Punishment, too, is a form of beauty

I've been beating myself up over this chapter since yesterday. I know that this is what I want to do with it, but I'm not sure the product came out right. It seems too blocky and glazed, and I'm not sure what to do with it...

Anyone want to Critique it for me? You'd have my eternal gratitude.

I know this is shameless pimping, but damnit, sometimes it just must be resorted to.

Ode to Wikipedia

This next chapter is going to be EPIC. At least if it turns out the way I envision it. Thank you, Wikipedia, for providing me dirt on what kids in English classes call "dead white guys." The 19th century was seriously one literary orgy. Every author seemed to know each other, whether or not they were involved romantically.

What happened to that kind of literary community? It's never talked about if it DOES indeed still exist. Can we go back to this? It sounds like it was pretty awesome (aside from the fact that everyone's lives were rather unfortunate).

And HIS life is perfect for the story I want to emphasize.

Oh, BTW: The Sammus Theory is the best live show you'll ever treat yourself to. I'm not kidding. If they're in your area, even if you haven't heard their music, it's well worth the admission. Do yourselves a favor.

Sam's such a sweet kid too. XD

Le ick.

I finished American Gods on Tuesday, before getting terribly sick with a 24 hour flu yesterday.

The first was actually rather good in terms of my project, though it makes me feel vastly inferior. But, I suppose, I can only learn from this instead of dwelling on it. And "The Suits" is only in the first drafting stage, so I've got some time to let it develop.

The second is absolutely horrid. I hate being sick with every fiber of my being (and every one of those fibers ACHED yesterday). I had to resort to Powerade, as the carbination in Sprite was giving me a headache. OH JOY. And I've had one for the majority of the day today too. Lame. And, it's also made me reconsider being cheap in accordance with the university's offer for health insurance. If I don't sign up for it during the year, I MUST do it when I get the "after college job"--whatever it may be. I'm not a pleasant sick person. I'm relatively helpless, and can get really whiney. Urg. So being able to see a doctor when I need to is a definite on my to-do list.

Though you'd think I'd be immune to influenza as often as I get it--at least twice a year. Oh, and the chicken pox that I had three times? I should be dead, really. So a doctor could be a really good thing, yeah?

I think I'm off to see if I can pound out some words today, as being sick yesterday put me even further behind. <3 for all of you.

Try, try again.

I'm actually getting internet in Barnes and Noble today, so I'm going to make the most of it, before it disappears.

I finished the rough version of Chapter 8 in The Suits today. Hurrah. But I'm still behind on my 750/day goal. I'm not terribly concerned, as long as I keep up with the writing. I'll likely be fine tuning chapters 7 and 8 tonight and updating those on Writers' Cafe so that I can get a little bit of feedback. I like knowing that I'm still headed in a good direction.

Though some of the things about Christian Dogma that have been coming out recently may very well inspire my college to burn me at the stake. Hopefully I can meld it into something less harsh (as the idea is a new myth, not the total obliteration of Christianity) by the end, or that the ending attitude is a bit different than the beginning's animosity. It probably will, since I think it's the first person immersion into character that's producing the harshness, rather than an outright bad attitude on my part.

We'll see how it turns out. And there's always the editing process to consider.

I also got rejection letter #8 this last week. But it was a nice one, in which the agents told me they were positive that someone else would want the book. That could just be a form letter (and it likely is), but coupled with Kelsey finally finishing it and telling me that she loved it, made me feel a little bit better about Nocturnal Melee as a finished product the way it stands. So, I may send out letters to the rest of my list (which, I believe, consists of about 5 or 6 more agents), and I'll wait out letters #10-16. If those are all rejections THEN I will likely seriously move on with the rewrite of the project.

And Janet Evanovich's confession about having several first books that were never published made me feel a bit better about the process of getting an agent--it isn't the end of the world. Though I really do enjoy Nocturnal Melee, especially as a reader--it doesn't feel like I wrote it. Especially when I compare it to The Suits. The tone is so different, it astounds me at times. But whatever. The break will come sometime. It HAS to. I just have to keep at it. Perserverance is a virtue, isn't it?

Also, They Might Be Giants is likely one of the best musical artists to write to. This is a new discovery as of today. And it produced a whole chapter. I just hope the random music that is the background for this book doesn't effect the tone too deeply. Hah.

Over and under-whelmed

First note: I have kicked the crappy-layout funk in the ass. Huzzah! Everything should theoretically be up and working, but let me know if something's still off?

Second note: Yard sales wear me out. Or, perhaps, less the yard sale, and more the cleaning that leads up to it. A large majority of my Star Wars stuff is gone, and most of the other "collectible" crap that wasn't really collecting anything bust dust is too. I still have quite a bit of storage in the living room closet, but once I get a curio cabinet for the after-graduation apartment, I should be fine, and even have a place for everything. And having a place for everything is half the battle.

Stuff, by definition, is evil. Idol worship, I say! Hehe. But at least the collector in me is being a bit more frugal about things.

Also, this soundtrack is amusing to me at the moment. I haven't seen the movie in forever, but the soundtrack makes me giggle. And Code Geass rules me right now. Can I have the DVD? PLEASE? Serious Crispin Freeman love.

And anime girls are very eye-roll inducing sometimes. It shouldn't surprise me that I gravitate to characters like Integra and Cardinal Sforza. LOL. The high voices and obsessions over OMG so-and-so is dating so-and-so drives me nuts. Give me action over sappy romance ANY DAY.

Writing has been rather slow in the last week and a half, but I've finally finished reading Twilight (and subsequent sequels), and I've started on American Gods which is rather similar to the idea of "The Suits," which amuses me, since I started it before I started seriously reading Gaiman's novels.