michaeljasper.net
"Another Wrecked Web Site"
June 24, 2002
A word here, a word there...
Now Playing:
"18," Moby
Today's Words:
oh, 'bout 60 or 70...
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Well this little Dare of mine has been having trouble getting going, at least on my part! In the past few days I've been getting slowly caught up on my million and one odds and ends 'round the house and with my various writing and other projects, and now that I'm ready to sit down and do some serious drafting, I find myself with... story ideas!
Arrgh! I blame it on some of the more interesting anthologies out there. One deals with a story told from an alien's point of view, and I decided today, on my way to having a couple beers with my writing buddy Chris, that I was gonna do a Wannoshay story. The only catch is that the deadline is July 1st. So I've got to move on it. I just hope no one saw me hashing out the details as I drove towards downtown Raleigh, talking to myself as I tried out and discarded various story ideas...
But now I think I know what I want to do. It's going to follow the alien that was hunted and injured in my prior story, "Mud and Salt," and pick up where that story left off. Should be fun, and should help me with the later chapters of my novel.
All I have right now is the first sentence: "The blood on his ill-fitting denim jacket had turned cold in the November air."
We'll see what happens. I also had a fun, fun idea for a zombie story, for another anthology. I've got a little more time for this one. It's late, so I'll leave you with the opening from that new story idea, "Goddamn Redneck Surfer Zombies" -- enjoy!
Today's Quote:
People stopped coming to the coast when the dead started harassing folks again. Got to the point where folks couldn't sit on their folding chairs outside their own beachside trailer with a case of Bud without some rotting corpse come shambling up, asking for directions to the cemetery or the bars or the bait shop, the whole time smelling like spoiled tuna. Killed us for the tourist season. Goddamn zombies.
June 20, 2002
Okay, so I'm not writing -- sue me!!!
Now Playing:
"Essence," Lucinda Williams
Today's Words:
0 (ran outta time!)
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Not much time left, after lots of updates to the ol' website. I had to do it. I sold a story that I didn't even have listed on my site! What's a guy to do? It's an embarassment of riches lately in my Inbox.
"Wantaviewer," my story about the Wannoshay, was accepted by Strange Horizons! This was the fourth such story to get published, and I'm extremely pleased. SH is a great magazine, and they've done great things with my stories, making me revise each of the three that have been or will be published there, making each story much, much better. Jed, Chris, and Susan are a great group of editors. Thanks folks!
And that's about all I have time for tonight. Talk more later!
June 19, 2002
Look at me, I'm writing!!!
Now Playing:
"Stag," Amy Ray; "Essence," Lucinda Williams
Now Reading:
Nine Princes in Amber, Roger Zelazny
Today's Words:
1,050
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All-righty then! Got some new scenes added to chapter 10 of the Wannoshay novel, and things are rolling again! Ally is off to one of the alien labor farms, where she's gonna meet up with an old friend or two, who are going to let her know where she needs to go next...
But I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm just pumped up. It's great to be back in the saddle again. Put in 1,050 words tonight (see my new word-count feature to the left there, along with my Notify List link), and it only took an hour or so. Very cool. I may not be able to keep up the 4 a.m. writing sessions -- the lack of sleep was killing me. But if I can jam like this from 7-8:30 every night, I'll be quite happy.
Oh, and I got some birthday goodies tonight, thanks to an Amazon gift certificate from my sis Shelly and bro-in-law Jim. Two CDs (Amy Ray and Lucinda Williams, which I'm listening to now, and enjoying a lot!), and a massive book by Zelazny. A couple of folks have compared my better stories to Mr. Zelazny ("Natural Order" and "Gunning for the Buddha"), and I really liked the few stories by him I've read, so I bought his massive 10-book omnibus, The Great Book of Amber. I've heard a lot about this, and may start reading tonight! Cool, cool stuff. (And yes, Mr. van Eekhout, I do plan on reading the other 2 Zelazny books you recommended to me, Lord of Light and Isle of the Dead. This Amber stuff looks like it's right up my alley. Can't wait! And it should play nicely into my next novel, The City of All-Worlds, which seems to have similar features, without being derivative (I hope!).
I also got news today that my short-short, "Mother of the Bride," will be published at Horrorfind.com. Very cool! Talk at you later.
Today's Quote:
When she shook her head to say no, no no no, Brando the Wannoshay threw the pills in the air. Leaving the two dying aliens behind him, he sprang at Ally with a shriek that nearly turned her bladder to icy water. His clawed hands reached her before the discarded capsules of Blur landed on the ground.
June 18, 2002
Tired, cool, tired...
Now Playing:
"18," Moby
Now Reading:
"Sandman Midnight Theatre," Gaiman, Wagner, & Kristiansen; "Transmetropolitan," Ellis & Robertson (one last try)
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Another night spent in the sticky, warm confines of 9636 Waterwood Court does not make for a cheery Mike. I didn't get much sleep last night, even with the fan blowing on us, even if the temps did drop below 70. My ass was dragging again today. I'm tired of that.
But now, at 7:30 p.m., Elizabeth and I (not to mention Whit the hassling pooch, a.k.a. Whit Hasselhoff, and Pumpking the Wandering Orange Cat) are enjoying the comfort of AC. Seems that the, ah, filter needed changing. Now, I change those things about every month. I think the guy was just looking for a reason. Didn't stop him from charging us almost $300!
But enough of that mundane crap. Unfortunately, I don't really have much else to report. I slept in this morning, so no writing was done. I'm not sure if I can keep up with the 4 a.m. stuff. It's harsh. Once I'm up, I'm fine, but it's killing me by the time the afternoon comes around. The old eyelids get heavy, y'know? I'll figure something out, somehow.
Just as I was all caught up on the novel and ready to write some new wordage... Maybe it's just a procrastination thing, to avoid writing...?
Speaking of the novel, I just got done printing out the finished chapters in a different format -- double-sided, single-spaced, with both sides justified like a book. Takes up a lot less space in my folder, and it's always good to see my stuff in a different format. Keeps it fresh.
And one last thing -- I'm trying to challenge my friend Chris into finishing his urban fantasy novel in the next two and a half months. I've dared him to finish before me, and my deadline is August 30th, right before WorldCon. Loser buys beer for the next 6 months of our monthly beer-swilling/writing-shop-talk get-togethers. I think I can persuade him to join up. He's sort of stuck at the same point in his novel as me, just over the 1/3 point, closing in on the halfway mark. Maybe we can help each other get over the middle-of-the-novel hump.
And that's all the news from Lake Jasper. Later.
Today's Quote:
Ally hardly ever thought about the aliens, or the cameras and equipment she'd been forced to sell. Hardly ever thought about such things at all. And she never thought about Blur either.
Yeah right, she thought.
June 17, 2002
Hot, tired, hot...
Now Playing:
"18," Moby
Now Reading:
"Top Ten," Alan Moore and Gene Ha; various other comics(!)
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Man, we're lucky the temps haven't gone too far above 90 the last few days. Our freakin' AC went out on Saturday, and the jokers who were supposed to come fix it today called at 3:30 and then stopped answering their phone until it was too late. Argh. Don't get me started.
So we're sweating it out in the AC-less hacienda. Makes for some short tempers and grumpiness. I think I got about 4 hours' sleep last night. Woke at three, tossed and turned, then got up at four to work on some writing. I was dog-tired at work today, but what else is new???
In any case, I'm ready to get cracking on the drafting tomorrow. Don't know if I'll be up bright and early or not, but I WILL get some new writing done.
I spent this morning tweaking chapter 9, which used to be "Mud and Salt." Next is Ally's chapter, then Shontera's, then chapter 12, which used to be "Crossing the Camp." With chapter 13 it's the new stuff from there on out. Cool.
And in other cool news, I heard that my story "Natural Order" has gotten an award recommendation -- for a Stoker Award. I've never thought the story as being horror, but evidently someone liked it enough to nominate it for the top award in horror. So I'm happy. Now I'm gonna go try and cool off. Later.
Today's Quote:
"You're not supposed to be here," he whispered. Pointing the gun at the alien, Skin fumbled for the safety sensor. He tried to focus on the reward money. "Everything's wrong now, ever since you came here. This is our home." His arms shook as he aimed the gun. "You don't belong here."
June 16, 2002
Sunday busy Sunday...
Now Playing:
"Fight Club" soundtrack
Now Reading:
"Breathmoss," Ian R. MacLeod; "Top Ten," Alan Moore and Gene Ha
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All-righty then. I'm finally getting myself back on track, 2 weeks after my return from Oregon and a very busy few months, really. Finally.
For starters, I've not only revised and resent out any stories that were bounced since my stint in Oregon, where I learned how to make stories better (though I haven't written anything new since that time, something I plan on remedying starting tomorrow), but I've also completed fixed to the Wannoshay novel up to the most recent chapters.
Part one of the novel is pretty close to being locked down. I went in and tightened a lot, cutting it down to an even 40,000 words. Parts two and three should be about that long, making the book 120k total.
I feel really good about that section, and I'm looking forward to getting back to Ally's section, followed by Shontera's section. Those two chapters are sandwiched between "Mud and Salt" and "Crossing the Camp," the two stories that started the whole thing, so part 2 is gonna start out with a bang (literally, as Skin and his buddies shoot an alien). Very cool!
And then I have some reading to do for fun, as well as some stories by friends that should be fun as well. All in all, a good day, though there never seems to be enough time on the weekend to do all that I want.
Oh, and I almost forgot -- just bought my ticket to San Jose. It's official: I'm going to WorldCon! Wahoo! I found a great deal on American Airlines, and I couldn't pass it up. So if you're going to WorldCon this August, let me know. I'll se ya there. Later!
Today's Quote:
Composed of row upon row of surplus Quonset huts (for the fortunate aliens) or clots of canvas tents thrown together in a helter-skelter fashion (for the less fortunate), all bound together inside a ring of electric and barbed wire, the camps were a temporary solution that each day was looking more and more permanent.