K.C. Shaw's Blog, page 13
February 9, 2012
Thinking ahead
I've got an idea for a sequel to Misfits, and I can't wait to get started on it. But...I'm not sure if I should start writing it yet. What if Misfits doesn't sell? What if I get an agent for it and she/he wants me to take the next book in a different direction?
Anyway, I've got other books waiting for my attention. I don't like leaving projects half-finished when they're still "live" in my imagination. I've been planning to finish Adventures in Zoology for over a year; maybe I'll work on it next. And The Trickster Society really needs me to finish the rewrite.
Besides, until I can think up a working title for the Misfits sequel, I'm better off not starting it.
Anyway, I've got other books waiting for my attention. I don't like leaving projects half-finished when they're still "live" in my imagination. I've been planning to finish Adventures in Zoology for over a year; maybe I'll work on it next. And The Trickster Society really needs me to finish the rewrite.
Besides, until I can think up a working title for the Misfits sequel, I'm better off not starting it.
February 4, 2012
Learning Irish
My attempts to learn Irish Gaelic are paying off, in that I have finished the eight Pimsleur lessons and feel pretty competent asking someone in Irish if they would like to drink wine or beer at my house. (Heaven help me if they want something besides wine or beer.) I've got a different set of CDs on the way, in a different dialect (not my choice; you take what you can find) so that ultimately my speech will veer from dialect to dialect and any native speaker will decide I'm insane.
I found a used book called Learning Irish, quite a score although I'm struggling with the dense jargon and intensive grammar lessons it contains. I think it's for people who are already linguists, or who are really serious about learning the language. Like, maybe they have to move to really rural Ireland where they will conceivably need to say things like "He hadn't got his glasses on so he shook hands with his sister instead of the bishop" and "I was dreaming again last night about death." (I did not make those up. They're straight from the book.)
From Learning Irish I discovered that my bafflement with what I'm hearing versus what I read has a reason: "Irish can be regarded as having two complete (or nearly complete) sets of consonant sounds" (p. 2). In other words, depending on context, the consonant sounds in Irish shift from one sound to another--similar to the English words 'knife' and 'knives' (/f/ to /v/), but all the time. That is COOL.
To help with my pronunciations, I've been scouring the internet for audio files. There's not a whole lot out there, but what I've found is rather endearingly amateur. One file I listened to this evening was a guy reading out greetings in a monotone, and then halfway through he pauses to cough, giggles sheepishly, and then finishes the list. It's not very helpful, but it made me smile.
I found a used book called Learning Irish, quite a score although I'm struggling with the dense jargon and intensive grammar lessons it contains. I think it's for people who are already linguists, or who are really serious about learning the language. Like, maybe they have to move to really rural Ireland where they will conceivably need to say things like "He hadn't got his glasses on so he shook hands with his sister instead of the bishop" and "I was dreaming again last night about death." (I did not make those up. They're straight from the book.)
From Learning Irish I discovered that my bafflement with what I'm hearing versus what I read has a reason: "Irish can be regarded as having two complete (or nearly complete) sets of consonant sounds" (p. 2). In other words, depending on context, the consonant sounds in Irish shift from one sound to another--similar to the English words 'knife' and 'knives' (/f/ to /v/), but all the time. That is COOL.
To help with my pronunciations, I've been scouring the internet for audio files. There's not a whole lot out there, but what I've found is rather endearingly amateur. One file I listened to this evening was a guy reading out greetings in a monotone, and then halfway through he pauses to cough, giggles sheepishly, and then finishes the list. It's not very helpful, but it made me smile.
February 3, 2012
Maybe a better selection would help
I went to Books a Million yesterday, looking for a specific book, The Giant Thief by Tallerman (I find the author's name combined with that title amusing). Even though I hate the city, I drove into Oak Ridge because their BAM has a better selection than the Knoxville store. Also I wanted to visit Big Ed's Pizza but that totally had nothing to do with my decision, I swear.
The Giant Thief was released on January 30. BAM did not have a copy. So when I got home (smelling faintly of green peppers and happiness), I bought the ebook instead and was able to start reading it immediately.
And there in a nutshell is why brick and mortar bookstores aren't doing very well.
The Giant Thief was released on January 30. BAM did not have a copy. So when I got home (smelling faintly of green peppers and happiness), I bought the ebook instead and was able to start reading it immediately.
And there in a nutshell is why brick and mortar bookstores aren't doing very well.
January 28, 2012
Clear Creek in January
During the awful month last summer that I stayed in the hospital with Mom, I yearned for Clear Creek--less because I wanted to get outside in the July sun (although that was part of it), mostly because having the freedom to jaunt off to go hiking would mean a return to Life Before. But nothing returned to normal.
Now I have the freedom to go wherever I like. It's not the way I wanted to get that freedom, but it's what I have now and I might as well use it. So although it's cold today, I took my new little (cheap-ass) camera to Clear Creek after work. Here are some pictures.Here's a big tree with huge buttressed roots. I'm not sure what kind of tree--ash?--but you can see how big it is by my shadow at the bottom.
This is an overexposed photo since the sun was in my face but I was standing in the shade, and I love the effect. It shows an impressive vine twining through winter trees, the kind of vine we call "grapevine" locally although it has nothing to do with grapes. If you can find one hanging down at just the right height, they're the best swings ever.
And this is the view from observation point, my destination today. I sat on the bench and looked at the dam and the river far below me, and thought about how much Mom liked to walk along the river, and how last summer--before her stroke and the hospital and everything else--we took a picnic to the river. It was a perfect day, hot but breezy, and when we left with the picnic basket swinging empty in my hand, we ran into a wedding at the river's edge and stayed to watch the couple kiss.Summer will be here again soon.
January 24, 2012
No, and maybe
I got a no today from Angry Robot, for those of you keeping track at home. Still, it was nice to be under consideration at that level.
Remember the contemporary YA I wrote this past summer, Misfits? It's revised now and I sent the first batch of five queries out to agents Friday night. I've already received three responses: two rejections--and a full request. So that's almost made up for my rejection today.
I don't know what I'm going to do with Bell-Men, to be honest. There's one more publisher I can send it to, although I want to revise it again first, but if they say no I'll probably just sit on it for a while. I've almost completed the sequel and I've always planned to make it a trilogy, so maybe I'll just wait until I've finished all three books to my satisfaction. And maybe by then I'll have sold something else and have an agent who can send it out to all those publishers who don't take unagented submissions ever.
Remember the contemporary YA I wrote this past summer, Misfits? It's revised now and I sent the first batch of five queries out to agents Friday night. I've already received three responses: two rejections--and a full request. So that's almost made up for my rejection today.
I don't know what I'm going to do with Bell-Men, to be honest. There's one more publisher I can send it to, although I want to revise it again first, but if they say no I'll probably just sit on it for a while. I've almost completed the sequel and I've always planned to make it a trilogy, so maybe I'll just wait until I've finished all three books to my satisfaction. And maybe by then I'll have sold something else and have an agent who can send it out to all those publishers who don't take unagented submissions ever.
January 22, 2012
Twitter is down, I need to natter
So, I may be getting a dog. I'm not pushing either way about this, but it's kind of weird how it worked out so if I get the dog, I'll figure it was Meant To Be and if I don't get the dog, I won't get a dog at all. Not yet, anyway.
Friday afternoon at work I found my thoughts meandering, as they do (usually at work), and I remembered that before I got my Newfoundland dog Jasper, who died at the end of 2008, I was thinking about getting a standard poodle. I don't know why it popped into my head then, but I thought about it for a while and thought, "Well, I can't get a dog now because I'm not home enough. Maybe in the future when my work schedule changes and I don't have to be gone over twelve hours every Tuesday."
Saturday at work I mentioned in passing to my coworker that I was thinking of getting a dog eventually. "What kind?" he asked me, and I said, "A poodle. One of the big standard poodles, not a little one."
And he said, "My sister-in-law has a standard poodle she might need a home for soon."
What are the odds? Anyway, the dog in question is a girl not quite one year old, with a good personality and a brown-tipped white coat, but who is driving her owner wild with her puppyish way of chewing everything to pieces. I remember when Jasper went through his final adolescent chewing phase. He liked to destroy hardback books. But after about six months he pretty much stopped chewing entirely except for chew toys and treats.
So I may get a dog. If it works out. If I do, I'll have to figure out what to do with the dog on Tuesdays.
Friday afternoon at work I found my thoughts meandering, as they do (usually at work), and I remembered that before I got my Newfoundland dog Jasper, who died at the end of 2008, I was thinking about getting a standard poodle. I don't know why it popped into my head then, but I thought about it for a while and thought, "Well, I can't get a dog now because I'm not home enough. Maybe in the future when my work schedule changes and I don't have to be gone over twelve hours every Tuesday."
Saturday at work I mentioned in passing to my coworker that I was thinking of getting a dog eventually. "What kind?" he asked me, and I said, "A poodle. One of the big standard poodles, not a little one."
And he said, "My sister-in-law has a standard poodle she might need a home for soon."
What are the odds? Anyway, the dog in question is a girl not quite one year old, with a good personality and a brown-tipped white coat, but who is driving her owner wild with her puppyish way of chewing everything to pieces. I remember when Jasper went through his final adolescent chewing phase. He liked to destroy hardback books. But after about six months he pretty much stopped chewing entirely except for chew toys and treats.
So I may get a dog. If it works out. If I do, I'll have to figure out what to do with the dog on Tuesdays.
January 19, 2012
Gendered Nouns are the devil
You know you can still send me your mailing address to kcshaw123 at gmail dot com and get a free Goldie bookmark. Just sayin.
I've made it to lesson four in my Irish language CDs today. I'm going slowly because I have to repeat each lesson two or three times until I start to get it. It wasn't until today's lesson that Pimsleur let it slip that Irish has gendered nouns. I hate gendered nouns! They don't make any sense and it just means you have to memorize everything! I was always fed up with them in German, and had hoped Irish didn't have them. Today I learned that the Irish word for 'road,' which I can't remember, is male.
English has its problems, sure. But while our verbs are weirdly irregular, our pronunciations and spellings are all over the place (The Tough Coughs as He Ploughs the Dough, anybody?), and we've borrowed so much from other languages that ours really doesn't resemble any other Germanic language anymore, at least we don't have gendered nouns. Also, the word 'the' never changes.
Now I'm going to make hot chocolate and run a hot bubble bath so I can read and warm up. Because it's cold. And gendered nouns get me down.
I've made it to lesson four in my Irish language CDs today. I'm going slowly because I have to repeat each lesson two or three times until I start to get it. It wasn't until today's lesson that Pimsleur let it slip that Irish has gendered nouns. I hate gendered nouns! They don't make any sense and it just means you have to memorize everything! I was always fed up with them in German, and had hoped Irish didn't have them. Today I learned that the Irish word for 'road,' which I can't remember, is male.
English has its problems, sure. But while our verbs are weirdly irregular, our pronunciations and spellings are all over the place (The Tough Coughs as He Ploughs the Dough, anybody?), and we've borrowed so much from other languages that ours really doesn't resemble any other Germanic language anymore, at least we don't have gendered nouns. Also, the word 'the' never changes.
Now I'm going to make hot chocolate and run a hot bubble bath so I can read and warm up. Because it's cold. And gendered nouns get me down.
January 13, 2012
Illiterate
Right now, keeping my brain occupied is paramount. I don't want to wallow in grief. I haven't been doing much writing, but I've been reading up a storm, keeping myself busy at work, and I got some language CDs this week that I've started listening to in the car on my commute.
I chose Irish Gaelic, because I listen to a lot of Celtic rock and it would be nice to be able to figure out what some of the more obscure songs are actually about. (Yes, I know I could look it up online, but that's cheating.) Also, anyone can learn Spanish or French, but it takes a certain amount of effort to learn a language with only about 75,000 native speakers (100,000 fewer people than the population of Knoxville, Tennessee, the city I am driving to while listening to the language CDs).
I got the Pimsleur Quick & Simple Irish ("No Books! No Classes! Totally Audio!") because it was cheap and the whole point of getting language CDs was so I could listen to them in the car. The directions that came with the CDs say to only do one lesson a day and repeat it until I've got about 80% mastery before I move on. Each lesson is half an hour long. I did the first lesson twice and moved to the second lesson this morning, feeling pretty good at my mastery of about eight words of Irish, and the second lesson promptly kicked my ass. I guess I'll repeat it for a few days.
The directions also say not to use the CDs with language books or anything else like that, because it messes with the way the brain learns language. When I was in grad school, the big thing in teaching was brain-based learning, so I'm all over that. No books for me. And to my surprise, I really do seem to be retaining what I'm learning--and considering that my previous serious attempt at language, three semesters of college German, never did bring me anywhere near fluency (or past tense words), I think I'm doing pretty well.
Of course, the only word I really need to learn is one I learned in lesson one, which means "I don't understand." It sounds like "nihiggim," and I suspect it's actually two words, 'nee' and the verb 'higgim,' but of course I don't know because I've never seen the words written down and all I can do is attempt to spell them phonetically. In other words, I am illiterate in Irish.
I'm so ashamed.
I chose Irish Gaelic, because I listen to a lot of Celtic rock and it would be nice to be able to figure out what some of the more obscure songs are actually about. (Yes, I know I could look it up online, but that's cheating.) Also, anyone can learn Spanish or French, but it takes a certain amount of effort to learn a language with only about 75,000 native speakers (100,000 fewer people than the population of Knoxville, Tennessee, the city I am driving to while listening to the language CDs).
I got the Pimsleur Quick & Simple Irish ("No Books! No Classes! Totally Audio!") because it was cheap and the whole point of getting language CDs was so I could listen to them in the car. The directions that came with the CDs say to only do one lesson a day and repeat it until I've got about 80% mastery before I move on. Each lesson is half an hour long. I did the first lesson twice and moved to the second lesson this morning, feeling pretty good at my mastery of about eight words of Irish, and the second lesson promptly kicked my ass. I guess I'll repeat it for a few days.
The directions also say not to use the CDs with language books or anything else like that, because it messes with the way the brain learns language. When I was in grad school, the big thing in teaching was brain-based learning, so I'm all over that. No books for me. And to my surprise, I really do seem to be retaining what I'm learning--and considering that my previous serious attempt at language, three semesters of college German, never did bring me anywhere near fluency (or past tense words), I think I'm doing pretty well.
Of course, the only word I really need to learn is one I learned in lesson one, which means "I don't understand." It sounds like "nihiggim," and I suspect it's actually two words, 'nee' and the verb 'higgim,' but of course I don't know because I've never seen the words written down and all I can do is attempt to spell them phonetically. In other words, I am illiterate in Irish.
I'm so ashamed.
January 6, 2012
Bookmarks! Free bookmarks!
Okay, my last post was grouchy and ill-mannered. "Goldie" is worth three bucks. Also, YOU CAN HAS A FREE BOOKMARK!
My shipment of bookmarks just arrived, and they are awesome. Seriously, these are some nice bookmarks. If you'd like one, just email me your mailing address at kcshaw123 at gmail dot com.
A big shout-out to Overnight Prints, who did a great job and who actually called me to tell me some of my text was bleeding off the edge (because I'm terrible with photoshop), and who managed to nudge the text over to fix it so that it's not actually cut off. Above and beyond the call of duty, especially since I got their cheap bookmarks. I will definitely order from them again.
My shipment of bookmarks just arrived, and they are awesome. Seriously, these are some nice bookmarks. If you'd like one, just email me your mailing address at kcshaw123 at gmail dot com.
A big shout-out to Overnight Prints, who did a great job and who actually called me to tell me some of my text was bleeding off the edge (because I'm terrible with photoshop), and who managed to nudge the text over to fix it so that it's not actually cut off. Above and beyond the call of duty, especially since I got their cheap bookmarks. I will definitely order from them again.
Goldie release day
My steampunk novella, Goldie, releases today over at Musa. I thought it was supposed to be 99 cents--it's had 99 cents listed next to it since the page came up, my author workpage thingie they use had 99 cents listed from the beginning, but now that it's available, it costs $2.99. Not sure what's up with that. Maybe the price drops later. I don't care.
I don't currently care about anything. Mom's memorial service is tomorrow. The house is so quiet.
I don't currently care about anything. Mom's memorial service is tomorrow. The house is so quiet.
