Tea and Research

I'm doing lots of research for the new plot right now. I've been reading books out of a huge to-be-read pile, mostly on esoteric subjects, but also on things like travel writing and guides to locations in Ireland, etc. I also picked out a car for my main character. Not for real, of course. But I looked through the car ads in an online Irish newspaper for Brenna's car, and found one that I think would be just the type she'd probably lease and drive. It's a blue Ford Focus--midrange, cute and practical. I should probably go drive one now, I suppose....

I've nearly finished Chapter 2 of the new book. I've done most of my work with the laptop in coffee shops, although this sometimes attracts a chatty person who apparently thinks that if you're a red-haired female working on your laptop in a coffee shop, then you must either be his personal confessor or you are sitting there specifically to answer his questions about yourself. I don't mean that this is just one person in particular--Heaven forbid. But every now and then, I encounter someone like this, which is 1. flattering, 2. slightly annoying, and 3. a little creepy. This doesn't happen as much when I work in a restaurant, but the restaurant is more expensive. The library would be better and usually quieter, but my schedule doesn't always permit that. Oh, well. I'll get the work done regardless.

Shop-n-Write Evening

I'm about to start taking bellydance fusion classes in September. Fusion is a progressive and heavily disciplined style that I love to watch, but I'm not sure what my learning curve might be. I've been taking regular bellydance classes for nearly two years now, and since my early 20's I've taken scattered classes that ranged from bellydance to ballet, jazz and Irish dance. I'll have to see how the fusion goes. I went shopping today and came out of the store with five bras I can cover with coins or otherwise decorate for belly dance. Normally, that would have come under the category of Really Expensive, but in this case, they were marked down quite a bit at one of the stores that carries seconds and discontinued styles. Hopefully, they'll do for what I need.

After the shopping, I realized it was already too late at night for me to get much done with the kids and their schoolwork at home, so I decided to stop off at a restaurant and get some food and writing time all in one go. It was late enough that not too many other people were still at the T.G.I. Friday's, so I was seated all by myself in a quiet section. One hour, a plate of salad and a page and a half of the new Brenna book later, I had to go home, as the restaurant was closing. But the plan worked. I love it when I can accomplish two goals at once, even if it does cost me sixteen dollars and change. I can't do it too often, though, or I'll go broke just trying to get some writing done.

A Good Theory

Working at the library was a good idea--in theory. After a hectic week last week, we arrived at the library today ready to work. The older daughter had done her volunteer shift, and the younger one and I had run a couple of errands. We met at the library study area about a quarter after five. I then tried to get the kids set up working so I could commence writing. Predictably, the younger one needed some direction, and I found that she had not done any of her computer research this morning, and needed the internet in order to answer a couple of the questions for her Social Studies. So I had to let her use my laptop for a little while to get past one of the assignments. Working with her is very time-intensive. Then just as I was about to be able to write, I discovered that the older one had fallen asleep on top of the desk. I had to wake her and get her back to work, and then we had to go over all the ways she could complete her various unfinished Civics assignments using the internet instead of a newspaper, and that took up vast amounts of time. Finally, I let her have the laptop for a few minutes and went out to the truck to get a drink of water. When I came back, it was 7:20 and the library closes at 8:00. I opened my files for writing and the older girl came back after only 10 minutes on the library computer, saying the card had only let her have a half hour--which she had definitely not taken, according to the clock on my computer. I sent her back to try again and started to work on my WIP again. Then the Huz called to say the quiche was done, at least 20 minutes before the library was due to close, when I'd said we'd leave. So that's it. I give up. I wrote this blog at lightning speed and now I'm headed home, no more than one or two sentences to the good for this writing session.

Sigh. Sometimes the magic just doesn't happen.

The Pact

The Moxie have made a pact. Each of us is to get a minimum number of pages done each day and post the page number to our list. It's just a little something to make us accountable for our progress or lack of it. My personal quota is at least two pages a day, but preferably three. Yesterday I made my quota, finishing 3 3/4 pages (the last part of the last scene of Brigid's Forge, Chapter One). Blog posts do not count--only progress made on the current Work In Progress, or WIP.

Which means I need to stop blogging and playing with my new cell phone and get writing. Incidentally, the new phone is black and red and actually has a querty keyboard. So I can even use it to take notes or write a little if I get desperate when I'm out somewhere. I've been playing with it all evening, to get used to its features. Obviously, it's just a little too much fun, when I have my actual full-size computer and ergo keyboard right here in front of me. Enough playing. Must get to work....

Move Over, Shamu!

This (Friday) evening our belly dance troupe performed at a water park in Meridian. We had a bit less than 30 minutes, and our show was divided in half by a belly flop competition for the swimmers. Predictably, we lost over half our audience when the competition ended. Oh, well. We performed up on a concrete platform in front of a decoration that looked like waves. Several feet below us was a pool, where our audience bobbed up and down on little inner-tube-like floaties as they watched our show. It struck me that when people go to a marine park to watch the dolphins or whales, the people are up on the concrete bleachers and the entertainment is in the water. In this case, the entertainment was up on the concrete and the audience was in the water. Weird.

Another first was seeing my last name plastered across someone's butt. Granted, it was the Hurley athletic clothing line, not my name specifically, but still--it made me look. It was also a first to perform belly dance in front of an audience who was more scantily clad than we were!

See what kind of trouble I get up to without a publisher's contract to fulfill? Clearly, something needs to be done about this.

The Waiting Game

With as many irons as I have in the fire, you'd think a few would have grown hot by now, but I'm still playing the waiting game. There are a couple manuscripts out to test readers, and I'm waiting for feedback on those. The agent article to be posted isn't up yet; the site's owners are swamped, so might not get to it for a while. No word yet on any possible publishing contracts. One seminar and one convention aren't to take place until September and November, respectively. So...I wait. I'm not so much patient as I am resigned.

While waiting, I've performed my first belly dance solo, constructed some much-needed costume pieces, worked with the kids on the ever-present homeschool, read some other people's books, critiqued stuff for friends, and done research for the new Brenna book. And I've nearly completed the first chapter of the new book; some of it hinges on that research, so I'm working on writing even when I'm reading. A little teaser: Some of the books I'm reading now for research are about ley lines, astral projection, the nature of energy, black holes, and paranormal occurrences in Ireland.

Succubus Blues

I just finished reading Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead, whom I met at the PNWA conference. Briefly, the book is about a succubus named Georgina who has to take life energy from mortals in order to survive, but she isn't particularly happy about it, and it quite understandably wreaks havoc with her ability to love and be loved. What she'd really like is to be mortal again, but that just isn't in the cards right now. One of the few pleasures in her life is reading and escaping into stories, and where her favorite author, Seth Mortenson, is concerned, she's a total fangirl. When Seth moves to Seattle, Georgina is shocked and delighted, but then other immortals start stirring the pot...and all hell breaks loose.

This is a great read. It's written in first person, but Georgina is one of those characters who--in true succubus style--had me at hello, so the POV didn't matter to me. Richelle Mead's voice is fresh and compelling, her subject matter even more so. It's a delightful break from the usual vampires and werewolves, and gives a unique view into what life (or immortality) might be like from the "other" side of the tracks. Richelle did what a truly great author should do; she made me laugh, made me cry, and made me care. I'll be back for more.

Paranormality

I think we've finally hit on a way to accomplish homeschool and my writing at the same time. Up to now, the problem has been that the kids don't accomplish much when I'm not standing over them, and they get distracted on their computers at home with all their fun internet activities, etc. But I've recently found that if we leave the house and go to the library, we get a lot more done. With the laptop, I can actually write while the kids are doing schoolwork, and since they can only have two hours on the library computers, at least the older one is moving faster on her work. The younger one will get there too, I think, as soon as she gets used to the idea of "work" time vs anything time. And the library has lots of little desks about the right height for a laptop, plus plenty of outlets for plugging in--so I should be able to be a little more productive too. I'm working on the new Brenna book while I'm waiting for crits to come in on the last Oantra book.

This weekend I found out that Idaho has a group of...hmm...ghost trackers, for want of a better term. Check them out at their website. In September, they're doing a seminar on ghost hunting, and I've already decided that this comes under the heading of necessary research for the Brenna books. Sounds like it'll be a blast, and there might even be a ghost hunt in the offing. Nothing like field research, huh?

Flightless in Seattle

This morning, I was supposed to fly home from Seattle to Boise. I say supposed to because I missed my flight. My late-checked bag--the reason I didn't make the flight--actually got onto the plane and arrived home before me. Obviously, the next time I travel, I will make sure to allow two whole hours at the airport before departure.

I'm not an anxious flyer. I am an anxious pre-flyer. What that means is that I'm not scared to get on the dang plane and fly, I'm just scared that I'll miss my flight and get stranded somewhere. Or...I was scared of that. I'm not anymore. I missed a flight just this morning, and yet both I and my bags made it home just fine. The bag was on the flight I missed, and I was on the following flight four hours later. One swipe of the credit card and I was confirmed for a new flight. Silly me...I knew that if you missed one airplane, you'd eventually be able to catch another one. But the details of what you do when this happens were what made me anxious. "Help, I'm stranded! Whatever shall I do?" (Let me explain here that I'm not that helpless, but I hadn't flown anywhere since before 9-11, and I've only flown once before by myself--a direct flight from Boise to Spokane clear back in the very early 90's. Now I have a much better idea of what to do, of course.) But literally, I was ready to collapse when I found that my plane had left without me. I must have looked like some kind of wreck, and I know I felt like one. I need a private jet, so it can't leave without me when I'm late!

Now that the hypothetical disaster has happened, I'm not so worried about it. I wouldn't like it to happen again, but...I can handle it if it does. Where was my personal assistant when I needed her? Oh, yeah, that would be me. I am so fired.

Results

Okay, I'm blogging from the hotel after the awards banquet. While it was fun being a finalist and this is the farthest I've gotten in any contest, I did not make the top three. I don't know in which of the eight spots I placed exactly--only the first three are made known. But it doesn't really matter. It would have been great to hit one of the top spots, but as they kept telling all us finalists, this was a really tough contest, so just to be a finalist at all was a great achievement. PNWA is an old, prestigious conference, so I hope simply being one of the finalists for my category will give me a credit that potential publishers will find worthy of note.

As it happens, I was sitting in the hotel bar last night when an author in my genre invited me to join him and his two friends at his table. About halfway through the conversation, he suddenly revealed that the lady to my left was an editor--for my genre, or at least a related genre. You have to be careful at these conferences! You never know when you might be talking to an editor incognito while she's drinking a mojito. It was at least as good as the private party the winners are now having with the agents and editors. The universe has its ways of giving us what we need, as long as we're willing to keep making the effort. Plus, today I met at least four urban fantasy authors, so...like I say. As long as I make the contacts, it doesn't really matter whether I take home a fancy certificate.

I'm going to keep telling myself that for the rest of the evening...while I'm drinking champagne with one of my fellow non-winning finalists.

The Contest

Okay, I think I've waited long enough now for the results to be in, and can safely reveal what's been going on with a certain writing contest I entered in February. I've entered the opening of the Brenna book, From the Ninth Wave, in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association contest. They got something like 28 pages including the synopsis. I hadn't entered a contest in years because I always lost, and I'd never even made it to finalist. It's hard when you're writing fantasy and your novel is up against all the thrillers and mysteries in a general "adult genre novel" category.

Note the past tense on that "I'd never", though. Last year, they broke everything out into actual genres, which helped a lot. Because of that change, I decided to take a chance this year. The big news is this: I am a finalist in the PNWA Fantasy/Sci-Fi genre novel category!

Tomorrow I'm flying up to Seattle to attend the contest and see what happens. I'm one of eight finalists. The top three winners will be announced on Saturday evening.

Thank You, Ms. Kane

Finally. Someone has articulated her feelings (which perfectly match my own feelings) about writing sex scenes--the reasons to do so, the how-to's, what sex scenes should accomplish, etc. And she's said it better than I've ever managed to, so...here's the link to her blog and those posts. Enjoy.

Hellboy

We went to see Hellboy 2 this afternoon. If anything, I liked it even better than the first one, not the least for the exploration of the fantasy beings. They used some of the same visual artistry as "Pan's Labyrinth," which made for a colorful and interesting depiction of the fae. They mangled the Celtic mythology quite a bit, but they made a visually stunning and exciting movie.

I will admit, I was disappointed in some of the outcome, but I liked that they at least began to explore some of the grey areas with regards to humans and their impact on the world. I can't really say a lot here without giving away major spoilers, but I can at least mention things that are in the movie blurbs and such. The idea behind this movie was: The fantastic (fae, otherworldly, elven, goblin, whatever) beings gave up control of this world long ago; what if they wanted it back? What, indeed?

There were things I liked very much about this movie, and things that made me shake my head. But as my crit partners are always telling me: this was someone else's story, not mine, and there's no rule that says people who play with the Celtic or other culture's mythos actually have to stick closely to it when they're using it as a jumping-off point for a story.

That said, however, I couldn't resist the compulsion to tell my kids some of the story of the relationships between the Sidhe and humans, as per Irish mythology. These are the hazards of being the children of a writer who likes to research the actual source material her stories are based on.

Retreat Weekend

The Moxie just had our annual retreat this past weekend. We didn't even go out of town, but instead booked ourselves into a suite at a local hotel.

We got off to a slow start, but had a lot of fun going out to lunch first and then painting pottery before checking into the hotel. We spent the afternoon working, then headed out to dinner. If we'd wanted to go even cheaper, we could have cooked in the suite; it had a tiny kitchen complete with pots and pans. But part of the fun of a retreat weekend is that it's a break, and to me, a break means not cooking. That night we worked and talked and ended up staying up extremely late. Nevertheless, we all blearily made our way to the breakfast buffet Sunday morning, where the hotel was actually serving (gasp!) real protein in the form of cheese omelets and sausage, instead of just a typical continental of 99% carbohydrates, 1% caffeine. Then it was off to the suite again to arrange for a late checkout and work until the last possible second before having to vacate the premises. From there, one of my crit partners went home, while I and the other partner went to our usual Moxie Java to work for another couple of hours before rolling off home.

One of my partners asked whether I'd actually accomplished more on the retreat than I would have at home. The answer is yes, although not by a huge margin. What was more important than vast amounts of progress on the prose was the camaraderie and the change of scene, which for me was like a mini vacation. I'd do it every three months if I could. And we're definitely going to have to do that pottery painting again. The only thing about the retreat that I'd change is that all three of us would have had comfy king-sized beds and no one would have slept on a sleeper sofa mattress, and we would have been able to go to the movies to ogle Robert Downey, Jr. I mean...a retreat weekend is all about inspiration, right? Nevertheless, what we did accomplish was great, although it ended far sooner than I would have liked. But then, I'm kind of die-hard that way.

I do get to go to PNWC in a week and a half, so I have more hotel vacation time ahead of me. It's all good.

The Triad

I'm finished with the last book of the trilogy. I can hardly believe it, but it's true. I just wrote the denouement for Shifts of Perception, which means that except for revisions, I've just finished the last book of the Oantran Triad. I spent nine years of my life writing a trilogy that, to date, remains unpublished.

But I wrote it. That's the main thing. I wrote an epic fantasy trilogy. BOO-RAH!

That Worked

The first half of the final battle scene in Shifts works. So does the beginning of the new Brenna book. Now if the Moxie and I can just figure out how and where to stage our annual writing retreat for the 4th of July weekend, we'll be set for great things.

In the meantime, I've been extremely distracted by Stacia Kane's urban fantasy, Personal Demons. It didn't hurt that she wrote it in third person. It also didn't hurt that one of my favorite characters is a lot like Cole Turner in Charmed. Yep, way too distracting.

Now I See

I finally figured out what's wrong with the final battle scene I've been trying to write. I started in the right place, but then it took a left turn and a couple of crucial things didn't happen. Aggravating as it might be with the next Moxie meeting taking place tomorrow, I have to go back to the place where the thing went wrong (or didn't, as the case might be) and re-do the scene from that point.

I don't have to lose much, as I hadn't gotten far from that point, but I do have to lose some. That's okay, though. I need closure on this book, and it's so close I can almost see the whites of its eyes. If I have to backtrack a little in order to move forward, that's what I'll do.

Beginnings and Endings

I couldn't help myself. I've been working on the crucial last scenes of Shifts of Perception, but the second Brenna book, Bridget's Forge, was too tempting to leave alone. So I worked over the first chapter I'd already written and came up with a different opening, based on some concepts I'd been studying from Les Edgerton's book, Hooked.

It's the typical next-book-in-a-series conundrum: how much backstory can you get away with so as to orient the reader to what's going on and how the character got to where she is right now--without going into so much backstory that the inciting incident is shoved off into Chapter Two? Fortunately, Mr. Edgerton covers all the prerequisites of a good opening chapter in his book. No matter what backstory you might need later, the inciting incident had better be as close to the beginning of the book as possible; given that, whether you're on book two or thirteen shouldn't really matter. A boring opening is a boring opening, full stop. And that's just what the reader will do if you can't hook them right away--stop. Exactly what you don't want to have happen. So I re-worked the opening I had and put the inciting incident much closer to the beginning of the book, and...we'll see.

So I've been working on a beginning and an ending. Two different books, two different worlds, on two sides of the timeline. It may look like a circle, but I think it qualifies as progress.

Thriller Weekend

The Boise chapter of Parners in Crime put on the 2008 Murder in the Grove conference this weekend. It's a small conference, but a good one. This year, rather than a focus on Mystery as the primary subject, the theme was about Thrillers and the combination of Mystery and Thriller. There was a writers' class on Friday, and then various regular conference classes on Saturday. J.A. Jance attended and was the keynote speaker at lunch. She also spoke at the multi-author booksigning at the Boise Barnes and Noble on Friday evening.

Another year, another good local conference. You can always apply concepts from thrillers and mysteries to Urban Fantasy, so the classes are worthwhile. But it would be nice to attend a conference or convention that deals specifically with Fantasy. I may try to go to Orycon later this year in Portland Oregon; Orycon is a Sci-Fi and Fantasy Convention. While it isn't just for writers, it's always full of relevant classes, panels and readings, and I've always enjoyed it whenever I've gone.

I guess the best part of our local conference was the fact that I didn't have to be "on", and could just sit in classes and soak up whatever information I could while not stressing out or feeling like I had to stay high-energy and visible the whole time. One of the things I've appreciated over the past few years is not having to go pitch my manuscript to agents. If I haven't come to the end of the steeplechase, at least I'm over the first couple of hurdles.

Still Here

I'm still here, still waiting for news on the book. Right now I'm cleaning house, while our area is having a week of cooler temperatures--and by cooler I mean in the 70's rather than the upper 80's to low 90's. I've cleaned and organized a ton of stuff in our garage, and the house is undergoing a similar round of spring cleaning. It badly needed it, and I'm also thinking that having a better organized house, I might find I have less mental clutter as well. There's nothing that stops the flow of energy and ideas worse than a cluttered environment, which contributes to stress on levels you might not consciously realize. So...cleaning is the order of the day.

Book-wise, I'm within about three scenes of the end of Shifts of Perception. Yay! I might even have it done in time for Moxie this weekend. That would be great. And then it's on to the new Brenna book, plus playing with a few other new ideas I've had in the last week. So first I work, and then I...work? Somehow, the initial stages of writing a new book don't seem so much like work to me. It's more like play, and I can be as addicted to escaping into the new world I've created as some people are to computer games. Each new story is like a new, exciting, colorful computer game in my head, the events and characters mine to toy with....

No, I'm not plotting to take over the world. Not overtly, anyway.