and thereby trying to avoid it). There's a quote that goes, "I don't like to write. I like to have written." I thought it was Dorothy Parker, but it turns out it's not. It's no less sharp or wise.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
sooooo nervous!
I’m so nervous! My first novel, Life on the Move, is out today.
This is a story that’s dear to my heart, for a lot of reasons. For me, a move across country when I was in high school changed my entire life. For Casey, in Life on the Move, it’s the prospect of staying in one place that sets her on a new journey, one that leads her to discover who she really is.
Here’s a tiny excerpt:
When I came home from school and saw the boxes, I knew. We were moving again. My dad stood there, looking for some reaction from me, waiting for me to say something, but I put my head down and stared at my sneakers. A hole was wearing through the toe. I couldn’t face him.
In my room, I slung my book bag onto my bed. The books in it made the secondhand mattress sag a little. The books were new, for me. I thought I’d try it. Something different this time. I’d be a nerd, a grind. Study, do homework. It was working. School was easy if you gave it any effort, even if you’d jumped around as much as I had. There was nothing else to set me apart—brown hair, brown eyes, average build. I could blend in anywhere, and I liked it. It made things easier if no one noticed me.
Two brown cardboard boxes rested against the closet door. How thoughtful of my dad to put them in here for me. I stared at them through narrowed eyes. They mocked me in my father’s voice. “Better get started,” they said. “It won’t be long now.”
Life on the Move
This is a story that’s dear to my heart, for a lot of reasons. For me, a move across country when I was in high school changed my entire life. For Casey, in Life on the Move, it’s the prospect of staying in one place that sets her on a new journey, one that leads her to discover who she really is.
Here’s a tiny excerpt:
When I came home from school and saw the boxes, I knew. We were moving again. My dad stood there, looking for some reaction from me, waiting for me to say something, but I put my head down and stared at my sneakers. A hole was wearing through the toe. I couldn’t face him.
In my room, I slung my book bag onto my bed. The books in it made the secondhand mattress sag a little. The books were new, for me. I thought I’d try it. Something different this time. I’d be a nerd, a grind. Study, do homework. It was working. School was easy if you gave it any effort, even if you’d jumped around as much as I had. There was nothing else to set me apart—brown hair, brown eyes, average build. I could blend in anywhere, and I liked it. It made things easier if no one noticed me.
Two brown cardboard boxes rested against the closet door. How thoughtful of my dad to put them in here for me. I stared at them through narrowed eyes. They mocked me in my father’s voice. “Better get started,” they said. “It won’t be long now.”
Life on the Move
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