michaeljasper.net
"Another Wrecked Web Site"
April 17, 2001
Working steadily, steadily working...
Today's Progress:
Final revamp of Interlude, made notes on ch. 32
The Official Dare Page
So I got up this morning and plowed through my edits to the Interlude, finishing up for good the first 296 pages of the novel. Then I lopped off a page of the synopsis for my fantasy novel, cutting down to 5 double-spaced pages. I need to cut some more, but I can't seem to find where! I think 4 would be manaegeable, and 3 would be ideal. No one's gonna read it all that closely, right? Just as long as I tie up all my loose ends. I was talking with some folks at work about the letter I got from the agent, and one of my co-workers had a great point -- fantasy is hot right now. With "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings" going strong in book sales, and their respective movies coming out this winter, more and more people are going to get turned on to fantasy, and will be looking for something new to read. Voila! Here's The Last of the Hand for you, sir and/or ma'am! Buy a copy for yourself and a friend! I'm thinking of sort of pitching this book to the agent as a book for young readers. I'm not sure about this. Maybe I should run it past my niece and nephew, see what they think. I know they enjoyed Harry Potter, and I think they'd like this. Heck, I'm gonna bug anyone and everyone I know and see if they'll read over what I've got and get me some feedback. Look out, it could be you!
mjj
April 16, 2001
News from the Big Apple.
Today's Quote:
The hairy boys on their bikes, Riley thought. Eagle Scouts from hell.
Today's Progress:
Reorganized final 8 chapters, made notes on Interlude (again)
The Official Dare Page
Okay, so I survived the Weekend o' Writing more or less intact. Cool. I wasn't able to get up early this morning, but I did find time today to do some revising to my final chapters of the novel. I took the last 5 chapters and broke them down into 8 chapters, so the final chapter is 40. I think it fits - 40 is a nice biblical number, and that fits in nicely with all that happens to Race and some of the thematic elements that come out in the novel. I'm quite excited by this book. It's come together very well, all of a sudden. I also re-read the Interlude and made some notes on the hardcopy, which I'll type in tomorrow. Then it's on to the final section. I really hope to be able to finish it all in the next couple of weeks. This Dare has been an excellent motivator. Another motivator arrived in the mail today - I got a response back from an agent in New York City about my first novel, The Prodigal Sons. While she wasn't really grabbed by that book, she did express interest in my fantasy novel, The Last of the Hand. Very cool! So now I want to fix the first 52 pages of that up and revise the synopsis (right now the synopsis is, uh, 6 pages long, double-spaced!). I'll probably send that out on Saturday, I think. Her letter definitely made my day - it's nice getting positive feedback like that from someone in the industry. So even though my mainstream novel didn't cut it for her, perhaps one of my genre books will. And hey, I can always send her Autumn's Fall if (on the rare, rare chance) that she doesn't go for the fantasy novel... And I'm sure I'll have started something new by the time I hear back from that one. I've got a million of 'em. Can't stop it now. Oh yeah, check out Lizzie's StorTrooper over on the left there - she made her own tonight! Doesn't our little family look stylish? Of course, Whit doesn't really look all that much like a bulldog, but everyone else looks pretty good, right? Right? Later.
mjj
April 15, 2001
Whew.
Today's Quote:
If the townspeople looked at him closely, they could see that his skin hung loosely on his frame, skin that was covered in a bluish-purple hue, as if he'd been out in the cold too long. The townspeople chose not to look at Peter Warner too closely.
Today's Progress:
Revised the Interlude
The Official Dare Page
11:35 - Wow. Four chapters left! Just finished the Interlude, and man, I'm really excited about it. It's probably the most horrific and fantasy-ish of the entire book. The fantastic five get back together to play the hairy boys and the superintendent, as the storm clouds gather overhead. It's gonna be a great, great scene. Very cinematic, and one that I'd love to see in a movie. So I got a ton of stuff done this weekend on the novel revions. All told, I revised closed to 100 pages! The novel is up to almost 300 pages, 85,000 words. I have 70 very rough pages to go, though. Here's hoping I can keep up the momentum this week! No more wimping out, y'know? So it looks like I'll be able to finish my end of the revising soon, by the end of the month for sure. Then I get comments from it by Greg, we put it all together, do a quick synopsis and cover letter, and send it out to a publisher or two. I can't wait. I'm already thinking of what I want to work on next. Am I a glutton for punishment or what?? Gotta run now. I'm ready for a break from readin' and writin'. Talk to you tomorrow.
mjj
April 14, 2001
Sleep is for wussies.
Today's Quote:
"Booze first," Diana said, gingerly touching her bruised throat. She fell into her chair and picked up the bottle of brandy, which had miraculously remained upright and intact during her fight with the demented teenager. She filled both mugs, emptying the bottle. "Bandages later."
Today's Progress:
Double-checked ch. 26, revised chs. 27-31
The Official Dare Page
Noon - Howdy. It's lunch time here at the Jasper plantation. I'm chilling out on the back deck with Whit after a quick run to the greyhound playgroup. Whit got to "socialize" with Blue and Farrah, two other greyhounds, though he didn't do much running as I'd hoped. Dogs are pack animals, and need sometime to hang with other dogs. I guess I'm pretty boring as a pack leader. He probably wonders why I spend so much time staring at those big boxes and pecking at those little square cubes instead of rooting around in the dirt and running laps in the back yard.
So I've got the laptop set up outside on the back deck, and it's about 70 degrees, quite nice in the shade. I just finished up a revision to ch. 26, finetuning the new sections I wrote yesterday. I really like the section with Riley going into the house to find Shawn. I think it ratchets up the tension nicely. Now I want to dive into the final half of ch. 27, and move past that this afternoon. Lizzie called a little bit ago and they're heading out to the beach. Sounds like they're having a good time. What a lovely day. Got some lawn-cutting to do at some point, and hopefully some reading if I have time. See ya later.
2:30 p.m. - 73,100 words. 256 pages. Slowly getting there... I have 34 pages to get through yet today and tomorrow morning. I think I can do that. This past chapter just flew by. Probably because we were really hitting our stride with this section of the book. The next chapter will also be fun to do, as I put a lot of work into it up front. Talk to you later. Got to go cut the lawn and do other mundane chores. 6:30 p.m. - "I'm like an opening band for the sun!" - Pearl Jam. Finished chapter 28, as everyone gets together for the last time in the book, minus Titus, who's still off on his own. This chapter was fun because it was all in Joshua's point of view, and he's a great character. Next chapter will be cool as well, as all the pieces pretty much fall into shape, and at last we find out the secret identity of the BBG (big bad guy)! Tune in for more later! 8:50 p.m. - After a short break for something to eat and to walk the dog, I got back on track and revised ch. 29, the scene where all the plotlines converge and we finally figure out (sort of) what's been going on in Rosecroft for the past 15 years. I think it works quite nicely. I was a little worried that the talking goes on a bit too long, but it's necessary, and I think it's staged nicely - they're all sitting around Diana's kitchen table after Race leaves in a rush, talking and sharing all their horror stories, then Clint puts it all together and figures out who the BBG is. And just as Riley is about to tell us more, the fuzz busts in and hauls everyone (except for Joshua, that is, who slips out the back door) off to jail for questioning. 13 pages to go on this middle section, then it's the dream sequence and the final section! Woo hoo! More later. 9:45 p.m. - And just like that, the second section is revised! Yeah-baby! Time to take a short break, and then mess with the dream sequence of the reunited fantastic five versus the hairy boys. Later!
mjj
April 13, 2001
Take the whole day off... And work all night!
Today's Quote:
Rolling to his hands and knees, Riley crawled toward the bedroom. Each movement provoked spastic coughing that burned his chest and windpipe. His vision doubled, then tripled.
Don't breathe, he told himself when he reached the doorway to the bedroom. Don't breathe…
Blackness filled his vision. In the instant before he succumbed to smoke inhalation, Riley saw spots of light in front of his eyes. I'm okay, he thought. I'm back in Clint's car, looking at the farmhouse lights outside my window. I'm okay.
Then Riley fell to the floor, and flames ate greedily at the walls and ceiling over his head.
Today's Progress:
Added new sections to chs. 26, revised all of 26 (at last!), revised over half of ch. 27 (the big chapter)
The Official Dare Page
5:15 p.m. - I've been doing some major procrastinating all day. Elizabeth took off this morning for Myrtle Beach with her girlfriends, but by the time she left I didn't feel focused enough to sit down and write. That's a crappy feeling, let me tell you. It's been a whole week now. I'm worried that I won't be able to get back into the swing of things. And I'd been doing so well, too! Just have to have a little confidence in myself. I ran a bunch of errands after Lizzie left instead of writing, getting all the tasks on my To-Do List knocked out, including the piles of recycling sitting outside the back porch that have been there for months. Ger-oss! Then I came home, napped, and read some more of King Rat. It's getting quite cool now, as more "kings" are introduced - Loplop (birds) and the Anansi, the king of spiders. And one of Saul's friends falls prey to the Piper/Ratcatcher (is it the same person who plays flute with Saul's friend Natasha? hmm....). I'm enjoying it a lot. I look forward to reading more. Maybe tonight, after I get some drafting done. Check back here later for an update. 8:30 p.m. - Still working on the chapter before the kick-butt chapter. This is the chapter that sets up all the remaining action of the novel, so I need to get it right. I've already written in a bit with Riley eluding Clint and running into his burning house, only to be overwhelmed by smoke and fire (see quote at left). This sets him up nicely to be somewhat incapacitated later, so he can't go with Clint and Race and Joshua. Now I need to write the scene where Clint breaks into the house after Riley and pulls him from the fire. Then the guys split up, and Riley goes to Diana to try and recover. I just made a pot of coffee, so I'm ready to write. Talked to Lizzie a bit ago, and she made it to Myrtle okay, and they're getting ready to go see a band and hang out. I miss her already! And here I am, listening to Everclear and writing like a madman. More later... 9:35 p.m. - Whew. Finally finished chapter 26! I'm quite pleased with it. It kicks off a lot of non-stop action that really forms the core of the book. All sorts of wild stuff is about to break loose. Lots of fun. Not bad - I've written about 4 pages of new stuff so far tonight, and revised over 11 pages in total. Only 37 more pages to go tonight! As for revised wordage, I'm up to 61,600 words completed! About 40k to go... Whoa. Talk to you more later. 11:25 p.m. - the Web is such a good place to waste time and avoid work! I just killed off an hour of my life reading web logs at Blogger, then spent more time making my own StorTrooper! Ain't technology great???
See my StorTrooper fight evil with his trusty sidekick, Pumpkin, the world's fastest 16 pound cat! Look on the left for the little fella. The hair and the glasses are right on, I think, but as far as I know, I've never owned a gray turtleneck in my life... But I had to make do with what I had, y'know? I say it once again: Ain't technology great??? Later. 1:45 p.m. - Okay, I need sleep. I'm 24 pages into the 38-page chapter 27, and I can't do it anymore! As smooth as this chapter is, I just can't focus no mo! I got a lot done tonight, and I'm looking forward to the next few sections I get to revise tomorrow. That's the way to do it - quit when I want to keep writing, leaving something tantalizing for myself first thing tomorrow. That's much better than quitting at a nice, clean ending point, like at the end of a chapter - it makes it that much harder to get back into the swing of things. See you tomorrow (today!).
mjj
April 11, 2001
Um. Uh. Urg.
Today's Quote:
They flew up Tekamah Street and turned onto Oak Avenue, where flames glowed at the top of the hill. The fire ate hungrily at the sides of a white two-story house on the right, the last house on the block. The flames burst a window on the top floor as they pulled up. Riley grabbed the back of Diana's seat, pulling on the door handle before the car came to a stop.
"It is my house," he said. He was out of the car and running toward the front door. Shawn. Don't be home, buddy. Don't be in there.
Today's Progress:
Revising ch. 26 (the Chapter that Would Not Die!)
The Official Dare Page
Yeah, so I haven't been writing much lately. Almost a week has gone by, and that's bad. My worst dry spell in a while. I guess it can't be helped sometimes. The real world intercedes and I have to pull myself out of my fantasy worlds, as painful as that can be... No, it's more than that. That makes writing sound like a stupid hobby, which it isn't to me. I take it more seriously than that.
Writing is what gives my life meaning, what challenges me to be better, and what gets me out of bed in the morning. It's like having a job that you really love. Except this one don't pay all that great! But I digress... I got some stuff done tonight on the elusive chapter 26, but I feel myself drifting a bit. I've got a bunch of time this weekend, while Elizabeth is off with her girlfriends at the beach, so I plan on jamming pretty hard on the revision. What I'm hoping to do is get through the next 80 pages of the middle section, so that by weekend's end I'll be up to the dream sequence, when the fantastic five reunite to play the hairy boys and a player to be named later. That section is one of my favorites, and most of it came from listening to a Rob Zombie song, "Dragula," I think it was. Think of a pickup basketball game at night against hairy critters and a demon, and you've got this nightmare/dream. And our old buddy Peter makes an appearance. Even if he is a week dead... So I may take it easy tomorrow and Friday, and start another mad Writing Weekend of my own, staying up late and writing almost non-stop until Sunday at noon. Work has been really crazy all week, with my manager giving his notice and the deadline for my software manuals quickly approaching (while the software itself languishes in development limbo)! I've been more compartmentalized, not mixing work and my writing, but that's mostly because I'm too busy at work to even think about my writing. Which is probably best - I prefer being busy and challenged at work. If I'm feeling really ambitious I'll even finish reading King Rat, which I also haven't had much time to read lately. I read some last night and this morning, and it's getting interesting. I want to know more about the Ratcatcher and the intriguing police investigator Crowley and why some rats don't pay obeisance to King Rat as they should. Did I just use the word "obeisance" in a sentence? Man, I've been reading too much. Later.