michaeljasper.net
"Another Wrecked Web Site"
June 15, 2002
Breathless Saturday entry...
Now Playing:
nothing -- too busy to switch CDs!
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Yikes -- barely enough time to get a quick entry in this morning before we're off to Sanford to celebrate my little sis's graduation. It's a perfect day to hang out with the Jasper clan -- a bit cool, not so ungodly humid, with a nice breeze. Just got to remember not to eat too many burgers or drink too much beer.
I had a few too many strong drinks on my birthday on Thursday (I blame Lizzie -- she made me a super sized Tom Collins before we went over to her parents' for my birthday dinner. I remember little after that!). Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy. It's just that when I get together with a lot of folks and get talking and having fun, I don't really pay much attention to what I'm drinking. And then whammo! I'm taking a snooze on the recliner. I am a 32-year-old party animal!
But I survived the birthday. Elizabeth got me a cool piece of art and a nifty little coffee maker for my office at work. I'm embarrassed to say how tickled I am with this coffee maker -- I went out and bought all the fixings for it right away, stuff like coffee, two kinds of creamer, sugar, even stirrers. It's quite the setup.
As for writing, I got a TON of revising done this week, up to chapter 4 of the Wannoshay novel (which I need to get all revised up to chapter 10 tomorrow so I can start drafting the new chapters), and then this morning I hacked out 1500 words from "An Outrider's Tale," and that's going out this morning to an unsuspecting editor. I like the revised story much, much better. I think I'll do that revising/cutting with each story as it comes back to me as a rejection. It's good exercise, and makes for tighter stories.
And that's about it. Gotta run. Later!
June 12, 2002
Day three: still draggin', but getting better...
Now Playing:
"Time (The Revelator)," Gillian Welch
Now Reading:
"Preacher" book 2, Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon; Asimov's, July 2002
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Man, not a whole lot to report. Just work work work. Got up again at 4 a.m. this morning, almost decided to sleep in, but got up and continued reviewing the Wannoshay novel. I'm in the fun stuff -- the prologue and Alissa's chapters. It sort of surprises me, reading the prologue and then flipping to the epilogue, to see how I connected all the plotlines. I wasn't really thinking much about it, just threw some ideas together, and it really hangs together nicely.
Just got to trust that inner storyteller, you know?
So I'm up to chapter 3 on the review/revise/rewrite, and I'm still looking to cut a couple thousand more words before hitting the new stuff. I feel the momentum picking up on the novel, and that's exciting.
Also, in the way back of my mind, I'm thinking of ideas and stuff for the next novel, The City of All-Worlds. That one is gonna be tons of fun -- a completely made-up world, with lots of wacky stuff going on. It should be a fun experiment. It's always good to stretch and push myself.
Oh yeah, check out the Clarion News of my fellow writer Jason Lundberg -- fun stuff. Now I've got to get to bed and get some sleep! Later!
June 11, 2002
Day two of new schedule: draggin'...
Now Playing:
"Become You," Indigo Girls
Now Reading:
"Preacher" book 2, Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon; Shadow and Claw, Gene Wolfe
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Okay, so Sam will be happy to see that at long last, I have a Notify List so you can get an email when I update my journal. No more waiting and surfing over to the Wrecked Web Site to see if Mike's posted his latest and greatest ramblings. I aims to please, I do! Thanks for the tip, Ms. Ling!
What a day. Got up at 4 a.m. today, wasn't too hard rolling out of bed -- it was harder getting Whit the greyhound up and out of the bedroom so he could join me in my office and not wake up Elizabeth. Whittled down "Redemption, Drawing Near" to 11,000, then cut it to 10,000 on my lunch break. And tonight I finished it up, down to 42 pages and 9,500 words. Not bad -- it was 14,000 words and 54 pages, I believe.
I also updated the revised stuff to the novel (this novella is 2 chapters from the novel, by the way), and now the novel wordage has shrunk down to 53,600 words! I was almost at 60k. Ah well. It'll be much better this way. I'm gonna go through the rest of the novel chapters, looking to cut more -- I'm thinking it should be down to 50,000 words before I start working on chapter 10. I know, all this number stuff is a bit silly, but it gives me something to work toward.
And now I must go give the dog a bath, and then finish reading "Preacher" (which I learned is going to be made into a movie, which should be pretty damn cool, if done right). Later!
Today's Quote:
He looked down and felt implicated. Instead of his Bible, he held an alien book in his hands. The metal edges threatened to cut into his hands from his tight grip, and then the pages softened, yielding to his touch. He ran a finger across a page of the book and the symbols disappeared, melting into the black metal, leaving an empty page in front of him.
June 10, 2002
Early in the morning...
Now Playing:
"Become You," Indigo Girls
Now Reading:
"Preacher" book 2, Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon
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Hiedy-ho fellow travellers. 'Tis me, a bit punchy from lack of sleep and a sudden burst of enthusiasm. Just got started on my new writing schedule, and I'm digging it so far: up at 4 a.m. to write until 5:30, work out with Lizzie until 6:45, walk the dog, shower, and on to work. Do some revising on my lunch break at the Day Job. After work, I have the evening to revise my writing or read or just relax. And in bed by 9 or so, to read until 10 p.m. or I fall asleep, whichever comes first.
According to my friend Chris, I have to keep this up for 21 days to make it a habit. So... by the first of July it should be pretty ingrained in my head and body. Cool.
Enough about the logistics. What am I working on? This morning I started whacking away at "Redemption, Drawing Near," trying to cut that down from almost 14,000 words to under 8,000. Right now it's at 11,000, and I think I can take some more out. It's kind of fun, and it's a good exercise for really tightening the prose in a story. I plan on finishing it up by tomorrow morning, then moving on the Wannoshay novel again.
As I get responses back from editors, I'll do the hard revision treatment to those stories, making sure they all start in the right place and really grab the reader by the lapels, forcing them to continue reading. I'm doing that to "Outrider's Tale" right now as well, even though it's currently out to Weird Tales. A little bit of this, a little bit of that.
And with my evening, I plan on reading some more "Preacher" and watching the Canes in the Stanley Cup with Lizzie. And then it'll be 4 a.m. again... Later!