S.L. Gray's Blog, page 3
April 11, 2012
Weather and why it's scary (And The Skies Fell #5)
(Partially cross-posted from Words of Gray)
I do not like thunder.
There, I've said it. You all know. And I know it's not rational. It's just a thing. I have not liked thunder ever. My mother tried, desperately, to cure me of my fear by sitting on the porch in thunderstorms and making up stories about what was making the noise. Elephants bowling is one of my favorites. We would go out when the rain stopped and splash around in puddles and have fun. She really, really tried.
Sorry, Mom. I'm still afraid. I am not afraid of lightning, the thing that will actually do me harm. Thunder raises my blood pressure, makes my heart pound and my eyes about as big as saucers, according to those who have observed me in a storm.
So today we had thunderstorms. Don't get me started about how weird that is for April in California. (It's weird.) We had thunderstorms with hail. Did I mention the thunder? Not the boomers that make the whole house shake, fortunately, but thunder that rolled across the whoooole sky.
I'm glad it's gone now. My heart is beating at a reasonable speed. And the aftermath of the thunderstorm means soggy, grey, eegy air that makes me want to curl up and read. That part's not so bad.
I just wish it would storm quietly.
Anyone else got weird phobias they want to share? :)
Or would you just rather read fiction. It's on the other blog.
I do not like thunder.
There, I've said it. You all know. And I know it's not rational. It's just a thing. I have not liked thunder ever. My mother tried, desperately, to cure me of my fear by sitting on the porch in thunderstorms and making up stories about what was making the noise. Elephants bowling is one of my favorites. We would go out when the rain stopped and splash around in puddles and have fun. She really, really tried.
Sorry, Mom. I'm still afraid. I am not afraid of lightning, the thing that will actually do me harm. Thunder raises my blood pressure, makes my heart pound and my eyes about as big as saucers, according to those who have observed me in a storm.
So today we had thunderstorms. Don't get me started about how weird that is for April in California. (It's weird.) We had thunderstorms with hail. Did I mention the thunder? Not the boomers that make the whole house shake, fortunately, but thunder that rolled across the whoooole sky.
I'm glad it's gone now. My heart is beating at a reasonable speed. And the aftermath of the thunderstorm means soggy, grey, eegy air that makes me want to curl up and read. That part's not so bad.
I just wish it would storm quietly.
Anyone else got weird phobias they want to share? :)
Or would you just rather read fiction. It's on the other blog.
April 9, 2012
Altered plans
(Cross-posted from Words Of Gray)
I fully expected to be telling you how I spent another weekend being silly and frivolous and playing board games with the Engineer and friends. Yep, those were the glorious plans for Easter weekend for us.
Instead, we were quite a bit more productive. You see, we've been looking for a new house on and off for several months. And so, rather than gaming (though we did swing by the store), the Engineer and I went back out into the field and looked at some houses. We revisited some areas we'd previously discarded. The short version of which is: with any luck, we'lll actually move sometime this year. That was a hope for last year. This time, I'm trying to make it real.
We also filed our taxes. Do we know how to party or what?
Today, I finally finished the coding on the webpage for And The Skies Fell. I can now submit it to some web serial sites and you guys can read earlier chapters without having to dig through the blog for posts. It actually feels good to have that done. And, I proved to myself that I still remember a little of my HTML-fu. Every little dribble helps.
I fully expected to be telling you how I spent another weekend being silly and frivolous and playing board games with the Engineer and friends. Yep, those were the glorious plans for Easter weekend for us.
Instead, we were quite a bit more productive. You see, we've been looking for a new house on and off for several months. And so, rather than gaming (though we did swing by the store), the Engineer and I went back out into the field and looked at some houses. We revisited some areas we'd previously discarded. The short version of which is: with any luck, we'lll actually move sometime this year. That was a hope for last year. This time, I'm trying to make it real.
We also filed our taxes. Do we know how to party or what?
Today, I finally finished the coding on the webpage for And The Skies Fell. I can now submit it to some web serial sites and you guys can read earlier chapters without having to dig through the blog for posts. It actually feels good to have that done. And, I proved to myself that I still remember a little of my HTML-fu. Every little dribble helps.
April 6, 2012
Population: Me!
(Cross-posted from Words of Gray)
There are many things a writer needs to know when they start down this path. Many upon many things as a matter of fact. So many that it's easy to get overwhelmed by should haves and must haves and keeping track of which things are dealmakers vs. dealbreakers. And there stands the lowly writer thinking the hard part was supposed to be getting the words on the page.
Insert a pause for those of you who've been through this already to giggle for a while.
Back now? Good.
There's a lot of stuff to do, though, to be up to date and in the know and on the map, so to speak. One of those is having a webpage. The perceptive among you will note: I don't have one. Not yet. I have a blog. (check). I have a twitter account. (check). But no website.
I'm working on this.
Sort of from the inside out, really. I've been posting free fiction here. I figured, if I wanted to have people be able to read the whole novel (it will be a complete novel, really) from start to finish without having to dig through blog posts, I should put all the chapters in a centrally located place. Like, oh, a webpage.
So now there's a webpage! Please to note that this webpage will change when I get my domain redirected, but for now, there it be. You will also note that there's only one chapter available at the moment. It's a start. The rest are coming.
And one of these days, there will be a place on the web where people can flick by and see my little road sign proudly proclaiming Population: Me!
Edited to say: Until then, happy Easter and Passover weekend, to those who celebrate. Happy weekend in general to everyone!
There are many things a writer needs to know when they start down this path. Many upon many things as a matter of fact. So many that it's easy to get overwhelmed by should haves and must haves and keeping track of which things are dealmakers vs. dealbreakers. And there stands the lowly writer thinking the hard part was supposed to be getting the words on the page.
Insert a pause for those of you who've been through this already to giggle for a while.
Back now? Good.
There's a lot of stuff to do, though, to be up to date and in the know and on the map, so to speak. One of those is having a webpage. The perceptive among you will note: I don't have one. Not yet. I have a blog. (check). I have a twitter account. (check). But no website.
I'm working on this.
Sort of from the inside out, really. I've been posting free fiction here. I figured, if I wanted to have people be able to read the whole novel (it will be a complete novel, really) from start to finish without having to dig through blog posts, I should put all the chapters in a centrally located place. Like, oh, a webpage.
So now there's a webpage! Please to note that this webpage will change when I get my domain redirected, but for now, there it be. You will also note that there's only one chapter available at the moment. It's a start. The rest are coming.
And one of these days, there will be a place on the web where people can flick by and see my little road sign proudly proclaiming Population: Me!
Edited to say: Until then, happy Easter and Passover weekend, to those who celebrate. Happy weekend in general to everyone!
April 4, 2012
Not forgotten! (And The Skies Fell #4)
(Partially cross-posted from Words Of Gray
I have not forgotten you, oh lovely blog readers. I swear I haven't. It's just that this living by to-do list means that I'm being more productive. Which means that sometimes I leave the house for a while. I know, I know, it's less safe outside the Box, but sometimes, one has to risk it and run. Or, you know, do errands.
So I did errands and now I'm back. Hello! How's your Hump Day been? At least moderately tolerable, one hopes.
During my various erranding today, I did a lot of thinking, and some of that was about that question that authors dread to get: Where do your ideas come from? I think a lot of us sort of go glassy-eyed and possibly a little terse when someone asks that question. Or we smart off. Oh, I have a personal idea fairy who visits every third Thursday...
I will tell you here and now that a lot of my ideas happen while I'm sleeping. When they're really good, I even remember to write bites of them down in the morning before they've completely faded away.
As a matter of fact, just a couple nights ago, I was having a fantastic space-opera-y dream, with a spunky heroine and a partner and action that was determined by the length of time between a beeping alarm went off. I was engrossed!
And then I was woken up by the persistent, perfectly timed beeping of our house alarm warning me about a dying battery. At least my subconscious kept me entertained!
Ah well. The cool parts will show up in a book or story some day.
Not to worry: the fiction at the other blog makes up for silly dreams.
I have not forgotten you, oh lovely blog readers. I swear I haven't. It's just that this living by to-do list means that I'm being more productive. Which means that sometimes I leave the house for a while. I know, I know, it's less safe outside the Box, but sometimes, one has to risk it and run. Or, you know, do errands.
So I did errands and now I'm back. Hello! How's your Hump Day been? At least moderately tolerable, one hopes.
During my various erranding today, I did a lot of thinking, and some of that was about that question that authors dread to get: Where do your ideas come from? I think a lot of us sort of go glassy-eyed and possibly a little terse when someone asks that question. Or we smart off. Oh, I have a personal idea fairy who visits every third Thursday...
I will tell you here and now that a lot of my ideas happen while I'm sleeping. When they're really good, I even remember to write bites of them down in the morning before they've completely faded away.
As a matter of fact, just a couple nights ago, I was having a fantastic space-opera-y dream, with a spunky heroine and a partner and action that was determined by the length of time between a beeping alarm went off. I was engrossed!
And then I was woken up by the persistent, perfectly timed beeping of our house alarm warning me about a dying battery. At least my subconscious kept me entertained!
Ah well. The cool parts will show up in a book or story some day.
Not to worry: the fiction at the other blog makes up for silly dreams.
April 2, 2012
Just the words, ma'am.
(Partially cross-posted from Words Of Gray)
Today there are no projects to bug you about. There are no finished books to crow over. I haven't even finished my latest read. (Though Matchbox Girls is awesome and you should be reading it right now! What are you waiting for?)
What I have today is me, myself and I. Just the author. I shouldn't say just. An author's a pretty great thing. After all, without an author, all those bookstore shelves would be bare. You'd be left to making up stories of your own devising. All right, so that's how most of us started out. Yes, that's what most of us do on a daily basis, but that's not the point!
Last month, I was all about pimping my Kickstarter project. This month, I have no pimping planned. I may boost the signal on other people's writing, but I intend to concentrate on getting some more writing done, prepping some things so they can be pimped in the future, and generally continuing to practice this new somewhat-organized phase of being me.
But stick around. In my mumblings and meanderings I'm bound to kick a couple of interesting crumbs loose. I promise I'll share.
Today there are no projects to bug you about. There are no finished books to crow over. I haven't even finished my latest read. (Though Matchbox Girls is awesome and you should be reading it right now! What are you waiting for?)
What I have today is me, myself and I. Just the author. I shouldn't say just. An author's a pretty great thing. After all, without an author, all those bookstore shelves would be bare. You'd be left to making up stories of your own devising. All right, so that's how most of us started out. Yes, that's what most of us do on a daily basis, but that's not the point!
Last month, I was all about pimping my Kickstarter project. This month, I have no pimping planned. I may boost the signal on other people's writing, but I intend to concentrate on getting some more writing done, prepping some things so they can be pimped in the future, and generally continuing to practice this new somewhat-organized phase of being me.
But stick around. In my mumblings and meanderings I'm bound to kick a couple of interesting crumbs loose. I promise I'll share.
March 30, 2012
Friday Forward
(Cross-posted at Words Of Gray)
As we head into the last weekend of the Dragon Undone kickstarter, I thought I'd take a little time and give a shout out to projects that will continue beyond my time on the site, and things I thought some of you might find intriguing.
Quickly, before I launch in: We've passed my personal hopeful goal of $1K! I would be tickled beyond all tickling if it went higher than that, but time is short, so thanks for all you guys gave in the effort!
Now: Currently one of the most active projects on the site, I think. The Dinocalypse Trilogy, being hosted by EvilHat Productions, which is a gaming publisher co-founded by people I have RPed with and know vaguely myself and better by association. They're currently pushing for $20K, at which point my pal C.E. Murphy will write book #5 of the bundle. 5 books for a $10 donation? Can't beat that!
Judith Tarr has already met her funding goal, but she continues to add more cool things to the Living in Threes project. She's got 10 days to go and there's already talk of Ponies in Space and master classes and acupuncture treats for pretty boy Pooka. Go check it out!
If you're a fan of Laura Anne Gilman's Cosa Nostradamus series, she's got a project to publish the stories of a secondary character. Half human, half faun, which just sounds like fun. And only $9 for both of her projected stories. A great deal! Again!
And a cute Percy Jackson-esque idea, but with a reader-chosen option that makes it a little different: Camp Myth. This is not a friend or a friend-of-a. Just someone I tripped over who caught my attention. Right now, I'm the sole backer. Does that seem fair to you?
Needless to say, as Kickstarter continues to grow, there will be a lot more projects popping up. Will Kickstarter eventually get old and tired? Well, those of us trying to do the indie/small/different thing certainly hope not, but I suppose time will tell.
Until then, go rummage around over there, even if you don't like any of the links I've shown you. You're bound to find something that interests you. As a matter of fact, tell me, if you don't. I will put on my best shocked face.
As we head into the last weekend of the Dragon Undone kickstarter, I thought I'd take a little time and give a shout out to projects that will continue beyond my time on the site, and things I thought some of you might find intriguing.
Quickly, before I launch in: We've passed my personal hopeful goal of $1K! I would be tickled beyond all tickling if it went higher than that, but time is short, so thanks for all you guys gave in the effort!
Now: Currently one of the most active projects on the site, I think. The Dinocalypse Trilogy, being hosted by EvilHat Productions, which is a gaming publisher co-founded by people I have RPed with and know vaguely myself and better by association. They're currently pushing for $20K, at which point my pal C.E. Murphy will write book #5 of the bundle. 5 books for a $10 donation? Can't beat that!
Judith Tarr has already met her funding goal, but she continues to add more cool things to the Living in Threes project. She's got 10 days to go and there's already talk of Ponies in Space and master classes and acupuncture treats for pretty boy Pooka. Go check it out!
If you're a fan of Laura Anne Gilman's Cosa Nostradamus series, she's got a project to publish the stories of a secondary character. Half human, half faun, which just sounds like fun. And only $9 for both of her projected stories. A great deal! Again!
And a cute Percy Jackson-esque idea, but with a reader-chosen option that makes it a little different: Camp Myth. This is not a friend or a friend-of-a. Just someone I tripped over who caught my attention. Right now, I'm the sole backer. Does that seem fair to you?
Needless to say, as Kickstarter continues to grow, there will be a lot more projects popping up. Will Kickstarter eventually get old and tired? Well, those of us trying to do the indie/small/different thing certainly hope not, but I suppose time will tell.
Until then, go rummage around over there, even if you don't like any of the links I've shown you. You're bound to find something that interests you. As a matter of fact, tell me, if you don't. I will put on my best shocked face.
March 28, 2012
Living with lists -and- Words on Wednesday
(Partially cross-posted from Words of Gray)
I have a confession to make: I am not a big fan of lists. I am a Pisces, which sounds like a copout, but really means that I have a magpie brain. If it's shiny, I like it. I am easily distracted/flakey/insert your favorite label here. So lists don't work for me, usually, because either I can't be bothered to make them or I forget to check things off.
But for the last ten days or so, I have been writing myself to-do lists and checking things off. And you know what?
It works!
Now, granted, I do not always do all the things on my list in one day, but, I am allowing myself a couple days of wiggle room, as long as I do -something- off the list and make progress on other things. It's helping with my urges to procrastinate. It's getting me off my butt. (Oh, the joys of working from home.)
So I may be becoming a list-lover. It's as shocking to me as it is to those who know me well. I will hope that I have not just jinxed myself by sharing this with you lovely people. For the moment, the list survives, post-it noted to the side of my monitor.
Whoda thunk?
In other news, the Dragon Undone proceeds apace. There are only four days left, and right now, I'm just hoping to make it to a personal goal of $1K before then. Magic could still happen, though. I am by no means adverse to that!
I did a podcast interview with Richard Bliss of Funding the Dream. Ordinarily, he talks about gaming projects on Kickstarter, but I met him at the gaming convention I talked about earlier. He invited me to come on the show, I did, and ...bonus: you get to hear me read my sonnet live!
Bonus #2: Free fiction over on the other blog!
I have a confession to make: I am not a big fan of lists. I am a Pisces, which sounds like a copout, but really means that I have a magpie brain. If it's shiny, I like it. I am easily distracted/flakey/insert your favorite label here. So lists don't work for me, usually, because either I can't be bothered to make them or I forget to check things off.
But for the last ten days or so, I have been writing myself to-do lists and checking things off. And you know what?
It works!
Now, granted, I do not always do all the things on my list in one day, but, I am allowing myself a couple days of wiggle room, as long as I do -something- off the list and make progress on other things. It's helping with my urges to procrastinate. It's getting me off my butt. (Oh, the joys of working from home.)
So I may be becoming a list-lover. It's as shocking to me as it is to those who know me well. I will hope that I have not just jinxed myself by sharing this with you lovely people. For the moment, the list survives, post-it noted to the side of my monitor.
Whoda thunk?
In other news, the Dragon Undone proceeds apace. There are only four days left, and right now, I'm just hoping to make it to a personal goal of $1K before then. Magic could still happen, though. I am by no means adverse to that!
I did a podcast interview with Richard Bliss of Funding the Dream. Ordinarily, he talks about gaming projects on Kickstarter, but I met him at the gaming convention I talked about earlier. He invited me to come on the show, I did, and ...bonus: you get to hear me read my sonnet live!
Bonus #2: Free fiction over on the other blog!
March 27, 2012
Podcast Tuesday
No, no, this won't be a regular feature, but I -did- do a podcast interview with Richard Bliss of Funding the Dream. It's a podcast primarily about board games and Kickstarter, but I met him at a gaming convention and he invited me to come talk, so, take a listen if you're moved.
It's riiiight here.
It's riiiight here.
March 26, 2012
Distracted
(Cross posted as usual from Words Of Gray)
Monday is back. I thought we had this thing licked. Maybe not.
I apologize for the somewhat tardy post today. I try to aim for earlier updates, but today I've been distracted by a few things.
I saw the Hunger Games movie over the weekend, and enjoyed it for the most part. I read the books before I went, so I feel I had some extra insight into main character's feelings and rationales that the Engineer did not, since he hasn't read the books yet. That means that I had to explain some things to him and defend a couple of choices, but all in all, we had a good time.
And then I find out that there are people who were upset by the casting of Rue and Thresh in the movie. People who do not read character descriptions very clearly, which is both amusing, since I was talking about character descriptions not that long ago, and infuriating because, here were are in 2012, and people are still upset that black people exist and occasionally populate movies? Aigh.
At some point, I really will write that race and fiction post that's bubbling at the back of my brain. I will try not to froth. No guarantees. You've been warned.
You were spared in part today because I got a new spinning wheel. It's electric. It is kicking my butt as I attempt to learn how to use it, but it's pretty darned cool. It means I can spin at the computer, which is where I spend an awful lot of time, and I'm hoping that means it will help me be more spinning productive. We shall see.
I can report, however, that I was productive for certain in working on the Not-So-Sekrit project. I edited/wrote some -and- I got some laundry done. Who's a superwoman? Yep. That's me.
This is the last week for the Dragon Undone kickstarter, btw. Have you thought about backing me yet? :) There are still cool things to be had. Check it out!
Monday is back. I thought we had this thing licked. Maybe not.
I apologize for the somewhat tardy post today. I try to aim for earlier updates, but today I've been distracted by a few things.
I saw the Hunger Games movie over the weekend, and enjoyed it for the most part. I read the books before I went, so I feel I had some extra insight into main character's feelings and rationales that the Engineer did not, since he hasn't read the books yet. That means that I had to explain some things to him and defend a couple of choices, but all in all, we had a good time.
And then I find out that there are people who were upset by the casting of Rue and Thresh in the movie. People who do not read character descriptions very clearly, which is both amusing, since I was talking about character descriptions not that long ago, and infuriating because, here were are in 2012, and people are still upset that black people exist and occasionally populate movies? Aigh.
At some point, I really will write that race and fiction post that's bubbling at the back of my brain. I will try not to froth. No guarantees. You've been warned.
You were spared in part today because I got a new spinning wheel. It's electric. It is kicking my butt as I attempt to learn how to use it, but it's pretty darned cool. It means I can spin at the computer, which is where I spend an awful lot of time, and I'm hoping that means it will help me be more spinning productive. We shall see.
I can report, however, that I was productive for certain in working on the Not-So-Sekrit project. I edited/wrote some -and- I got some laundry done. Who's a superwoman? Yep. That's me.
This is the last week for the Dragon Undone kickstarter, btw. Have you thought about backing me yet? :) There are still cool things to be had. Check it out!
March 23, 2012
Finally Friday
(Cross-posted to Words of Gray)
One of our now-defunct local radio stations used to play this weird mashup of cartoons and music at 5:00 PM on Friday and they would follow it up with a snippet of a country song called Finally Friday. That's what I think of every time I type those words.
/random tangent
Hey! It's Friday! If you work a M-F work week, it's the weekend. If you don't, been there, done that, feel your pain. Celebrate F-day anyway. :)
I, like a lot of other people on the planet, am anticipating my chance to see the big screen adaptation of the Hunger Games trilogy. I am taking the Engineer, who has not read the books, so it'll be interesting to see what he thinks. He's been told they're a thinly veiled commentary on the US government by some of his peers at work. I have attempted to correct that, but we'll see.
I am planning to attend an RWA meeting in the morning, first. There is also a gaming store having a free-play event tomorrow, so no matter how the day shakes out, there will be something for us to do.
But it's mostly about the movie, for me, at least.
The Dragon Undone kickstarter has 9 days left to go. There are plans for my amazing Kickstarter comeback. It may not be June. It will involve C. E. Murphy. And angels. And bad-assery.
Are you tantalized yet? You should be!
Have a great weekend!
One of our now-defunct local radio stations used to play this weird mashup of cartoons and music at 5:00 PM on Friday and they would follow it up with a snippet of a country song called Finally Friday. That's what I think of every time I type those words.
/random tangent
Hey! It's Friday! If you work a M-F work week, it's the weekend. If you don't, been there, done that, feel your pain. Celebrate F-day anyway. :)
I, like a lot of other people on the planet, am anticipating my chance to see the big screen adaptation of the Hunger Games trilogy. I am taking the Engineer, who has not read the books, so it'll be interesting to see what he thinks. He's been told they're a thinly veiled commentary on the US government by some of his peers at work. I have attempted to correct that, but we'll see.
I am planning to attend an RWA meeting in the morning, first. There is also a gaming store having a free-play event tomorrow, so no matter how the day shakes out, there will be something for us to do.
But it's mostly about the movie, for me, at least.
The Dragon Undone kickstarter has 9 days left to go. There are plans for my amazing Kickstarter comeback. It may not be June. It will involve C. E. Murphy. And angels. And bad-assery.
Are you tantalized yet? You should be!
Have a great weekend!
