K.D. Sarge's Blog, page 55

Did You Remember that Cyndi Lauper Can Sing?

I ask because I'd forgotten. In my defense, I never heard her sing like this, but I have heard her do some pretty good stuff.

Here's a reminder for all of us.

Wowza. Also, holy carp.

Turn That Frown Upside Down!

I've had people say that to me. Yes, I wanted to smack them. It's not actually what I'm saying here, I just liked it as a title.

Recently a young lady on my Twitter feed decided to tweet some pictures of herself in various outfits. I clicked a few (I was actively avoiding editing, of course), and my first reaction was "oh honey. Don't." But then I stopped.

She was not, by Hollywood standards, beautiful. The lighting was bad, and the angles not perfect. But she was a happy young woman in...

Because I Love Joss

I'm editing! Yay, me! Here's something I can't stop snickering over. It won't mean as much to you as it does to me, but I'm posting it anyway–just so I can move on.

Well inside the building, but before anyone entered the Chamber itself, security men searched people. Paige swallowed hard as one man then another patted down Marchal.

"You won't be searched," Lady Rukya said as Joss took his turn and loudly proclaimed it the most fun he'd had in a week. "Guards have been known to be overly zealous...

Editing Goes On

My friend and I are poking each other to edit. It's so easy, you see, to just not quite get to it. To wander off into rearranging the desk for optimal efficiency. To run through the notes one more time while also trying to narrow down open browser tabs just a little. To get drawn into rereading an earlier book so you have the background.

Editing is work. Writing is often a game, but editing–no. Even when it's fun, it's work.

So we poke.

POKE

My One-Star Review

If you follow writerly circles on the internet, you've probably seen it before. Someone posts less-than-kind things about a book. The author of the book responds. Maybe it starts out as a reasoned discussion (though not necessarily), but generally it devolves rather quickly into "you're just not smart enough to understand my work" and/or "how can you be so mean to me?" Sometimes it even gets to threatening people with the FBI.

If you're a writer: DON'T DO THIS. I can't possibly say it as...

Stupid Weekend

Stupid weekends coming to an end. Stupid having to go to work on Mondays. Stupid, stupid.

The more I work on this novel the more I love it. Joss cracks me up, Paige delights me, and Zeke is starting to come into his own.

I don't want to go back to work and leave them here. I can't take them with me (well, you know what I mean) and I have to go or the rent doesn't get paid and there won't be a here.

Sigh.

Note to self: Sell more books. Become wealthy. Quit job.

Get on that, self.

Going Deeper

In general, I move fast in my first drafts. My focus is on the characters and the action, figuring out who is doing what and why. Sure, I've become more of a planner in recent years, but I'm still not much of one. If I have the BS2 half-filled in with a paragraph for most of the beats and a sentence for two or three more, I'm ready to go. Depth is for the second draft.

My first drafts are fairly clean as far as grammar and typos go, but they're still a far cry from publishable for this...

Progressing

I'm working on the Joss edit again. My editor (bless her name!) had some awesome suggestions and I'm getting started. Except for tonight, when I just can't seem to scrape up any motivation.

That's not even the right word. I'm motivated. I want to do this edit. The bit I'm working on right now, putting a fun scene in a different POV, is awesome. It's going fine. I wrote about 800 words of it last night. I know what I want to do to finish it.

I just can't seem to get my butt over to it. I'm...

Site Re-Vamp

I don't know if I ever would have gotten around to it if Joomla! hadn't made me migrate to the newest version (rather than just updating) but it's done now. As much as these things are ever "done."

Please to check out kdsarge.com. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Please PLEASE tell me if you find something I b0rked or forgot to  change, or that just doesn't do what you think it should.

I think it looks fantastic, but then, I'm the one who made it.

(and what do you think of the new background...

Sneaky Muses

Don't mind me. I just want to remember how this worked so I can figure out the next big plot issue.

From my 750 Words this morning:

Wish I knew how much of my wander-off obsession was feeding the muses and how much just wasting time. >.<

Trying to fall into Tiger and Bunny fandom right now. Trying not to, rather. I can't help that they are JUST SO PRETTY and the dynamics of the relationship are fascinating. I'm hoping I can manage to stick it in my brain and bring it back for later use. Some...