michaeljasper.net
"Another Wrecked Web Site"
July 31, 2002
Crap! The month's over already!!!
Now Playing:
"Stag," Amy Ray; "Become You," Indigo Girls; "Ring," Connells; "Tears Roll Down," Tears for Fears
Now Reading:
The Soul Thief, Leslie Claire Walker; "Lay Abouts," Scott Reilly
Today's Words:
100
Novel Words:
73,100
Yearly Words:
84,600
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Man, I thought I had plenty of time to get my writing done this month, and next thing I know, July is over. Crap! I was hoping to be done with part 2 of my novel, but I'm still a chapter and an interlude away. Bummer. But I still have a couple days before the beach to get some drafting done.
Life's been a bit too crazy lately for me to get much done. Work's been busy, and I've been worn out at the end of the day, too beat to do any writing. One positive is that I've gotten to read some good stuff by my fellow writers. I finished Mark's novel the other day, and I'm almost done reading Leslie's novel excerpt, and I sent them a critique. So at least I'm getting caught up on old favors. Still have to read my buddy Jeff's suspense thriller, which I plan on doing in August or September. AFTER I finish my own novel!
It's been fun, doing lots of reading. I've really gotten the bug to read more and more. Which is only going to make my own writing better.
Speaking of, I have a story to write in August as well as finishing a rough draft of the novel. I'm trying to stick to a story-a-month schedule for 2002, and I've kept to it so far. Not sure what the August story is going to be, but I've got six possible contenders, including the two I wrote in Oregon. Both of them need a LOT of work. I'd love to get them all done by year's end. As well as drafting another novel. Hey, you gotta shoot high, right? I'll easily hit 150,000 words for the year if I keep up this pace.
If I can. I've been getting pretty run down lately. I love writing and reading, and only wish I had time to do it all day and still have a life. But not right now. Got to pay my dues. Maybe someday... Sigh. Must be patient, must be patient... Later!
Today's Quote:
In the middle of the worst blizzard in over a decade they arrived, from the north and from the west, in Iowa City at last. They limped into the city in a beat-up light blue pickup and a brown Buick with a nasty divot in the front fender. Snow covered the roads and sidewalks like a too-small blanket, broken only by the occasional tire track of an intrepid -- or foolish, depending on whose opinion was being shared -- driver.
July 28, 2002
Countdown to the beach: six days!!!
Now Playing:
"Memphis, TN," "Charlotte, NC," Pearl Jam
Now Reading:
Dead Lawyers, Mark Siegel
Today's Words:
2,400
Novel Words:
73,000
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All righty, another chapter down! Just finished off number 15 this morning, the words flowing once again, over 2,000 of 'em, actually. Very cool. I love getting my writing done first thing. I'm much more easily distracted at night, after a long day of work or whatever, though that's not to say I may not try to do some work on chapter 16, the last chapter of part 2 of the novel, later tonight...
But now I have some more fun reading to do. I started re-reading my friend Mark's novel about a lawyer in a post-apocalyptic (but not stream-of-consciousness! -- inside joke there) Arizona, and got through the first half yesterday, really enjoying it.
I hope to get through the rest of it today and send him my comments. And then send him part 2 of my novel by Friday of this week (just have to do chapter 16 and the second interlude, which I can do, no problem). He's given me a ton of help on the Wannoshay novel, especially with logical issues that I always seem to have. Turnabout's fair play, and in this case, lots of fun. It's a great novel. Sort of a classic quest novel, but set in a wacked-out future.
And that's about it, other than a growing anticipation for the beach for Elizabeth and me. We REALLY need this week off with our friends. Now I'm thinking we'd be better off with two weeks instead of one! We had our "planning party" last night at our friend Clarke's new house, and we had a blast. Everyone has their list o' things to bring, and we even got some nifty sand-castle equipment from Holly and Val to get us started! Can't wait. I've got my reading materials for during the day, and my new "Highlander" and "Evil Dead" DVDs for the movie classics we're doing every night!Can't friggin' wait! Later.
Today's Quote:
"The ship's huge, this big black boxy thing bigger than most of the buildings in Iowa City. And it's crashed out right next to the river, right? That's what I saw, when--" she almost said Brando's name, but her voice wouldn't form it "--when one of the aliens showed me a vision. They can do that when they want to, instead of talking out loud."
Ally knew she was babbling. She shut her mouth and watched the twin expressions of shock and recognition across from her.
"Oh man," Skin said at almost the same time.
"We have to. She's not just making this up. She knows about the mother ship, for crying out loud."
Skin sighed and lifted his gaze from his meal to look directly at Ally. "I know, Shermie," he said, never taking his eyes off Ally's. "Can we give you a ride to Iowa City?"
July 27, 2002
A sloooow (fiction) writing week...
Now Playing:
"Old-School Dropouts," "Still Life," The Connells
Now Reading:
Dead Lawyers, Mark Siegel
Today's Words:
500
Novel Words:
70,600
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Howdy. Remember me? It's been a long and crazy week. Work's been kicking my butt again, leaving me somewhat brain-dead by the end of the day, and as a result I haven't gotten much writing done for myself. And it's been driving me cuckoo!
At least I've been getting some reading done, on my lunch breaks and at night, right before I crash. I finally finished reading all the short fiction I wanted to read for my Hugo votes, and I filled out my online form on Thursday. Best novel was Perdido Street Station, best novella (the hardest choice!) went to "The Chief Designer," best novelette went to "Undone" (another tough choice), and best story to "The Dog Said Bow-wow" (not a lot of really good choices there, ironically -- we need to get more Strange Horizons stories on the ballot for next year!).
And now I'm on a short-story kick. I was hoping to finally read Ian MacLeod's long stories "Isabel of the Fall" and then finally read his looong novella "Breathmoss" this weekend, but I need to read a novel for a friend first, Mark Siegel's Dead Lawyers. I'm way late in reading this and getting comments to him.
And time is running out before our beach weekend, the weekend I didn't think would ever come! I was hoping to get the novel to 90,000 words before then, but I'll be lucky to hit 80k by then. I've been really unfocused, though this morning at Caribou Coffee, waiting while my car got its oil change and yearly inspection, I managed to get some good work done on some older sections of the novel as well as the novelette "Skin and Blood," which needs one more scene to be complete before I send it out again (I just have to figure out who to send it to -- Gardner or Gordon; I'd send it to Gardner, but he's got 2 stories of mine already... I guess I should just wait until I hear back from him).
I should be able to finish part two of the novel before the beach. I have a chapter and a half to finish, plus another interlude. If I hit 80,000 words on part 2 I'll be right on schedule for the 120,000 words I'm shooting for (part one was right at 40k). And then, when I'm all done writing this mama, I want to go through the whole thing and add another 4-5,000 words of detailed descriptions of the settings and characters. 125,000 is a nice goal to shoot for. I should be in pretty good shape for WorldCon, I think. I'm already thinking of what novel to work on next, or if I should do some major revising to my three other books... Decisions, decisions. Later!
Today's Quote:
Ten minutes later, Ally didn't think the old guy would ever shut up about his hometown. She was starting to wish she'd have left him half-outside, half-inside, fighting the door until the door won.
She was saved by a tall, thin man not much older than her who clapped a hand on the shoulder of the man named Shermie and dropped into the seat next to him.
"What are you doing, old man?" the younger man said. "You're not talking too much, are you?"
Ally didn't think the two men were related at all. The old man was Native American, and this younger guy was white all the way. He had a look of impatience and nervous fear on his thin face that Ally had noticed in the mirror more than once in the past few months.
July 22, 2002
A quick 1k or so...
Now Playing:
"Busted Stuff," Dave Matthews Band; "Still Life," The Connells
Now Reading:
Year's Best SF, Dozois
Today's Words:
1,100
Novel Words:
70,100
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Had a longish day at work, so I didn't have much urge to sit at the computer some more when I got home, but I did manage to get some fun stuff written on chapter fifteen, right up to the point where Ally meets Shermie. Just about got everyone together now.
Not much else new to report about. Just got the old nose to the grindstone, with the beach week the light at the end of the tunnel. Can't wait! We have the planning party this weekend at our friend Clarke's new townhouse. Very cool.
Yesterday we watched some movies when we got our miscellaneous stuff done. Started with "Stuart Little," which wasn't half bad, and Lizzie really wanted to see it, and then went waaay downhill with "Donnie Darko," a wacked-out flick if I ever saw one. It actually reminded me of "The Rapture," an older film from the early 90s with David Duchovny getting blown away and the world ending, among other things. I can't say I enjoyed "Donnie," though they did have some nifty Tears for Fears songs in it. And no, I just can't buy Drew Barrymore as an English teacher, sorry...
Now I'm off to read two more novellas for the Hugo voting: "May Be Some Time" by Brenda Clough and "Chief Designer" by Andy Duncan. I've almost got all my selections now. "Undone" is definitely getting my vote, over "Lobsters," which put me to sleep a couple times. James Kelly does something inventive with each new story, and this one was really cool. The Stross story was too much infodumpage and not enough story. Gotta have something to hang all those nifty ideas on, Charlie! Later.
Today's Quote:
"Crazy shits," Ally said, watching a tall, thin man run out of the driver's side to start pumping gas. A smaller man nearly fell out of the passenger door, hidden in an oversized, bright orange poncho. The man in the poncho leaned into the wind and worked his way gingerly through the snow toward the restaurant of the truck stop.
Well, Ally corrected herself when she saw the chains on the big tires of the pickup, maybe not too crazy. But crazy enough, being out on a night like this.
July 21, 2002
Something called character development...
Now Playing:
"Busted Stuff," Dave Matthews Band; "Songs from an American Movie, part 2," "Sparkle and Fade," Everclear; "Old School Dropouts," "Still Life," The Connells
Now Reading:
Year's Best SF, Dozois; Coyote stories, Allan Steele
Today's Words:
2,700
Novel Words:
69,000
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Well, I did all I could do to make it to 70,000 words, but I think I'm spent for the day. I finished another chapter, and I knew I was in trouble when I had them run off the road in the middle of a snowstorm so I could end the chapter there. I guess I can always go back and fix things up later...
Things continue to roll along nicely with the novel. Hit some nice milestones -- 69,000 words, over 300 pages, starting chapter 15, with 9 or 10 more chapters to go. I'm having fun, and still surprising myself with the small plot twists and different characters.
Today's section dealt with Joshua and Shontera getting to know one another as they drive to Iowa City. It's a lot of dialog and some semi-philosophical stuff at that, with Shontera asking Joshua if the aliens came to Earth as some sort of punishment from above. Interesting stuff to write about (Joshua doesn't think it's punishment at all, by the way). And of course, this conversation is taking place in a big old car on the road, during a snowstorm.
The next chapter picks up with Ally stuck in Des Moines when her bus can't get through the snow, and two guys in a pickup with Nebraska plates drop by the truck stop where the bus has stopped. It's always fun getting my characters together to see what happens when they meet and interact.
It's been a nice, relaxing weekend here. Elizabeth has been taking it easy, doing some reading and working on some school stuff, and I've been getting some reading done as well, which is always a bonus. I hope to read more Allan Steele tonight -- his Coyote series is really, really good.
Last night we watched "Amelie," and loved it. What a wonderful film, with an astounding performance by the lead actress, who makes Julia Roberts look quite homely indeed. It had some wonderful touches, like the man in the photo booth and the beautiful Paris setting, and glass man, and... It was FULL of magical scenes and ideas. A great film. You should watch it at least twice. Talk about a well-plotted film, with tons of character and insight.
And that's about it -- gotta go cut lawn now. Later!
Today's Quote:
Joshua nodded, thinking about the names he and the other humans in the camps had come up with: Sarah, Eli, Ezra, Elizabeth, Noah, David, Matthew. So many more names. Joshua shuddered from the cold wind slipping through the window next to him. As Shontera talked about the real names of the people, they passed over the Iowa border, and the snow began to fall harder.