Rachel Hartman's Blog, page 42

Progress Report

I'm on page 99 of the sequel. C'mon, brain, just a little bit more! Let's make it an even 100. That would make me feel accomplished.

I suspect I am a slow writer. Maybe not the very slowest ever, but slow. I'm not sure why, exactly, though perfectionistic tendencies run in the family and are always suspect. My son has a written-output LD, which he presumably got from somewhere.

But I think some of it, too, is that I don't think optimally while sitting or standing still. I think better while...

I have to share it here, too

Because it's funny.

I just came THIS CLOSE to naming a character "Breast" in Greek! More like chicken breast than boob, but still! I wanted a Greek-y sounding name, and the word "Stithos" came to mind, and I thought it sounded awesome, but luckily it occurred to me to look it up. Do your research, kids!

Apparently I eat a lot of Greek food.

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Seraphina: Origins IV

(It's been a while since I wrote an Origins post! If you're interested in the previous instalments, here's the first one, or you can check out the "Roots" category under the "Preoccupations" heading on the sidebar.)

I sometimes hesitate to bring up my influences because it can create inaccurate expectations. If I list Tolkien as an influence, you might assume I've written a sword and sorcery quest book. If I mention Neil Gaiman, suddenly my book (in your imagination) turns into a Goth girl...

Hello, new friends!

The site is beginning to see some traffic from people who haven't known me for years. That's wonderful!

It's also slightly comical timing, since I just spent the last week and a half raving about YES. It's a bit like answering the door in your underwear. Oops. Um, yes, I was just dancing to "Don't Kill the Whale", ha ha. I'll just, um, get dressed now, shall I?

All right. Much better. Welcome, darlings.

I promised my editor that when we got to this point I'd be ready to serve tea and discuss...

Agonistes

There are days this isn't fun, the whole writing business. Days I say to myself, "You know what would be fun? ACCOUNTING. Numbers don't break your heart. Nobody imbues them with an emotional significance above and beyond their face value. They are predictable and constant and simple. Awwww, numbers, my dearest friends!"

Then I begin to notice that I'm already imbuing them with emotional significance, and I haven't even added a single digit yet. Apparently putting an emotional charge upon the w...

In the beginning is the future

All right, I think I've refined my YES post so that it's no longer full of crazy ranting (eg. "Cans and Brahms" – why did you do it, Rick Wakeman? WHYYY?) and is now more pertinent to where music intersects with my writing process.

Because that's really why we're here, right? For the writing process goodness? Sure we are.

(OMG, this ended up long and nerdy ANYWAY, despite all my best efforts. Proceed only if you really think you can handle it.)

Over the years, I've noticed patterns in my...

Cold fish

Hello, all! I had a very nice Canadian Thanksgiving, right up until the part where I came down with an ugly cold. I'm still getting over it – and getting over travelling, which is its own special kind of headache.

I'm not up for much of anything today, which made for a frustrating writing day. I've been listening to Talk while I write, which is what got me obsessing about YES in the first place. Over the weekend I listened to Time and a Word, which Els's comment reminded me existed. It had...

And a very merry Canadian Thanksgiving to you!

It's Thanksgiving this weekend, darlings. I know a number of my readers may have been unaware of this fact. I hope I've told you in enough time that you can still do something festive.

Here in Vancouver, it is traditional to drink coffee and pretend it isn't raining. Some days that's harder than others.

I'd meant to have a more interesting post up this week. I've been working on it in bits and pieces for days, and it is gruesomely nerdy. It's about the band YES, which isn't even my favourite...

Ooh, look! Construction!

Forgive the mess, darlings, while we move things around! It is always so tedious deciding where the sofa is going to go, to say nothing of the boxes and boxes of books. It may look weird for a while.

Pft. Who am I kidding. It may look weird FOREVER. It's my place, after all. You must remember who you're dealing with.

(And a million thanks to Arwen for being disinclined to freak out when the going gets tough!)

In my brain this morning

Everybody's hopak dancing!

I had to add a scene at the beginning of the book-in-progress – don't make me explain – and it turns out they dance something very like the hopak in Ninys. WHO KNEW.