Taven Moore's Blog, page 37

Testing Pens on Moleskine

Moleskine

First off? I know, I really do. Moleskines are expensive, trendy, and ridiculous to admit to actually buying. Except for those few who actually NEED the quality paper and binding, they’re … they’re like the  Northface jackets folks up here wear in the wintertime. It’s overkill for like 90% of the population, but it’s popular.

So before you mock me about using a moleskine notebook … I already know.

That being said, I use the HECKFIRE out of my moleskine. I use it for random notes, story ideas, brainstorming, planning sketches, and most importantly? It’s my weekly planner. Every week, I use a new page and block out a place to record what I do every day as well as what I EXPECT to do every day as well as grocery lists and reminder to-do lists for that week.

I use the Pocket Reporter Graph, for the curious. It’s got an elastic closer band that I tuck my pen into so they’re always together. The grid paper is perfect for my needs, and the reporter style flip-top is much easier for me to use than a normal book style opening.

Pens

Right, so this post is actually about pens.

So, I may not be an intentional notebook snob, but I AM a lover of pens. I’ve tried several kinds of pens on the moleskine paper and I have found the following:

Normal cheapy pens tend to spit ink after they’ve aged just a little, plus they have a weak ink line, don’t feel nice in my hand, and don’t look very nice.
Inexpensive fountain pens leave a line that tends to feather. I cannot afford expensive fountain pens to test with.
Rollerball or gel pens usually have a thick line — too think for me to be happy with in my tiny notebook. I did manage to find a superfine gel ink pen in gorgeous colors made by Tul and I was pretty sure it was love forever. One by one, the pens broke on me though, and apparently that’s a THING with Tul pens, so I shall never ever go back to their lying liar ways, no matter how pretty they are.

I was just about resigned to go back to the cheapy pens when I came across something different.

Sharpie pens.

At first, I wasn’t even going to try it, but they hand a sampler out so I gave it a shot. I was afraid the tip was too wide, or that the ink would seep through the paper or it’d feather …

… none of the above, I’m happy to report. I can FORCE the ink to seep through the page, but normal writing doesn’t cause any problems.

Check them out here (good handwriting examples in the extra images)

Your Turn

I know some of you are office supply-aholics. Don’t even try to deny it. I am pretty sure it comes with the territory of being a writer or a reader. The smell of the paper, the unmarred expanse of a new notebook, the perfect fit of your favorite pen in your hand …

What are your favorite pens/paper/notebooks/office shinies?

Related posts:

A Tale of Two Notebooks
The Slippery Slope of Pen Pals
A Call to Arms…err…Pens!

[Perry] Grit and Grime

What’s the lowest that you’ve ever pushed your characters?

Like, how far have you pushed them while still keeping them alive?

For me…the answer’s honestly not that far. I have characters that have some terrible things happen to them but who you know will make it out okay. I also have characters that have terrible things happen to them and you know they’ll die.

So far, I’ve never written a character that was pushed to the point where giving up seemed easy.

These thoughts are spurred by an author I’ve been reading lately by the name of Jeff Somers.

He’s got a very…noir sort of flare to his writing so if you think you might be interested in noir-cyberpunk or noir-urban fantasy, I’d recommend giving his Avery Cates or Trickster series/books a try.

Here’s the thing though: Somers rides his main character hard.

We’re not talking Tami’s “Longest Night” levels of abuse here, you know? We’re talking just a systemic onslaught of abuse and horrible luck and bad situations. We’re talking the character constantly going from bad to worse, each time thinking that it CAN’T get worse.

We’re talking about breaking the character down to the last ideal or principle he’s willing to stand for…and then crippling him under the weight of it.

Reading Trickster, there comes a point where the protagonist just…wants to give up. Desperately so. He’s lying there, beaten and bloody after an entire LIFE of being beaten and bloodied and he thinks about just…letting the end of the world pass him by. He thinks about just lying there and letting it happen and how freaking EASY it would be.

…And then he gets up.

He pulls up his beaten, tortured body and continues to take one step in front of the other.

Without this sense of…defeatism? It’s hard to impart that sense of, just…carrying on.

Think of John McClane. Sure, he can save the peoples and shoot all the bad guys…but lock him up in a cell for ten years first. Torture him every day. Kill everyone he’s ever cared about, telling him the whole time that there was nothing he could do to save them, that he was incompetent.

Make him suffer for YEARS…and then throw him into Nakatomi tower and see how well he fares against the terrorists.

Essentially, that’s what Somers does to his main characters and it’s effective.

There’s a sense that the guy’s hanging on by just…the thinnest of threads. A sense that a stray breeze will snap him and leave him a gibbering heap of catatonic jitters on the floor…and yet he goes on.

This is something that’s hard to do when there’s a steady rise and fall in the life of the character.

When things regularly look up, it’s hard to really get across that bleak and hopeless sense that the character might feel.

By no means is this something you always want to do. Like everything else when it comes to writing, there’s a time and place for it and it’s up to you to discern when and where that might be.

But consider it.

There’s always going to be a day after night, but you don’t have to be so predictable about it.

Just think about how wondrous and terrifying the light might seem after it’s been nighttime for years. That’s an impression that’s almost impossible to convey if it gets bright on a regular basis.

Experiment! Try! Play! Play!

Related posts:

[Perry] Fight Scenes!
[Perry] Hidden Character Aspects
[Perry] Game of Thrones: Red Wedding

Art : Perrycat and Sir Pickles Derpenshire

I’ve been needing some practice with digital art lately, so I’ve swapped mediums.

First experiment? A Perrycat.

Second experiment? Sir Pickles Derpenshire (a friend’s result from a “find your corgi name” meme)

Related posts:

Art Synch May 2010

Guess Who Has Two Thumbs And Is a Paid Author?

/points to herself

THIS GUY!

I mentioned the Holly Lisle anthology, and the fact that I got into it?

Well, I not only got into it, I netted SECOND PLACE in the anthology. That, my friends, is an honor that comes with a price tag.

I have now officially been paid to write words.

I am an author, acknowledged not by a publishing company, but by the sensei from whom I learned so very many writing lessons.

This is an honor and an incredible surprise, as I was thrilled simply to be a part of the anthology.

Expect a post from me when the book is available, but for now?

/squee

 

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Holly Lisle’s Short Story Anthology
Holly’s Anthology Cover Reveal!

[Perry] Pacific Rim

Yes, you should totally watch this movie.

If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the trailer.

I went and caught the movie in theaters this past weekend and had an amazing time.

For a brief synopsis:

Giant monsters start rising up out of the sea and giving Godzilla a run for his money when it comes to the city terrorization racket.

Having had quite enough of this, the world pools its resources and initiates the Jaeger program (jaeger is ‘hunter’ in German apparently) to combat the threat, pitting gigantic robots against the gigantic monsters.

It’s awesome.

Now, I’m not sitting here telling you that the movie was perfect. Far from it, really.

Some notable issues I had with the movie revolved around some wooden acting, some one-note characters, underutilized plot devices and a batch of BECAUSE REASONS! elements to the plot…

Despite that, though?

I’d honestly say that this movie has to be THE summer spectacle of the year.

The sheer scale of the fights, and more importantly, the sense of weight and realism that the combatants have was impressive.

When I watched the battle scenes in Transformers for example, I could never fully shake the impression that I was watching elements of a video game. It was something about the floaty weight of the robots, maybe a seeming lack of momentum or just…something not quite right with the visuals.

I never really got that impression with Pacific Rim. Which is surprising because on the face of it, this movie definitely has MORE elements that would lend itself to a game or an anime than Transformers does.

Still, the fights and the destruction come across as somewhat realistic, as crazy as that word is to throw around in reference to a movie about giant robots and monsters duking it out.

Very recommended that you check this one out in theaters!

Related posts:

Missing Pokemon? Meet Mino Monsters!
[Perry] World War Z
[Perry] Using An Unreliable Narrator

Hugh Mana-tea

Given my recent forays into Adagio Teas, I needed a new tea infuser.

(Okay, no, you’re right. I didn’t, but there’s no way I could pass this up.)

Meet Hugh.

Hugh, the manatee (manatea).

As in, “OH, the humanity!” (which must be uttered with every cup brewed)

(Also, I must boop Hugh on the nose every time I take a sip.)

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Geeky Fandom Teas
Favorite Teas
New Art : Manatee With Balloon

Custom Plates

I love my car. It’s a Nissan Juke and it’s basically my Baby Bear. Not too big, not too small … juuuuuuust right.

And it’s fantastic in the snow.

Recently, I found that the additional cost of custom plates is pretty minimal if you combine it with your normal yearly registration.

So now? Now I am tempted to get custom plates.

But what to get?

We’ve been calling the Juke “Earl” because he’s classy, smooth, sexy, and a lovely dark gray/blue color. Earl gray. Hot.

So I could go with some variation of “Earl” or “Earl Gray”.

BUT.

But I could also go with “Jukebox” or just “Box” (hoping for people to make the connection. I almost wanted a Veloster just to get “Raptor” plates).

BUT BUT.

I could go one step further. (Into insanity, if you ask my husband, but obviously I’m not asking him)

I could get “BAWKS”.

Which, phonetically? Is like “Box”, but it’s ALSO like the sound chickens make (bawk bawk) and then my car becomes “the chicken coupe.” (get it? Like “coop”, only it’s a car, so it’s “coupe”.)

And I drive very defensively (read: I hate driving and it mostly terrifies me to be in traffic with other, angry people). So the “chicken” part actually fits.

“Earl, the Juke bawks chicken coupe.”

I need some backup here. Awesome? Or so far off the beaten path that I won’t be able to find my way back, even with a breadcrumb trail? (PUN INTENDED)

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[Perry] And Suddenly – Flood

Monday night was an interesting night in the city of Toronto.

A huge burst of rain in a two hour period led to intense, INTENSE amounts of flooding in the downtown core as well as a lot of highways that ran across or alongside various rivers.

Maybe you don’t believe me?

They say a picture’s worth a thousand words.

Here, have FIVE THOUSAND words!

A street running under a bridge downtown:

Cars brought to a halt on the highway when the water overtakes a lot point:

More shots of the Don Valley Parkway that runs by the Don River:

Just….what in the hells?

And entrance to our subway systems downtown:

There are things to take away from this, preparations to make.

Early preparation is key!

When the power went out in my neighborhood, I was scrambling for candles and a working lighter.

This is my fault, more than anything else. The problem is that blackouts and whatnot tend to be so infrequent that I keep forgetting to keep emergency lights and supplies up to date.

Be prepared!

Make sure that candles and working lighters are in easy to reach and easy to find positions. Make sure that you also have a working flashlight with an extra set of batteries (just in case).

Make sure that you have some nonperishable snacks or food around the house. I’m not really advocating that you stock up enough to keep yourself flush in the event of an apocalypse…but I don’t think it’s too crazy to expect that there be an extra day’s worth of food in the house, just on the off chance that something crazy happens and you really don’t want to turn to cannibalism as option #1…

Portable Electronics!

This was actually a problem I ran into on Monday.

I was so used to having ready access to power that I’d fallen out of the habit of keeping my devices charged.

This is not so tragic in the case of the laptop or ereader (or IS IT?!).

In the case of the phone though? It’s actually pretty damned important, especially if you’re trying to communicate with your sister who’s arriving from a vacation and is all delayed and switching planes and whatnot.

Plus, there’s the benefit of being able to write or read even if the power’s out so long as you remember to keep things charged…

City Knowledge

This one might be a little more esoteric…but you should have at least a general idea of where the high and low ground areas of your city lies.

I’m not saying that you need to have a terrain map of your city in your head at all times, but a general idea of which areas are higher or lower can be very useful.

I saw a lot of accounts on the news of people who hit traffic problems due to the flooding…and ended up detouring into WORSE traffic and worse flooding problems because they moved into valleyed areas by rivers.

So In Conclusion

Be prepared!

Are your teeth and ambitions prepared?

Be prepared!

Related posts:

[Perry] Magic Systems: The Bait and Switch
[Perry] Perry’s Review of The Unremembered
[Perry] Wherein Perry Goes Rock Climbing

Hiking In the Rain

Steven and I love to go hiking on this little fragment of the Ice Age Trail called Table Bluff.

It’s easy to get to, about as secluded as anything is these days, and is pretty forgiving to the idle hiker (while still having a steep bit to get back to your car, so you always feel sweaty and accomplished).

We’ll go up there in the afternoons sometime, when we want to get away from it all. Every once in a while, we’ll both be up early on a weekend and snag a cup of coffee as we head out that way.

The other day, we hiked in the rain.

Not a downpour, mind you. The kind of rain that makes flowers smile and plasters your shirt to your back and keeps the bugs away.

It. Was. Glorious.

Meant to be, as they say.

We often do worldbuilding on a story or make plans for gardens and future goals. On this particular trip, we worked out most of the elements of Mage Chess for Zonduth, which is based on the game Khet.

Everything fell into place, and the complex rules governing gameplay unsnarled before our muddy feet.

We stopped to kiss, breathless and laughing around my wet hair. I turned aside and froze.

There, not a dozen feet away, lay the spotted form of a fawn, one oversized ear swiveled in our direction, black eye wide and wet nose twitching.

We might have stopped anywhere along that trail, and there might have been a flower or a butterfly or a mushroom-ringed log to catch our attention.

On that day, it was a soft, dew-dotted deer. Quiet with awe, we continued on our journey, but for those of you who will still be following me when Zonduth Book 1 is available for public consumption, I hope you think of this post not only when you read about the game of Mage Chess between Osa and Headmaster Ronsk, but also when I introduce you to a quivering and wide-eyed dak fawn.

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Chess Sets
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Saucy Prompt Up!

Holly’s Anthology Cover Reveal!

A message from the great folks over at Holly’s Anthology Headquarters. I’m happy to spread the word regardless (my story did, after all, make it into the Anthology!) but!

But but but! You guys? My story is TOTALLY in the list of teaser plotlines they’re using to sell the book!

/twirl, glee, sparkle

Here’s the cover reveal! Another post forthcoming when the book is actually available for sale!

—-

In May, the moderators of Holly’s Forum (that’s us), approached her with the idea of an anthology. With the 5th anniversary of “How to Think Sideways” drawing nearer, it seemed a good idea to match the release date with the anniversary. Holly agreed to the idea and even added a monetary price for the top stories. After a very, very difficult selection process, we settled on thirty-five stories. It’s a pity that we couldn’t take them all. The scores were so close, we had lengthy discussions and finally wet five stories over the 30 story limit we had planned.

With the stories selected and in Holly’s hands to pick a winner, we are proudly presenting to you:

The Adventure of Creation

The Think Sideways Anthology #1 presented by Holly Lisle

35 marvelous short stories by gifted new writers

Follow a girl to the Below-World to slay the Sharkshadow, or help a timid girl to overcome the destructive criticism of her art teacher. Witness a solitary drone on Mars or a naive homunculus struggle to become human. Sew with a mother who lost her daughter in a quilt, defeat super-villains in a bank robbery with an unlikely superhero, or join a great mage in the fire.

In thirty-five imaginative stories, emerging authors present the diversity of their creativity. Each author found a different angle for the unifying theme: The Adventure of Creation. Witness the talent nurtured by writing teacher, Holly Lisle. For the 5th anniversary of her first big writing course, How to Think Sideways, this anthology features the best of her talented students in a great variety of genres.

The eBook and print book will be released on the 24th of July. Help us spread the word. If the anthology is successful, we might do another one next year.

Related posts:

Holly Lisle’s Short Story Anthology
Rebel Tales
Plotting