Welcome To My Journal!
The primary purpose of this journal is to store my writing and anything writing related, although there are also a few personal posts sprinkled throughout. Some of it is public for all to enjoy, while my more serious writing (those things that I plan to publish one day) are under my friends filter. You're welcome to read those too, but you'll have to friend me first.
My stories are tagged, so all you need to do is click on the tag of the story you want to read and LJ will pull up all the related posts. I have a list below of the stories you'll find here, what they are about, their tags, and who can view them (public or friends only). I will update the list as needed. Thanks for visiting and have fun!
( The Master List )
- Mood:
happy
Well, I've submitted the story to a total of five places. I wasn't sure if that was too many, not enough, or just right, but I figured I'll limit it to five and keep it that way. In other words, everytime one rejects me, I'll submit it to another one, keeping the total at five until someone finally accepts it. Four of them accept simultaneous submissions, but one does not. (Shhh...) I've heard most places that say they don't accept simultaneous submissions don't really adhere to it, so I guess I'll find out for sure now. (Btw, I'm not mentioning the name of the story yet just in case they do some kind of search and find this. Go ahead, call me paranoid. The voices in my head do it all the time. :-P )
On that note, I received two automatic replies at the time I submitted my stories. It's nice to know they got it, but there really isn't anything else to read into it. But two others later sent me personalized replies saying things to the effect of they received it and are still making their decision. While I don't want to read too much into that either (I really doubt they've even read it yet), what it does tell me is they didn't dismiss it out of hand on a technicality. I've crossed the first hurdle, even if it's a small one.
Okay, so it's not a lot to get excited about, I admit. But when the whole process is something new, it makes everything sort of a big deal. I'm sure once I've been doing this for a while, I'll look back on this post and laugh at myself. But hey, there's nothing wrong with a good laugh at your own expense. Maybe I'll read this on a rainy day and need it.
Meanwhile, I have a flash fic idea in another genre. (Which means another pseudonym, but I think I've got this one covered.) I'm pretty sure I can get the first draft down tonight. I already worked on it a little during lunch at work today, so I have a head start.
- Mood:
optimistic - Music:"Zombie" - The Cranberries
- Mood:
hopeful
All that worrying about pseudonyms and how is the accepted way to let your publisher know you have one, and all that searching online brought me nothing. I finally gave up and decided to use variants of my real name so I can move on and get something published. Then, while trying to find a sample cover/query letter, I find it. Just list it under your real name and indicate it as a pen name. Yep, it's that simple. I'm a dork.
(I guess it's more commonly called a pen name, but meh, pseudonym is a much cooler word. Check out that rebel ps in front, that cool eu combo and that really smart looking y. Much cooler, says I.)
- Mood:
dorky
Ha! I finished my first publishable short story in years, and it was much shorter than I was expecting. 4600 words as opposed to around 6-7000. I had a whole other scene that I was going to add, but then I realized, the story's pace moved much better without it. So after a few minor changes in what I had already written, I went straight to the climax and was able to make it shorter and better all at the same time. I still need to go over it for things like spelling and grammar, and there will probably be some minor tweaking before I submit it anywhere, but it's essentially done. And, I'm pretty pleased with it. Let's just hope the publishers feel the same. *crosses fingers*
- Mood: hopeful
I'm about 2/3 finished with my short story and I'm having to consider exactly what I'm going to do when I'm ready to publish it. I've browsed through Writer's Market just to see what's out there, and I think my biggest hurdle will be the word count. It's a short story that happens to be a little on the long side. It's close to 4000 words right now, and I expect it to be closer to 6000 by the time I'm finished. There are some magazines and ezines who accept that length, but they are relatively few, and they indicate that their average length is usually around 3000.
My next hurdle is the genre. I see "no horror, supernatural, science fiction..." on a lot of them. I found one that wants horror, but they're looking for the kind of stuff that makes you afraid to go to bed at night. I'm not sure my story qualifies for that either. It's a little more like, I don't know, Twilight Zone material. It's dark and a little eerie, but it's not going to make you sit in the corner of the couch and read it from behind an overstuffed pillow.
But neither of those problems are bothering me as much as the pseudonym issue. This was a problem I thought I would figure out later, but later is now. I write two very different genres, and I don't think using the same name for both will be a good idea. I should change at least one of them. I may use a pseudonym for both because if I do become well known one day, I think it would be easier to keep my private life private if I can use my real name without it being recognized. It's a strange idea that may never even become an issue, but if it does, it will be too late to do something about it once I've already become well known under my real name.
The main question I have about pseudonyms that superficial research hasn't answsered is, how do you let your publisher know that you have a pseudonym? What's the method for doing that? Do I just write on my cover letter something to the effect of, "Please call me Jane Doe," and they honor that? Or do I just publish under that name and never let the publisher know my real name? That doesn't make sense, because once I get to a point where I'm getting paid for my work, how would they know who to write the check out to? My bank might not like cashing checks made out to Jane Doe, especially if they're large. Also, if there is ever a question about authorship, it might be better if they can trace the work back to the actual person. If I need to come out of the woodwork someday and say, "Yes, I'm Jane Doe," they'll probably want some proof.
Finally, what the heck do I name myself?? It's a tougher question than I thought it would be.
- Mood:
nervous
It's been a while since I've posted anything, but that's because I've been busy with something else. A short story. I plan to submit it for publication when I'm finished, so I won't say too much about it here except that it's a dark story, and I've spent the better part of this weekend researching things like German/Norse mythology, cuckoo clocks, and what happens when someone dies at home. It made for an interesting weekend and more work than I originally expected for this story. I also managed to get some of it written, and while it's never perfect on the first draft, I feel pretty good about it. I may take part of it to my writer's group this week and see how it goes.
- Mood:
productive
I found a new toy the other day. It's called yWriter, and it's a free program that's supposed to help you organize your novel and move things around the way you need to while writing. It has neat tools that I could have used ages ago, like an organized place to keep all you character and location information (instead of jotting them down randomly in spiral notebooks, then having to search for them later), and a feature that allows you to create outlines and storyboards, track progress, wordcounts, and all sorts of other goodies. It's great! I think I'm going to love it the next time I sit down to start a new novel. The problem is, I've already written so much on my current novel, it's taking me forever to plug the information in. Instead of adding details as I create them, I find myself having to skim through the notebooks and re-read parts of my novel to gleen the little bits of information that I've forgotten. Now, I'm spending time on that, and once again, I'm not writing. But I'm doing it because I want to be able to easily find things and move them around when I do my next edit (which I expect to be pretty extensive). I also want to have an outline ready to include with a query or if an agent requests one.
Another thing I've done is set aside a new spiral notebook (I love those things!) just for plot ideas. They don't have to be well developed, just anything that could make an interesting story later. I may or may not even use them all. This notebook isn't going to become a mess like my other ones, which are used for any notes I take about anything (story ideas, budgeting, puzzle game notes, Christmas lists, rough sketches, font names... It's interesting to skim through them sometimes.). I have a very strict rule: 1 page = 1 plot bunny. I write the main plot idea across the top of the page, and I have one front and back page to write down any notes and ideas I have about it. More extensive planning will have to be done separately which should be fine, because if I'm taking more notes than that, I'm probably ready to write the story (then I can use yWriter. :-P ). This makes it easy for me to browse the pages and find something interesting to write about without having go sort through a bunch of junk and figure out which notes belong to which plot. Also, if I really mess something up, I can just tear out the one page and pretend it never happened. I have two plot bunnies in there right now and I'm working on more.
- Mood: dorky
- Music:"Loser" - 3 Doors Down
I had told myself as I was standing in the book aisle at the grocery store that I need to broaden my reading horizons a little and read things I normally wouldn't. Romance was the first thing that came to mind. I never plan to write a romance, but there might be aspects of it in what I do write. It wouldn't hurt to read some and learn what works and what doesn't. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm just not ready for that yet. So yeah, Grisham it is.
- Mood:
okay
I've discovered something. There's so much stuff out there to read about the craft and business of writing, that you can spend all your free time trying to absorb it all. Add to that the time it takes to read other people's works to get a feel for style and the market, and it makes me wonder where someone finds the time to actually write. I need to say enough is enough and actually start writing again. I'm sure there's a wealth of information out there about getting published, and it's all very useful and intriguing. But it's not going to do me a bit of good if I don't have something to publish.
I need to get writing! *cracks the whip*
- Mood:
frustrated
I think I just need to start writing and stop worrying so much about the small things, much like I do for NaNo. Once I get back into the story, I can probably finish it in no time. The final edit (or two) probably won't take long either. Then it gets to the scary part: publishing. I'll try not to think about that right now. Besides, I have my new short fiction project I can use to procrastinate afterward. Afterall, what better excuse not to publish a novel than to tell myself that I'm not ready yet, because I haven't published anything else? It's pure genius and I have no doubt it will work like a charm...unfortunately.
- Mood:
annoyed - Music:"Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" The Temptations
I thought I'd try a self-portrait for the new year. I essentially traced a photo of myself, fixed it up a little (for example, my glasses were crooked and partially covered one of my eyes) and colored it in. It was cheating, but I'm still pretty pleased with it.
- Mood:
creative - Music:"Reelin' In the Years" Steely Dan
Author: Brandy
Challenge: Rocky Road #6 (kitchen), Boysenberry #21 (in sheep's clothing)
Extra: None
Word Count: 2222
Rating: G
Story: The Creekside Stranger
Title: Reasons To Worry
Summary: Julia is up to her old trick again: edging her way between Clem and Eileen with the hope of winning him over. It's a subtle start, but the coggs are already turning.
( Reasons To Worry )
- Mood:
accomplished - Music:"Fame" David Bowie
Okay, last year was absolutely horrible for more reasons than I can count. It started at the end of 2008 and has just now begun to wind down. I would argue that last year was the worst year of my life with the possible exception of a bad streak I had in the mid 90's. It's hard to say which was worse, though, because I don't remember a lot of details about that time (which is telling in itself). Maybe I'll be lucky and not remember 2009 either.
So, here's to looking forward to the new year and the new decade. I have a few things lined up for next year that aren't going to be fun, but they will be the result of tying up loose ends from last year. If it goes smoothly, I can get them taken care of and put it all behind me. I can enter a new phase in my life, finally.
It's time to look forward!
- Mood: hopeful
- Music:"The Middle" Jimmy Eat World
I'm not sure exactly when it was (I believe the records are on a floppy disc somewhere, never to be retrieved), but somewhere around 10 years ago I had done some short fiction writing and even dabbled in poetry. I managed to get a couple of my works published in some minor webzines, which if I'm not mistaken, are both defunct now. I also had some works published in an anthology at my community college and co-edited a magazine at my university. There was no money involved in any of this, but it felt good to be recognized and to be involved, in some small way, in the writing industry.
Then something happened. Life got in the way, and I all but stopped writing while I did things like attempt a teaching career, moved out of state with my family and tried to make sense of some chaos that life threw at me. I also became involved in the Pirates of the Caribbean fandom, which meant that when I did write, it was fanfic. It was a lot of fun, but pretty much useless.
Now, I want to get back into writing again. My one goal in life is to publish a novel before I die. My dream is to become an accomplished writer who has at least a small following and who can make enough money from it to claim on my taxes. I have three novels in the works that I've made significant progress on (albeit in different genres). One is almost finished, but here is where the problem comes in. I know nothing about publishing. I'm a virtual unknown in the industry and don't have a thing to present in my portfolio. When I finish these novels, I'll be handing my manuscript over to an agent with nothing to offer except, "Here, read this. Tell me what you think. I promise it's really good." Yeah, not gonna fly.
So, now I have a different strategy. I'm still going to work on my novels and attempt to publish them when the time comes, but I also want to get into short stories again. There's not much money in it, even if I'm successful, but it will get my name out there and get my feet wet in the industry. I've ordered a couple of short story magazine subscriptions to get a feel for what kind of writing is out there (hehe, now the trick is sitting down to read them), and I've bookmarked some sites for other magazines and webzines so I can get acquainted with them too. Submitting short stories is scary, but I don't think it's quite as scary as submitting a novel, so it might be best to start there. We'll see how it goes.
- Mood:
determined
Wow, when I take a break, I really take a break. It's been almost a month since Nano, and I haven't written anything. I did start a piece on my Creekside series, but I only got maybe half-way through it before I put it down again. That was maybe 2 weeks ago. I was hoping to have my Changing the Seasons novel finished by the end of this year, but it's not happening. It's still first on my "to do" list (well, second actually. I want to finish my Creekside piece at some point. It shouldn't take too long). I'll start working on it again soon, I hope. But that month of writing burned me out. Come to think of it, the same thing happened last year.
Once I'm done with that, I'll take Familiar Footsteps out and start working on it again. I remembered I had an idea for the plot that I got off of something I saw on TV, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was. (They say your memory is the second thing to go. I forgot what the first one was.) I was upset about it, because I remembered that I really liked the idea, but I had no idea now what it was. Thank goodness I jotted it down in my journal. I found it today and was relieved. I was a little disappointed with how that novel turned out, especially since I had such high hopes for it in the beginning, but now that I have this new idea, and a chance to start fresh (which I'm more or less going to do) I'm feeling better about it.
- Mood:
good
Merry Christmas Everyone!!!
Technology is a wonderful thing. It makes our lives easier (or more complicated in some cases), it saves lives and opens the door to wonderful things that we had no access to before. But there's a downside to it, too. As we learn to control our surroundings we miss out on some of what nature has to show us. Granted, some of that stuff is dangerous, but there is still a certain amount of beauty and awe in it. For example I remember coming out at night and seeing stars over my house, and not just a few prominant constellations. When my family went camping in the mountains, the sky literally glittered with them. They were all different colors and there was no space in between. Now, there are only a few, and even when I drive that long, unpopulated highway between Phoenix and Indio, there is still too much light from the surrounding population centers to allow the stars to shine. It's good to have plenty of light at night when you need to be out of the house, even in the middle of nowhere, but now we've lost our stars.
I could find other examples but my point is, I just read an article about how DARPA is trying to control lightning. They say it's dangerous and costs a lot of money, inconvenience and lives, so wouldn't it be great if we could control when and where it strikes? A tongue in cheek comment was added by the writer about using it for a weapon as well, which I'm sure is on the drawing board in someone's office too, but they're smart enough not to say anything about it. I can see the use for that technology, and I can't knock it completely, but it makes me sad.
Today, when there's a lightning storm, I can look out my window or stand on the porch (against my mother's advice, since she seems to have an unnatural fear of the phenomenon) and wait for the next bolt to hit, never knowing when or where to expect it, or even how big it will be, until it happens. It's like a surprise light show, even better than fireworks, because fireworks are too predictable.
But someday, when the lightning comes, we'll receive an announcement on the news or our BlackBerries warning everyone to: Stay away from the neighborhood lightning control center, because we are going to schedule a release of the electric energy in the current cloud cover between 9 and 11pm. Somewhere between those times there may be one or more flashes of lightning striking within an area the size of a typical office complex in a predetermined corner of the city. Please do not look in that direction without your safety goggles, due to the very minor chance of eye damage from the light, and make sure all household items are safely secured to guard against injury if the subsequent rumbling should reach levels loud enough to shake them from their places. As always, discuss with your children the dangers of lightning and the measures our government has put in place to keep us safe. Thank you and have a good day.
Then we can tell our children about the dangerous world we grew up in where lightning could strike anywhere at anytime. We'll leave out the part where it was so fun and pretty to watch for their sakes. I suppose they won't miss what they don't know. But we will.
- Mood:
sad
My other project is my Creekside story. I pretty much abandoned RAT over November, but I would like to go back to it. I already have my next flavors picked out, and I might work on my next installment this weekend. Also, here is where I'd like to start a new project. I mentioned before that I want to start a darker series based on a different town (I've considered Granite Valley, but I'm not sure. Still working on that.) Sort of the Anti-Creekside. Now that Nano is over, I can take the time I need to work that out.
I also want to draw something, but I'm not sure what yet. I just have the itch to do it. I'll have to find a subject. Maybe I'll illustrate one of my Creekside stories again and use it for RAT. Or maybe not. (Undecisive is one of my defining charcteristics.) I was also inspired last month to possibly do a crossover fanfic of Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Trek, where we find out that Uhura is actually Anamaria. It seems silly, but I think I can make it work. Besides, crossover fanfic is silly by definition, so why should it matter? I floated a test balloon about this on my other journal where a diehard Star Trek and solid PotC fan would see it, and I didn't get a response from her, so I'll take it as a bad sign, but I don't care. It's fun and my personal guilty pleasure. I'm still thinking about doing it.
- Mood:
busy
- Mood:
ecstatic
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