Let's see how far down it goes

The thesis is behind schedule, and it's annoying the living hell out of me. Apparently the moment anyone brings reporters into fiction, they slow everything down. Jargony bastards. And you'd think I'd have it down, since I'm in journalism. Of course, assumptions have been getting me nowhere thus far. And I need character motivations done for my thesis advisior by Monday. So hopefully I'll get some of the stuff on Nocturnal Melee updated so that it's not information from the first draft 10 years ago. Ha.

Anyway, I'm back to the Alice-esque rabbit hole. And this could prove to be fun. We get to meet the faeries, and the Fey get to be Switzerland. It should be grand.

My plan is to have that done by the weekend. Here's to hoping, right?

And there's another crank thrown in: I'll be away this weekend. AGAIN. First it was Forks, then Ashland, and now Seattle. I've been all over the damn place this semester, it's surreal.

But I get to go see Neil Gaiman, and I'm stoked, and NOTHING (and when I say it, I mean it) could dampen the exhilaration at the moment. Friday cannot come soon enough, oh Gods. The fangirl in me could die a rather happy death come Friday evening (save its anger at no San Diego Con yet...). Haha.

So, writing. And then the dinner party for Shawn. And then more writing. Dilligence?

Hello, Ladies and GentLEmen

As I'm working on getting Part II started on this thing I call the new book, I found that a little introduction to my methods would be in order. Since this is my writing blog. Imagine that!

1. Do you write fiction or non-fiction? Or both?
I only write non-fiction in the form of research papers, though my original senior thesis was going to be a look at Anime and Japanese Post-War culture. Normally, I write fiction, and most of it is fantasy at that. I like finding real life in an escape. Otherwise, I'm still living my life as I write--I'm not writing.

2. Do you keep a journal or a writing notebook?
For the most part, yes. But it's all over in bits and pieces.

3. If you write fiction, do you know your characters’ goals, motivations, and conflicts before you start writing or is that something else you discover only after you start writing? Do you find books on plotting useful or harmful?
Generally, I will try and start with an outline. I like to know my characters well enough to know what I'm doing with them. Sometimes they'll surprise me, but for the most part it's like having a best friend--you know them almost in and out.

4. Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?
I procrastinate a bit, but I don't always have to have a BURST of inspiration to write. I can sit myself down and make myself do it, unless it's a particularly bad case of writer's block.

5. Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?
It depends on the day. I can sometimes be a burst of energy person, but I can do it the other way around too.

6. Are you a morning or afternoon writer?
Afternoon. I can't do anything productive in the morning, unless we count the 4 am bedtime. Then perhaps something will get done before bed.

7. Do you write with music/the noise of children/in a cafe or other public setting, or do you need complete silence to concentrate?
Silence is almost too distracting for me. My mind wanders, and I find myself not able to concentrate. Which is weird. I do a lot of my best stuff in coffee shops, but a well made iTunes mix helps too.

8. Computer or longhand? (or typewriter?)
I used to do everything in long-hand before I got a laptop. I still do a bit in long-hand, especially if I have no computer on me.

9. Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One? Or do you let the story evolve as you write?
I know a basic outline of the ending, sure. A vague place where I want things to tie up. And basic places that I want to go before I get there. But the rest of it is rather fluid and open.

10. Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write?
No. I write what I'd want to read, and what I love doing. I'm already resolved to the fact that not everyone becomes a best-seller, so even if only one person takes faith in what I do, so be it. It's about the art, not the fame. Money would be nice, but...I don't like compromising myself for the sake of that.

11. Editing/Revision - love it or hate it?
It has its pros and cons, really. I can add and take away, like the creation of my own Earth. One where Eve wouldn't automatically be labeled a sinner, either. But really, sometimes it's just tedious, monotonus, and makes me bleary-eyed. I like general content revision, but I hate technical revision.

You see these shackles, baby?

Wow, July and August sort of melded into one giant super-month of epic Metatron proportions. My apologies to the actual readers here, expecting a real update. The closer school gets, the more chaotic everything else seems to be.

I'm half a chapter away from the end of Part I, which excites me. Hopefully I can get my room all...finished, and then begin the backstory that is an entirely new mythology.

And let's all pray that THAT small task doesn't cause my brain to start oozing out of my ears in a viscous form that only a psycho-scientist could identify. Mmm, brain matter. It just must be time for lunch. Ha.

And TDK on IMAX may be the big event of tomorrow. Holy crow, this causes some ridiculous excitement, I can barely contain it. Leah knows. She witnessed it first-hand when she first suggested it.

For now, I'm off to put on my Utena fanmix and finish setting up my room. Perhaps then you'll all get a real update AND some writing? OOOH. It'd be like Christmas, only on the internet. XD

We Are Tonight's Entertainment

I just had a panic attack, ladies and gents.

From something I wrote. Not even something I read. Words I dictated. How in the hell is that possible? My brain's the one moderating what I say, and yet the event almost gives me asthma?

WEIRD.

I don't think that's ever happened before.

Making plans

I have one goal for tomorrow. Break out the envelopes and stamps. I'm going to go through, edit my query letter, and send out another batch of them. I believe there's quite a few people left on my list.

And I wonder if there's protocol for resubmitting a query? I should look that up.

Plans for Kumoricon '08 have changed a bit. I'm doing only two cosplays instead of 3, but the second is actually shaping into something. Especially now that I have a new sewing machine. Hopefully it'll turn out. *crosses fingers*

Additionally, I now have plans to save money and take a trip down to Dallas next May for A-Kon, which will be rather spectacular. My goal is to save a minimum of $500 for the trip, as I've figured out basic cost (Likely $150 for the plane, another $150 for the two nights in the hotel, and $30 for the pre-registration). EXCITEMENT!

And the book is going MUCH slower, which is not pleasing. I don't know if my drive is running out, if the characters aren't working for me anymore, or if the thing has been flawed from the beginning. I need to kick my ass into gear though. I wanted to have 90% of it done by the time I moved back to Portland, and I'm almost to something like 33%. Not anywhere close. Grr. But at least I can send it to my prof. once Part I is finished. Three more chapters, Kaitlyn. You can do this!

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.

Your friendly neighborhood PSA

I have just a couple of quick notes this morning:

I'm working on a new layout. I haven't liked anything so far, though, so it may take a bit. But I promise I'm working on it.

Pandora's name is now (tentatively) Cassandra/Cassie--which still fits my Greek dorkiness. But now we don't know if we're going to keep it, as the kitty is a hellion and attacks Athena. D:

The Suits is still coming along. I wrote about half of chapter 7 today, and a bit of what's to come in 8.

Letter #7 was not only a rejection, but a total waste: The agency is no longer accepting new writers. I don't think I'll count this as a rejection, but a mistake. But either way, I'm still at 7 letters and no good news.

BUT I was thinking while watching Underworld. I may be restarting the book, again. And totally dropping the "tapes" idea. Perhaps the macabre funeral thing will work with something else?

I wanted to dislike Twilight on the pretence of it basically being yet more paranormal romance. But, in wanting to prove everyone wrong on how good it is, I borrowed it from my sister, and was 80 pages deep 45 minutes later. All 495 were finished in about 4 total hours in the last two days. Needless to say, I didn't dislike it afterall.

I'm already 2 chapters into New Moon. The bandwagon kidnapped me. Help?

Money in 4 days. Tony comes over in 2/3. Hurrah, human interaction! And I get to be computer saavy!

Feist is amazing, kthx.

My physical writing portfolio is edging on being as thick as my skull, just FYI. :D

This blog post was almost pointless. XD

Summer plans...I sound like a musical

First off: Ni90 has been kicking my ass into shape. Which is good, because otherwise the project will never get done. Even if some days getting the words out is like having a root canal. But something's getting done, yeah?

Also, people need to stop trying to ruin Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls for me. No, I have not seen it yet. I plan on seeing it next week when I can fit into a theatre without feeling like a sardine. Also, I missed the after-credit stuff for Iron Man, and I'm slightly miffed.

I need to remember that I need to get my pass for Kumoricon this summer, I need to renew my Livejournal, I need to pay for the next six months here, and I might be hitting Warped Tour and The Sammus Theory. Let's hope I can do all of that on no job this summer. *crosses fingers* Likely, I'll end up dropping Warped, paying for 2 months on my LJ, and then going from there.

Oh, and we got a new cat. Athena is angry at the usurpation of space, but has generally been ignoring the fact that there's a new cat in the other room. At least thus far. When the door opens, she does rush to get in, but otherwise she ignores it. Oh, and the kitty's name? Pandora. Gods, I'm a Greek nerd.

And the Loki thing figured itself out--and no one has pointed it out as a weak point in the new chapter so far, so I suppose I tweaked the legend enough to fit without decimating it like Troy's adaptation of the Iliad. Bully for me.

Lunch calls. Feed me, Seymore. Rawr.

I'm Late For Work!

Robert's closing line was cheesy when I wrote it 4 hours ago: "Not if you let me stay.", but 3 hours and 55 minutes ago it become "I'm late for work!," which in the context of the novel fits MUCH better.

But I am terrible at endings, so I will be trying to get someone to read this epilogue and give me suggestions. The former suggestion for radio transcripts in one narrative fit perfectly, so I may go to the same source.

But for all intents and purposes, the book is finished. Almost 10 years later (8 to be exact), I think it's finally done, minus the small tweaks that any manuscript needs.

zOMG. I knew I skipped class today for a reason.

There's No Acocunting for Taste, Is There?

So, keeping a Last.fm has helped me keep track of just how weird my music taste has been sliding. I went from a very heavy metal focus to hippy/indie. WEIRD.

And I finished that damn narrative this morning. Which means that all I need to do at this point is somehow pound out the climactic fight scene, and tie up the very OBVIOUS loose ends with Katherine's character. Somehow.

I'm putting off an essay project on Raymond Carver and editing right now. Shh, no one tell. XD

Mmm, mmm, PAPER.

I'm so close to the end now that I can taste the tang of the wood in the fibers of the paper. I just started chapter 14, which means that I have finished the three opposing first-person narratives, and am on the way to jumping the last hurdle (though of course, it always has to seem to be the highest).

It'll be more difficult with this, as it's all radio feedback with no inserted narration. ARG. It'll be like reading the Police Log in the local newspaper...in fact, I should probably go find one for reference material.

It's just annoying to have to have a full chapter in the perspective of two people who, for all intents and purposes, do not exist in the timeline between Robert's funeral and the time prior in which he recorded the incident.

Gods, the stress my art induces. My muse is a TEASE.
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And I have a midterm short-story due for Creative Writing in two weeks, and the professor hasn't given the prompt yet. YIPES. Oh, and that housing meeting this week. Likely paper layout too. *sigh* I think Februaries involve too much work.

Nothing Happens on Tuesdays

"The King of Nothingness" went through peer critique today. And I have two differing opinions. One is that people wanted more information on the kid's backstory, and the second was to skip the backstory and expound on the ending. This story is uploaded HERE is anyone desires to read it before I edit and upload here.

I got THREE different people in the class tell me that it reeked of Gaiman-esque-ness. And apparently that's a word now too. Shawn knew that I was aiming for something kinda like the Sandman, but I got a Good Omens reference out of NOWHERE. Which means I did something right. And I was told today that I was deep. And coming from pretentious art kids, my ego has been FED. It's a horrid thing to say, I'm sure, but I suppose my ego has to feel better once in a while.

I finished my biography for the Promethean journal today too. And I managed to keep the "who would win in a fight between." RAD.

Where's Your Crown?

I've finished it. Shawn says it works, and we worked on the things that didn't. So, the new short story is basically done. "The King of Nothingness." It's based both on The Sandman and Metallica's "King Nothing." This random piece of literature just...popped out.

And it's awesome, because I am REALLY sick of reading memoir in Creative Writing. Apparently that's the only literature that means a damn. *eyeroll* Whatever. It's dark, funny, and philosophical, and I am rather pleased with the outcome. That isn't to say that it's perfect, because I'm sure someone in the workshop will have issues with it.

I just hope it doesn't get reamed because it's not "real." Literature can be an escape too, can't it?

"How's it going to be when it goes down?"

I'm halfway through chapter 13 now. One "off" 1st person narrative down, two more to go...I think. I think the transition paragraphs might star getting old, interrupting the story and all, but how else to do this? Eff it. I'll worry about it in editing.

I also have to have a new short story in the works by Sunday. YIPES!

On the plus side, The Promethean picked up another piece (according to my friend), which would make this year record with two pieces instead of one. Apparently the editors only liked "Atara-Orn" for the writing style, as no one but my friend has an appreciation for fantasy. But I suppose this is what happens when the entire editing staff is made up of poets, and indie-art fans. Fantasy? What is that? People at this school read that? Lord of the Rings was too long. *whine*

*Sigh* But it got picked up on the argument that, YES, people do INDEED read fantasy. Hopefully, that wasn't the only reason, but it got picked up, and I refuse to grouse about it.

Now to the new story. I think I want to pull an Uncle Silas...