Leah R. Cutter's Blog, page 35

The end is near. . .

Of the novel, that is.

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I sat down and did plotting and realized that really, there aren’t that many chapters left. I figure the novel is only 63K words, not 69K words. I could be wrong, maybe I need those last two chapters, but right now, I think I don’t.

The novel is getting to that frantic spot, where it’s all drawing together and the stakes are high and the tension is killing me. This is, in some ways, the most difficult part to write for me. It’s really emotional and hard in some places. I need to be very vulnerable and bring all those emotions up myself (yes, I’m a method writer. Everything my character feels, I feel.)

The good news is that because it’s all so immediate and pushing at me, I’m typing things up, not handwriting then typing. I’m really hoping to finish off the next 9000 words this week. That would be so incredibly awesome if I can.

Other things–it’s been “wild animal kingdom” in my backyard the last few days. Seems like there’s a hawk who’s taken a fancy to my backyard.

On Saturday, when I was sitting out, a bird flew over me, close enough that I felt its wind as it passed, blowing my hair back. When I looked up, I realized it was a hawk. A pretty large hawk. Then it flew off. I knew it was a hawk, but I didn’t see it well enough to identify it.

Today, I was hanging out in the backyard. Lots of little birds were there, the black-capped chickadees, the sparrows, all eating at the suet feeder and taking turns at the birdbath.

I heard a rustling in the trees to the east. I knew something big was in there. Then suddenly, a hawk flew out. It had one of the little birds in one claw, carrying it easily. It flew directly at me, then veered off, maybe one foot away. It was huge. From the Audubon society page, I think it was a female Northern Harrier.

Now, while I’m willing to try to protect the little song birds from the cats in the backyard (the cats aren’t wild, they’re fed, and just hunting–they don’t need to eat the birds to survive) I don’t feel that badly that a hawk grabbed one. And the birds came back fairly soon afterward.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

The way of the brick

I’ve finished the brick walkway! At least for now. I can see getting another thing of masonry sand at some point and redoing the cracks. But for now, it’s done!

Hauling bricks in the back of my car. It took two trips.

898 bricks total, plus lots of bits and pieces.

898 bricks from another angle.

My supervisor for the job

The old rock walkway, what it used to look like. Very messy, rocks all over the place.

Again, the old rock walkway. Very messy!

I hired someone from the Millionaire Club to dig out the old rock walkway. He did a great job.

After I had the dug down dirt path, I placed weed prevention paper, then a couple of inches of sand.

I had two yards of sand delivered to the back parking lot. The guy from the millionaire club didn’t have time to shovel it onto my walkway, so I did all that work.

All the extra dirt from the walkway was spread very carefully through out the rest of my backyard. The guy I had from the Millionaire club was careful, and did a fantastic job!

The start of the me laying the bricks. It didn’t take that long to do. I was able to put down most of the bricks in a single afternoon. I took a second day to lay the remaining 40+ bricks, then spent a lot of time leveling out the rows of bricks.

I have a wet tile saw, that I fitted with a masonry blade to cut the bricks. I ended up being spattered with “brick juice.” I figured it was good for me, like a clay mask for all my skin. Right?

I was not born with the knowledge of how to cut bricks. The one on the right is one of my first attempts. What happened though, which is something that frequently happens to me with physical things, is that I stopped, went away for a few days, and when I came back, my body had figured out how to do it.

The finished walkway. After I had all the bricks in, and mostly leveled off, I swept masonry sand in between the cracks, then wet the bricks down, to get the sand to set.

See the pretty new walkway! I thought it was especially lovely when the lights came on and the bricks were still wet.

I started with 898 bricks. I finished with 166 left over. So I used 732 bricks in this project. My initial estimate was 730.

Crossposted from my website.

If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

New Cover for JATW!

Yes, this is an old novel. But it’s a novel that means a lot to me. I was trying so many writer-type things while I was writing this novel–I had to re-read it to do some updates, and I can really see the furniture moving. I don’t think it’s a bad novel, not at all. But it’s a difficult novel, not a happy story, and so has never been well loved by readers.

I *hated* the cover I did for it. I tried and tried and tried. Different covers, different colors, different fonts, different concepts — could never get the right one. Finally hired a professional.

Boy, am I glad I did!

Look at this:

Isn’t it beautiful? I think it captures the tone of the book, the Mayans, the Vikings, etc. I also think it’s so much better than the original cover. As soon as I get a good proof, I’ll finally have a trade paperback version of this book available as well.

It will take years, I’m sure, to make back what I spent on the cover. But I think it’s completely, utterly, 100% worth it. I think this book finally has the cover it deserves.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

The Way of Cyrus

Yes, another post where I find applicable writing topics inspired by the reality TV show, “So You Think You Can Dance” (SYTYCD) and the one contestant who’s captured my attention, Cyrus.

They call Cyrus’ style, “Animator” or “Animation” — he’s a robot in his style of dance. He’s never had choreography before, is completely self taught.

This week, the dancers were assigned their partners. Cyrus and Eliana, a ballet dancer, were paired. They had to do a Broadway number from the musical, “Hairspray.” Was it the most complicated dance routine? Hell no. Was it entertaining? Hell yes. Here’s the YouTube video of it, the actual dancing starts at 1:26.

And the one thing the judges said, which I felt as though I saw, was that Cyrus and Eliana gave it their all. They “danced their hearts out.” It wasn’t merely passion or expertise, but heart.

In comparison, the most plastic pair on the show had the most plastic routine, a jazz number — Alexa and Daniel. One of the judges commented on how there’s a difference between pasting on a smile and actually connecting and giving your heart. Here’s the YouTube video of their dance, the actual dancing starts at 1:35.

If you compare the jazz number with the Broadway number, it’s obvious. The jazz dance is very, very technical and complicated, and has no soul. The Broadway number isn’t that complicated, but is danced with such heart.

And so to bring this back to writing — there’s that old saying about how writing is easy, just open a vein and bleed on the page. And in some ways, that’s right. You have to have you heart in it. If it’s just pretty words, the reader can tell. Write your heart out.

(One more example of amazing dancing, with heart, dancing starts at 1:30.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Down time

I got “peopled out” this week. Far too much social contact.

I am not shy. Because of this, people don’t believe me when I say I’m an introvert.

But honestly, being with a group of people, particularly in a noisy place, is incredibly draining. I need time off, alone, in the quiet, afterward.

I took that time tonight. Hung out with my cat, wrote, did some publishing stuff. Might get around to doing some reading, may just go to bed.

One of the great things about down time is that I figure out story stuff when I just let loose this way. Not everything–I’m still in that messy middle of the novel. But I got the next couple scenes written tonight, and I wrote the next scene on the short story as well.

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I’ve got one more scene with this chapter, then it’s onto the next. Hopefully I’ll finish both this weekend. And maybe I can push through to the end of this short story as well. Plus finish tweaking another short story. . .So much to do, so much to write!

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Five things make a post

–I’m about one-third of the way through “Railsea” and I’m still loving it so much.

–Last night I rewrote the last scene I’d done for the short story (“The Piano-Time Rag” is the name, BTW.) It was so much easier once I let the story be what it wanted to be. Which is a mystery. Not erotica. And it’s giving me so many ideas for the mystery novel with this character (which is called “Touch.”)

–Only got 2000 words of the next chapter finished. My main character surprised me in a really good way today. I think I know what the last scene of this chapter needs to be, but I’m not sure. Plan is to whip that out tomorrow, then type up the whole thing. Then go back to the short story.

–I’ve never been able to go back and forth between projects before. I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to do it now. But it’s interesting. My brain feels like it’s in transition, between one writing phase and the next. Hard to explain. But I like it, I like the change and the strength I feel.

–I don’t know if this is related, but I’m also switching between things I’m reading right now. I’m trying to read a short story a night in addition to the novel. Maybe because my reading is doing that, my writing can too? For short stories, I’ve picked back up my complete collection of Flannery O’Connor. She’s always been one of my favorites.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

& the birds they come calling

I finished “Sundays at Tiffany’s” by James Patterson last night. It’s a literary fantasy romance. It was quite fun, an easy read. There were parts that felt thinner than others, and a couple of scenes that didn’t have any setting (which, after I finished the scene, Jack made me go back and look at again.)

I’ve started “Railsea” by China Mieville. It’s his take or rewrite or retelling or something of “Moby Dick.” Jack has no idea what to do with this book. It’s written in language that’s so very different than everything else. He’s kind of lost and not sure what to pay attention to. But he’s going along with it because he can tell there’s something there, though he’s not sure what or how he’ll ever use it.

Me — I get the feeling, though I have no idea if I’m right or not, was that China was having fun while he was writing this. This is wordplay and style and different textures, wordsmithery at its finest. I don’t know Moby Dick well enough to get all the jokes and references, but I’m probably getting at least half, and enjoying it immensely. Is this one of his books that I’d recommend to just anyone? No. This is a different read than most books. But for those who I think would enjoy the wordsmithery and style, this is a fantastic book.

And speaking of books and writing – I’m kind of stuck. I felt stuck writing the novel, so I started writing a new short story, but I’m not pleased with it, so I went back to the novel tonight and finished chapter fourteen.

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I know what happens in the next scene, how to jump into it, so I’m hoping that I’ll write all of the next chapter on Monday.

In the meanwhile, I’m thinking my creative brain was lying to me about the short story. I wanted to write an erotica short story to match the one I’d just finished. My brain supplied me with a story, assuring me that there would be sexy times ahead.

I’m not seeing it.

Instead, I’m seeing the character of the paranormal mystery that I want to write, some of her background, some of what “the troubles” are, and man, I want to write this short story, I really do want to write this short story, but I’m so very afraid that it’s actually the start of the novel that I don’t want to write yet. I’d like to finish the other novel first, mkay? (That’s actually a huge part of the problems with this short story, I was promised sexy times and trying to make those happen is short-circuiting the story and I need to just let go and write the damn story, regardless.)

Ah writers. So many ideas and voices, like birds that come calling, and never enough time.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Zydeco Queen available in print!

Woo AND hoo!

Zydeco Queen and the Creole Fairy Courts is now available as a paperback book! It’s so very, very pretty.

Right now it’s only available via CreateSpace, but in a week or so it’ll show up on Amazon, and I’ll be sure to link it to the ebook.

Tonight, eating at home, but then maybe going out and having tea or coffee or something while writing. Have to type up what I wrote last night, so tomorrow I can write more.

I was able to work outside all day in the backyard, on the deck. It was one of those days when my timer would tell me that it had been 55 minutes and it was time for a break, but I would swear it had only been five or ten minutes since my previous break. (This is why I have a timer, or I’d work for six hours without a break and be very, very sore.)

I don’t want to jinx it, but there’s a chance that summer’s finally arrived in Seattle.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Writing out the day

Today was a great writing day.

I got up, ate breakfast, then typed up the story I had finished hand writing yesterday. I finished that around 1 PM, ate a bit, did some grocery shopping, some general goofing off, some running around and some gardening. I journaled a bunch (deep thoughts about Clarion West and my career) and printed off the short story (the next phase in writing for me is to read the story out loud because my ear catching things my eye misses.)

I grilled chicken and hamburgers, then got back into writing. I just completed the hand-written draft of the next chapter of the novel (The Raven and the Dancing Tiger, also known as TRATDT.) Now — time to do some dishes, maybe watch an episode of something, maybe just read, then to bed. (With the kitty sleeping fully on top of me, freaked out by all the fireworks.)

If I was a full time writer, I’d do the exact same thing tomorrow. First I’d read the story out loud, make minor corrections, and send it off to a first reader or two. Then I’d type up the chapter I finished tonight, take the afternoon off to do stuff, then spend the evening writing the next 3000 word chapter.

I cannot describe how much I want that to be the way my day goes tomorrow. Of course, that isn’t what will happen. I may or may not do yoga tomorrow morning first thing (if I do yoga, I can’t read the story out loud. But yoga might be good for my shoulders and hands after so much writing.) Then it’s day job for most of the day, and a lot of work at the day job. I’ll probably finish typing up the new chapter tomorrow night and won’t write the next chapter until the day after.

I’ve decided to push on the novel at this point, see if I can finish it by the end of July. Writing 3000 words at a stretch isn’t too bad, particularly since I have a really good idea of where I’m going now. We’ll see.

But my new goal is 9000 finished words a week, three chapters, hand written and typed. Starting next week, that is. The first part of this week was taken up with a short story instead of a chapter.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.

Well–Duh!

I had a huge insight today regarding the day job. Honestly, I probably should have figured this out before now. But late or not, this has given me a lot to think about.

For the day job, I do technical writing. What I just realized is that I spend 80% of my day job in critical voice (as opposed to creative voice, which is where I try to do all my writing from.)

This realization led to several “ah ha!” moments for me:

–I’ve always been jealous of people who can write during their lunch hour. I can’t. I can never start writing immediately after work. It takes me a while to change gears. I finally understand why: it takes me a while to drive out that critical voice and get back into creative voice.

–Only about 80% of my job is critical voice. About 20% is actually in creative voice, or something akin to it. It’s one of the reasons why I can produce more documentation than most technical writers: I can slip into something like creative voice and just spew information really quickly once I understand it.

–I do my best technical writing during the afternoon, while I do my best creative writing in the morning or late at night. Again, all about the critical voice, which is much stronger when I’m awake (mid-afternoon) than either the mornings or evenings.

–With the new position, which I’m transitioning to in mid-August, I’ll be using my creative voice much more often, and much less critical voice. I’m assuming that exercising my creative voice, and living there more, will strengthen it.

I’m sure I’ll have more realizations as I think on this more. It was a really nice clarification for me, some insight into how I work.

Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.