michaeljasper.net
"Another Wrecked Web Site"
June 9, 2002
I have a warm lap...
Now Playing:
"Charlotte, NC," Pearl Jam
Now Reading:
"Preacher," Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon
Today's Quote:
Magic in Subaridon comes from a mix of alchemy, science, and mechanics. Also, before the Closure, the world was treated to a wide range of scientific wonders that could only be classified as magic to the inexperienced. The native magic of Subaridon clashes with the alien "magic" of the otherworlders, with surprising and often dangerous results.
I'm chilling out on the back porch this afternoon, trying to get myself organized and less stressed out. Every now and then I get this way -- overwhelmed with all the stuff I want to do. So I grabbed the laptop and some reading materials and pulled up a chair on the back deck. And now my lap is getting warm from this bulky old laptop. Elizabeth is off running some errands, so it's just me and Pumpking on the back deck, listening to some Pearl Jam and the birds hollering back and forth (they have eggs in nests they built in our hanging ferns back here, so they're not too happy about having a cat so close to their babies).
Anyway, I've started messing with some stories, revamping them. I also put together a one-page proposal for Wizards of the Coast, using my Subaridon world setting, for their call for proposals. They want ideas for a new fantasy world to set their novels, games, and other stuff in, so I thought I'd give it a try. I don't know if I'll even send it in to them (if I do actually succeed in making the first cut, I'll have to come up with a ten page treatment, and if that passes, I'll need to create a 100-page setting bible), but it's fun to play around with it. They have 6 questions they need answered about the world, including the main villains, the main conflicts, the heroes, the magic, and so on, along with the last question -- what makes this world unique. At the very least, it's a fun exercise to help me get back into thinking about that world and that novel.
I have some tweaking to do to "Riverrun Alley" before I send that one back out (and I'm not sure where to send it -- Asimov's is the obvious choice, but I just sent him something last week, and I really don't want to be competing with myself! I guess I'll just wait a bit). And then I may try to shorten "Redemption" and maybe get it under 7,500 words, if possible. That ought to get me back into thinking about the Wannoshay novel, which I have to finish soon!
Actually, I had some great ideas for the later half of the novel while I was away, and I think I needed some time to think about it. It's all coming together, slowly. Ijust have to keep from letting things overwhelm me. I was trying to do too much this morning, searching for agents and trying to get caught up on my own writing and planning out all the stories and novels I wanted to revise and write and so on... One thing at a time.
And tomorrow I start my early-morning writing again. I'm looking forward to it, so long as I get enough sleep. Now I've got some reading to do for work. Bleh. But I need to do it so I'm caught up for the coming week -- I sometimes have trouble reading at my desk at the Day Job. I'm giving myself 2-3 hour max for this. Then it's on to more fun stuff. Later!
June 8, 2002
Catching my breath...
Now Playing:
"So," Peter Gabriel
Now Reading:
"Preacher," Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon
Just a brief entry here to say hello, as I continue to decompress from my week in Oregon, followed by a VERY busy week at home at the new job and catching up on chores 'round the house. Not to mention getting reacquainted with my lovely wife. It seemed like I was gone for more than a week and a day. It's weird. Time has a way of distorting itself lately, as I get older.
Man, I just realized I'll be 32 in 5 days. That's a good way to bring myself back to earth... Sheesh. Wasn't I just 24 a few days ago??? Ah well. I guess I get better like fine wine, right? I can only hope.
Actually, I really can't complain. Other than putting on some extra pounds that I'm trying really hard to burn off, I must say I'm happier now than I've ever been. Sure, I'd love to write fiction full-time and not have to spend so much time at the Day Job, but there's always something, y'know?
And I can make time so I can do a lot of my own writing. My plan next week, starting Monday, is to go back to my early-morning schedule. 4 a.m. Write for an hour and a half, go work out with Lizzie, then go to work. Come home and read and relax, maybe even do some writing and web stuff. I really miss writing in the morning and getting it done first thing.
As long as I'm in bed by 10 p.m., I can do this. 6 hours of sleep is all I really need, especially if I'm working out a lot and getting good exercise. Exercise is the key, folks!
As for the workshop, I'm still processing all the info I took in there. Here's a list of key concepts I picked up there that I sent to fellow writer Scott:
More on this topic later, as I decompress and am able to pluck those concepts from the ether that is my mind...
In other areas, I'm getting caught up on my magazine-reading right now, reading the past 2 issues of Locus before I dive into more of the "Preacher" graphic novels (great fun! violent and blasphemous, but FUN!), and reading that magazine has really got me pumped up about my own SF/F/H writing. I can't wait to get up in the morning and work on some stories, and then dive back into my Wannoshay novel.
The current plan is to finish that sucker by the end of July, and go to WorldCon with the plans of making some connections to find a potential agent or publisher. I also plan on revamping both Autumn's Fall and The Last of the Hand, and maybe even having 3 chapters of The All-Nation Team, my historical fantasy baseball novel, ready to go. And I can also bring excerpts from The City of All-Worlds as well.
Five novels! Crazy. But fun. Later!
June 3, 2002
He's baa-ack!
Now Playing:
"Hourglass," James Taylor
Now Reading:
"Transmetropolitan," Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson
So I'm finally back home, a day later. Got home about 10:30 last night, and didn't even bother checking email. When I rolled out of bed this morning, I had almost 100 unread messages! Crazy.
I haven't really had a chance to catch my breath and write (or think) about my workshop experience, but I did want to post here to let everyone know I made it back in one piece, more or less. Work was a bit rough, as I was bone-tired (Elizabeth said I slept like a dead man last night!).
So we went out for dinner tonight to just catch up, then we went to Border's and spent a whole wad of cash on some books. It was fun -- I picked up some graphic novels, as suggested by Kris, so I can learn how to read for fun again. I picked up two "Transmetropolitan" and two "Preacher" graphic novels. Should be fun.
As I find more time, I'll post more about the workshop and all that stuff. But it's good to be home, that's all I can say. Later!
June 1, 2002
Wrapping up and recovering...
Now Playing:
"All That You Can't Leave Behind," U2
It felt really strange last night to not have any writing to do. After staying up most of the night Thursday, going to bed at 4 a.m. after falling asleep over my laptop a couple times in the living room of the house (I was perched on the Squeaky Chair, next to the window so I could hear the ocean outside), I was pretty much a zombie yesterday. But surprisingly, I don't feel too bad today. I'm actually looking forward to the flights home tomorrow just to have some time to be by myself and read and just sort of let everything from this past week sink in. I don't think I'll be able to sort through everything until at least tomorrow, when I'm away from here. And man, it'll be nice to see Elizabeth again!
I had a weird dream about the Day Job last night, something about wandering lost through a massive series of hallways and buildings. Yuck. I dread going back to work, but I think it'll be good to dive into the work there. I've got a lot of rethinking to do about my goals and how to achieve them, and one of them is taking my Day Job more seriously and totally compartmentalizing it so tech writing doesn't bleed through into my fiction writing.
And with my fiction writing, I have lots to consider. I have some areas to really focus on in my line-by-line writing: emotional impact, setting, risk-taking, concrete details, and so on. I feel a bit overwhelmed by it all. I realized I was writing well, but just as I wanted to do, I wasn't writing at the top of the form. If I wanted to be a filler writer, I'd have an adequate career, writing the kind of stories that get accepted but aren't the very best in any given antho. But part of me knows how HARD it is to do that, and my brain seems to shy away from that. It's very strange. But I think once I get my writing schedule set up and I've got the Day Job under control, I'll be able to start making huge strides. After I get caught up on my sleep... Later!