Writing News, June 2001 (part 4)

michaeljasper.net

"Another Wrecked Web Site"

June 27, 2001

Sleeping in...

What I'm Reading:

American Gods - Neil Gaiman (and man it's getting good!)

What I'm Listening To:

"O Brother Where Art Thou" - Soundtrack

Just a quick follow-up from yesterday... In the mail I got both my "Strange Horizons" contract for my story to be run next week, along with my check, which came at a very good time for us, financially. That was a nice surprise.

Then we went out to see a matinee of "Shrek," which was quite funny, especially the bits that poked fun at Disney (always a good target, I feel) and the way the different fairy tale creatures popped up. And the scene when Shrek is running from the dragon, and it goes into SLOW MOTION! Hilarious. That was probably my favorite part of the movie -- the saving-the-princess part.

As for today, um, well... I slept in. I went to bed early, but then couldn't get to sleep. Too much running through my pointy little head.

Maybe I'll have something more to report from my lunch break... Later!
mjj

June 26, 2001

Home, but not alone...

Today's Quote:

They all looked like Blockbuster Video veterans, worn out from repeated viewings and then abandoned. Naked, none of videocassettes had their original cardboard covers.

What I'm Reading:

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

What I'm Listening To:

"Fight Songs" - Old 97's, "Greatest Hits" - The Police, "London Underground: LA" - John Digweed

Here I am at home, out sick with a weird stomach ailment (probably from something I ate this weekend, and there's a lot to choose from in that list!). Elizabeth is here as well, cleaning the house like a madwoman with some Bob Marley in the background. I'm trying to take it easy, but as usual, doing a million different things.

My friend Kathy from work was checking out my site and asked about the wrecked car on the top of every page, the first person to ask about that! Here's my explanation, in case ya were wondering!

It's not a photo of my first car, but it's close (my first car was, of course, a Ford Escort, but not the same one I'm driving today). Someone said that a lot of my stories had car wrecks in them. "Wrecked" also describes my usual state of mind when it comes to my writing projects -- I'm usually working on 10 things at once, like I'm doing now. Right now I'm sending off a query letter for my first novel, trying to write a horror story with a friend of mine, addressing envelopes, sending a SF story to a publisher, revising my novel's synopsis, e-mailing an agent, and surfing the net/checking my work Webmail. I'm doing all that right now. Is it any wonder I get worn out???

In other news, today's my sister Shelly's birthday -- happy birthday, girl! See ya soon -- keep the beer on ice 'til Saturday!

It's just after noon today, and I'm just finishing up with my writing stuff for the day. I did all the stuff from above that I said I was doing, and got caught up on a lot of piddly stuff I haven't had time to do. It's quite nice. I plan on taking it easy this afternoon and reading more of the Gaiman novel.

Speaking of reading, I read an awesome novella last night -- Ian McLeod's "New Light on the Drake Equation." It's long, over 25,000 words, but it paints an incredibly vivid portrait and history of one man and his obsession for both a woman and his work, and how he deal with this obsession with drink and isolation. McLeod is a brilliant writer; you should also read his story "The Chop Girl" that's set in WWII. Great stories! I also read a good story at "Strange Horizons" by James Allison called "A Private Unbinding of Time," which you should also check out. It has a great twist at the very end that made me reread the whole story in a new light. Well-done. And next week my story should be up there! Cool.

And while you're there, read my pal Tim's poem, "Masks" and see what you think of those last 2 lines... ;)

Whew. This is what I'd be doing if I were a full-time fiction writer. Lots of reading and writing, enhancing my craft and skills. I'd go for a jog and write in the morning from 5 or 6 a.m. until noon. Then I'd grab some lunch and read all afternoon, and maybe print out what I was working on that morning to edit. At night I'd hang out with Lizzie. What a great life that'd be. So I'm working hard toward that goal right now, even on my sick day! Later.
mjj

June 25, 2001

Ch-ch-changes...

Today's Quote:

Lina Seymour opened the barn door and, having skipped out on all of the twentieth century, stepped out into the twenty-first. No sparrows were in sight. Her mouth was filled with the taste of coal ashes.

What I'm Reading:

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

What I'm Listening To:

"Satellite Rides" - Old 97's

Well, I finally heard back from that anthology about my story, "Black Angels." Unfortunately, it wasn't the acceptance I was hoping for, but a very nice rejection. It still stings, but I'm mostly frustrated that they held the story for so long - over 4 months. I guess I shouldn't complain. I've just gotten used to the fast response I get at F&SF and SH. Patience is a virtue. I guess...

So instead of working on the new story, I spent the morning going over both the book story and the black angel story. I renamed the book story "Coal Ash and Sparrows," which I like much, much better than the sorta-generic "Fourth Book of Magic" title. And I made a couple minor changes to "Black Angels," and that's going out today as well. It could all work for the best -- I would only have gotten paid in royalties for my story if it would've got in there, and the place I'm sending it to pays upfront, and more than pro rates. I'm also pumped about getting the book story out there, and I think the place I'm sending it to is a good choice.

So, mostly housekeeping-style stuff today, getting stuff out in circulation. It's a good feeling having what I feel is a good group of stories out there. Now to get back on track with the story I'm working on. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some more news on the NEW story to report. 'til then, I'm off to work and then more reading of Gaiman's novel tonight -- I started it yesterday, and it rocks. Later.
mjj

June 24, 2001

Sundays are cool sometime...

Today's Quote:

They were accompanied by a flock of chittering, mud-colored sparrows.

Bonus Quote:

After popping the first one in his ancient VCR, he watched the home movies off and on as he cleaned the mess in the bathroom. The sounds of the strangers at various graduations, wedding receptions, parties, and other mundane, normal life experiences, filled his nearly-empty apartment with a life he hadn't felt since moving to the city. He felt like the people on the tapes were old friends.

What I'm Reading:

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

What I'm Listening To:

"Satellite Rides," "Fight Songs" - Old 97's

Hey there. Working on the table on the back deck once again. Nice, despite the dang flies that come 'round every now and then. Elizabeth is studying for her physiology test and whacking flies with the flyswatter every 2-3 minutes (as a kind of stress relief, y'know!). Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The weather's actually cooperating, with temps in the mid-80s and a wonderful breeze.

I feel like I'm getting back on track with my writing, at last, at last. I edited my book of magic story, then did some tweaking to the suburbs story (I still think the ending is a bit off, but I still like it). Then I started jotting down some ideas on the horror/fantasy story I'm working on with Jeff. There's a quote from both the book story and the horror story on the left. Barring any last-minute comments from the two people who are reading the story as first readers, I'm gonna go ahead and send the book story out.

A writer friend of mine also gave me a good nudge yesterday to not give up on my fantasy novel (thanks, Ilsa). She had a great point -- it's better to finish what you start, otherwise you're left with half a novel that you're not happy with and nothing to show for all your work. Also, she remembered reading somewhere that jumping from one project to another is just a fancy way of procrastination.

So I need to keep to my original schedule. Write 3 more stories -- the story with Jeff, the Buddha story, the beauty and the beast retelling, or some other combo -- and then, by August 1st at the latest, get back into the fantasy novel.

I think I'm going to write it all out as one novel, and not try breaking it up into a trilogy yet. I want to fill out my original outline, then go back and see if I need to slow the action down and distinguish each character better. I know by the end of the first section I was really rushing things, just to get done and under 25,000 words. I also need to think more about the "rules of magic" and how the "new" kind of magic can be used. I want there to be more depth than what's there right now. I think it would make a fun book (not a trilogy, at least not yet!).

Not that I'm ignoring Cinque's comments, but I need to get the first draft done before changing gears -- what Stephen King had to say about writing the first draft of a novel with the "door closed" was totally correct: don't show anyone your unfinished novel until it's all written, and you've typed "The End" at the bottom of the last page of the first draft. Then you can open the door and let anyone and everyone see it. And after you take a couple weeks off from it, you can jump into revising it.

In the meantime, I've got some great books to read, including American Gods, which I plan on reading for the rest of the afternoon, before we head over to a friend's house for dinner. I enjoyed re-reading Books of Magic yesterday, and I was pretty pumped to see the angel Saraquel in there -- the angel of spirits, according to Gaiman, which fit perfectly for my story "Black Angels." Hey -- my research was right on target!

I also have some fun research-type material for the next novel about the baseball team from the past to go over. In between reading novels, I can do research and write stories and start thinking about new novel ideas. This process can't be hurried. I just need to keep at it, enjoy what I'm doing, and persist. That's what it's all about. Everything else is just icing. Later!
mjj

June 23, 2001

Too many ideas, too little time (and energy!)...

What I'm Reading:

The Books of Magic, American Gods - Neil Gaiman

What I'm Listening To:

"One Step in Front of the Spider" - MC 900 Foot Jesus :)

Hey there. Just wanted to blather on in here for a little bit before my head explodes. I've been feeling antsy about starting something new, while at the same time dying of curiousity about the status of a couple of my stories that have been out to various publishers.

I realize that I'm just beating my head against the wall when it comes to getting my hopes up about publication -- it's best to just send stuff out, forget about them, keeping on writing, and then being pleasantly surprised if and when they get accepted for publication. But my story "Black Angels" has been out to an anthology for months now, since February 20th (!!) and I think it's a perfect fit for the antho, but I want to know NOW what its status is. According to what I read at the Horror Writers Association website, we'll know by tomorrow, Tuesday at the latest. So at least I know that much. I feel a bit better about my story maybe making it into the antho.

Sort of like in "Dumb and Dumber" when Jim Carrey asks Lauren Holly if he and she would ever get together, and she say the odds were a million to one and he says "So there's a CHANCE!"

Oh boy. I'm quoting the Farrelly brothers. Somebody sedate me.

Actually, I need a kick in the butt. I can't seem to get jump-started on some new writing. I think I'm going to take a break from the fantasy novel (actually, I've been doing that for a couple months now, but I was thinking of diving back into it in a few weeks). I looked over my comments from various folks, and I think I really need to rethink my whole "rules of magic" there. I'm not really being clear with how it all works, and as a result I'm doing lots of hand-waving and infodumps instead of good story-telling. I do think I should expand that first section into a short novel -- I see now that I was rushing things, and not getting deep into the many characters the way I should've been doing.

I wanted to do something with the story fragment I got from Jeff, but I can't seem to force myself behind the computer for very long in the morning -- I know I should be writing fiction BEFORE I write here, in this journal, but I have too many things I want to do, and can't focus on one. I think once I get all my ideas straightened out, I'll do the horror story with Jeff for fun. It's a great idea -- I'll talk more about it later, when I know more where it's going.

Then there's the other novel idea I have, about the baseball team in 1912-1918 (the '10s? the Teens?). But I know that's going to take lots of research.

Sigh. I just need to relax, I know. There's only so much time in the day. And life's too short to spend it all in front of a computer all day! Especially when the sun's out and it's a Saturday! Talk to you later.
mjj

June 22, 2001

Getting ready to write... (and that's worth something, right?)

What I'm Reading:

Stardust - Neil Gaiman (well, haven't really started it yet...)

What I'm Listening To:

"Superunknown," "Down on the Upside" - Soundgarden

Good morning. Never did have time to write an entry yesterday, sorry. Work's really picked up, but in a good way. I've been documenting some new, fairly challenging software (Siebel Tools) and it took me all day to write 6 pages. And those pages were originally written by an engineer, and all I was doing was putting them into readable English. Sheesh. But it was surprisingly fun. It's nice having a challenge at work again.

Okay, enough about the Day Job. I know it's boring stuff, but it pays the bills.

The last few days have been a sort of hodge-podge of stuff, writing-wise. I finished the short story I was working on, the one about the magic little book, and I've been trying to think about what to work on next (while realizing in the back of my mind that the book story needs some work!).

So I've been goofing off, basically. I did read some good stories at Gothic.net yesterday morning -- I recommend Mark McLaughlin's outrageous story that takes place at an "oh-so-cool" party in NYC. I also read the Weston Ochse story that's in the lead in the preliminary Stoker for next year, but wasn't really sucked into it. I prefer my buddy Tim's story about werewolves and princesses, which has some Stoker votes of its own (including mine -- I finally figured out how to vote online). I also read a fairly good story by Christopher Golden in an older Cemetery Dance, and I'm quite interested in his book, Strangewood.

Speaking of books, I got my copy of Neil Gaiman's American Gods yesterday, along with the graphic novel Books of Magic (thanks Shelly and Jim for the Amazon gift certificate!). It's going to be hard not to read the new Gaiman book. I'd wanted to read his other 2 novels first. We'll see if I can hold out. The cover is awesome, though I hate it when the author's photo is on the back cover. I always feel embarassed for them when I see that, or at least want to make fun of them (my brother-in-law Chris was here and saw it, and I immediately made a crack about how "that's how I'm gonna look when I get my novel published, as soon as I buy some black clothes!").

Even more interesting than reading Gaiman's book is the new stuff from my friend Chris, and the collaboration I plan on doing with my friend Jeff. Chris has a pretty kick-butt idea for an urban fantasy story that takes place in NYC and another world, so we've been shooting e-mails back and forth, talking about it. Fun. And Jeff sent me two stories he'd been working on (after I sent him 4 stalled stories) to see if they have the potential for a possible story written by both of us. If none of the stories grab either of us, I figure we'll just do something new.

And lastly, I finally got feedback from my bud Cinque about The Last of the Hand. His biggest recommendation? Make it a trilogy! Doh! So maybe I'll get back into that again, see if I can't expand it into three books instead of packing it all into one. Whew -- three novels? Could be cool. I just have to decide what to focus on first. And there's still that baseball/historical novel I wanna write... Decisions, decisons.

Don't get me wrong -- I enjoy this. All the possibilities are exciting, and pretty endless. Talk to you later.

News

mjj

	michaeljasper.net *"Another Wrecked Web Site"*
June 27, 2001 Sleeping in... *What I'm Reading:* American Gods - Neil Gaiman (and man it's getting good!) *What I'm Listening To:* "O Brother Where Art Thou" - Soundtrack	Just a quick follow-up from yesterday... In the mail I got both my "Strange Horizons" contract for my story to be run next week, along with my check, which came at a very good time for us, financially. That was a nice surprise. Then we went out to see a matinee of "Shrek," which was quite funny, especially the bits that poked fun at Disney (always a good target, I feel) and the way the different fairy tale creatures popped up. And the scene when Shrek is running from the dragon, and it goes into SLOW MOTION! Hilarious. That was probably my favorite part of the movie -- the saving-the-princess part. As for today, um, well... I slept in. I went to bed early, but then couldn't get to sleep. Too much running through my pointy little head. Maybe I'll have something more to report from my lunch break... Later! mjj
June 26, 2001 Home, but not alone... *Today's Quote:* They all looked like Blockbuster Video veterans, worn out from repeated viewings and then abandoned. Naked, none of videocassettes had their original cardboard covers. *What I'm Reading:* American Gods - Neil Gaiman *What I'm Listening To:* "Fight Songs" - Old 97's, "Greatest Hits" - The Police, "London Underground: LA" - John Digweed	Here I am at home, out sick with a weird stomach ailment (probably from something I ate this weekend, and there's a lot to choose from in that list!). Elizabeth is here as well, cleaning the house like a madwoman with some Bob Marley in the background. I'm trying to take it easy, but as usual, doing a million different things. My friend Kathy from work was checking out my site and asked about the wrecked car on the top of every page, the first person to ask about that! Here's my explanation, in case ya were wondering! It's not a photo of my first car, but it's close (my first car was, of course, a Ford Escort, but not the same one I'm driving today). Someone said that a lot of my stories had car wrecks in them. "Wrecked" also describes my usual state of mind when it comes to my writing projects -- I'm usually working on 10 things at once, like I'm doing now. Right now I'm sending off a query letter for my first novel, trying to write a horror story with a friend of mine, addressing envelopes, sending a SF story to a publisher, revising my novel's synopsis, e-mailing an agent, and surfing the net/checking my work Webmail. I'm doing all that right now. Is it any wonder I get worn out??? In other news, today's my sister Shelly's birthday -- happy birthday, girl! See ya soon -- keep the beer on ice 'til Saturday! It's just after noon today, and I'm just finishing up with my writing stuff for the day. I did all the stuff from above that I said I was doing, and got caught up on a lot of piddly stuff I haven't had time to do. It's quite nice. I plan on taking it easy this afternoon and reading more of the Gaiman novel. Speaking of reading, I read an awesome novella last night -- Ian McLeod's "New Light on the Drake Equation." It's long, over 25,000 words, but it paints an incredibly vivid portrait and history of one man and his obsession for both a woman and his work, and how he deal with this obsession with drink and isolation. McLeod is a brilliant writer; you should also read his story "The Chop Girl" that's set in WWII. Great stories! I also read a good story at "Strange Horizons" by James Allison called "A Private Unbinding of Time," which you should also check out. It has a great twist at the very end that made me reread the whole story in a new light. Well-done. And next week my story should be up there! Cool. And while you're there, read my pal Tim's poem, "Masks" and see what you think of those last 2 lines... ;) Whew. This is what I'd be doing if I were a full-time fiction writer. Lots of reading and writing, enhancing my craft and skills. I'd go for a jog and write in the morning from 5 or 6 a.m. until noon. Then I'd grab some lunch and read all afternoon, and maybe print out what I was working on that morning to edit. At night I'd hang out with Lizzie. What a great life that'd be. So I'm working hard toward that goal right now, even on my sick day! Later. mjj
June 25, 2001 Ch-ch-changes... *Today's Quote:* Lina Seymour opened the barn door and, having skipped out on all of the twentieth century, stepped out into the twenty-first. No sparrows were in sight. Her mouth was filled with the taste of coal ashes. *What I'm Reading:* American Gods - Neil Gaiman *What I'm Listening To:* "Satellite Rides" - Old 97's	Well, I finally heard back from that anthology about my story, "Black Angels." Unfortunately, it wasn't the acceptance I was hoping for, but a very nice rejection. It still stings, but I'm mostly frustrated that they held the story for so long - over 4 months. I guess I shouldn't complain. I've just gotten used to the fast response I get at F&SF and SH. Patience is a virtue. I guess... So instead of working on the new story, I spent the morning going over both the book story and the black angel story. I renamed the book story "Coal Ash and Sparrows," which I like much, much better than the sorta-generic "Fourth Book of Magic" title. And I made a couple minor changes to "Black Angels," and that's going out today as well. It could all work for the best -- I would only have gotten paid in royalties for my story if it would've got in there, and the place I'm sending it to pays upfront, and more than pro rates. I'm also pumped about getting the book story out there, and I think the place I'm sending it to is a good choice. So, mostly housekeeping-style stuff today, getting stuff out in circulation. It's a good feeling having what I feel is a good group of stories out there. Now to get back on track with the story I'm working on. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some more news on the NEW story to report. 'til then, I'm off to work and then more reading of Gaiman's novel tonight -- I started it yesterday, and it rocks. Later. mjj
June 24, 2001 Sundays are cool sometime... *Today's Quote:* They were accompanied by a flock of chittering, mud-colored sparrows. *Bonus Quote:* After popping the first one in his ancient VCR, he watched the home movies off and on as he cleaned the mess in the bathroom. The sounds of the strangers at various graduations, wedding receptions, parties, and other mundane, normal life experiences, filled his nearly-empty apartment with a life he hadn't felt since moving to the city. He felt like the people on the tapes were old friends. *What I'm Reading:* American Gods - Neil Gaiman *What I'm Listening To:* "Satellite Rides," "Fight Songs" - Old 97's	Hey there. Working on the table on the back deck once again. Nice, despite the dang flies that come 'round every now and then. Elizabeth is studying for her physiology test and whacking flies with the flyswatter every 2-3 minutes (as a kind of stress relief, y'know!). Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The weather's actually cooperating, with temps in the mid-80s and a wonderful breeze. I feel like I'm getting back on track with my writing, at last, at last. I edited my book of magic story, then did some tweaking to the suburbs story (I still think the ending is a bit off, but I still like it). Then I started jotting down some ideas on the horror/fantasy story I'm working on with Jeff. There's a quote from both the book story and the horror story on the left. Barring any last-minute comments from the two people who are reading the story as first readers, I'm gonna go ahead and send the book story out. A writer friend of mine also gave me a good nudge yesterday to not give up on my fantasy novel (thanks, Ilsa). She had a great point -- it's better to finish what you start, otherwise you're left with half a novel that you're not happy with and nothing to show for all your work. Also, she remembered reading somewhere that jumping from one project to another is just a fancy way of procrastination. So I need to keep to my original schedule. Write 3 more stories -- the story with Jeff, the Buddha story, the beauty and the beast retelling, or some other combo -- and then, by August 1st at the latest, get back into the fantasy novel. I think I'm going to write it all out as one novel, and not try breaking it up into a trilogy yet. I want to fill out my original outline, then go back and see if I need to slow the action down and distinguish each character better. I know by the end of the first section I was really rushing things, just to get done and under 25,000 words. I also need to think more about the "rules of magic" and how the "new" kind of magic can be used. I want there to be more depth than what's there right now. I think it would make a fun book (not a trilogy, at least not yet!). Not that I'm ignoring Cinque's comments, but I need to get the first draft done before changing gears -- what Stephen King had to say about writing the first draft of a novel with the "door closed" was totally correct: don't show anyone your unfinished novel until it's all written, and you've typed "The End" at the bottom of the last page of the first draft. Then you can open the door and let anyone and everyone see it. And after you take a couple weeks off from it, you can jump into revising it. In the meantime, I've got some great books to read, including American Gods, which I plan on reading for the rest of the afternoon, before we head over to a friend's house for dinner. I enjoyed re-reading Books of Magic yesterday, and I was pretty pumped to see the angel Saraquel in there -- the angel of spirits, according to Gaiman, which fit perfectly for my story "Black Angels." Hey -- my research was right on target! I also have some fun research-type material for the next novel about the baseball team from the past to go over. In between reading novels, I can do research and write stories and start thinking about new novel ideas. This process can't be hurried. I just need to keep at it, enjoy what I'm doing, and persist. That's what it's all about. Everything else is just icing. Later! mjj
June 23, 2001 Too many ideas, too little time (and energy!)... *What I'm Reading:* The Books of Magic, American Gods - Neil Gaiman *What I'm Listening To:* "One Step in Front of the Spider" - MC 900 Foot Jesus :)	Hey there. Just wanted to blather on in here for a little bit before my head explodes. I've been feeling antsy about starting something new, while at the same time dying of curiousity about the status of a couple of my stories that have been out to various publishers. I realize that I'm just beating my head against the wall when it comes to getting my hopes up about publication -- it's best to just send stuff out, forget about them, keeping on writing, and then being pleasantly surprised if and when they get accepted for publication. But my story "Black Angels" has been out to an anthology for months now, since February 20th (!!) and I think it's a perfect fit for the antho, but I want to know NOW what its status is. According to what I read at the Horror Writers Association website, we'll know by tomorrow, Tuesday at the latest. So at least I know that much. I feel a bit better about my story maybe making it into the antho. Sort of like in "Dumb and Dumber" when Jim Carrey asks Lauren Holly if he and she would ever get together, and she say the odds were a million to one and he says "So there's a CHANCE!" Oh boy. I'm quoting the Farrelly brothers. Somebody sedate me. Actually, I need a kick in the butt. I can't seem to get jump-started on some new writing. I think I'm going to take a break from the fantasy novel (actually, I've been doing that for a couple months now, but I was thinking of diving back into it in a few weeks). I looked over my comments from various folks, and I think I really need to rethink my whole "rules of magic" there. I'm not really being clear with how it all works, and as a result I'm doing lots of hand-waving and infodumps instead of good story-telling. I do think I should expand that first section into a short novel -- I see now that I was rushing things, and not getting deep into the many characters the way I should've been doing. I wanted to do something with the story fragment I got from Jeff, but I can't seem to force myself behind the computer for very long in the morning -- I know I should be writing fiction BEFORE I write here, in this journal, but I have too many things I want to do, and can't focus on one. I think once I get all my ideas straightened out, I'll do the horror story with Jeff for fun. It's a great idea -- I'll talk more about it later, when I know more where it's going. Then there's the other novel idea I have, about the baseball team in 1912-1918 (the '10s? the Teens?). But I know that's going to take lots of research. Sigh. I just need to relax, I know. There's only so much time in the day. And life's too short to spend it all in front of a computer all day! Especially when the sun's out and it's a Saturday! Talk to you later. mjj
June 22, 2001 Getting ready to write... (and that's worth something, right?) *What I'm Reading:* Stardust - Neil Gaiman (well, haven't really started it yet...) *What I'm Listening To:* "Superunknown," "Down on the Upside" - Soundgarden	Good morning. Never did have time to write an entry yesterday, sorry. Work's really picked up, but in a good way. I've been documenting some new, fairly challenging software (Siebel Tools) and it took me all day to write 6 pages. And those pages were originally written by an engineer, and all I was doing was putting them into readable English. Sheesh. But it was surprisingly fun. It's nice having a challenge at work again. Okay, enough about the Day Job. I know it's boring stuff, but it pays the bills. The last few days have been a sort of hodge-podge of stuff, writing-wise. I finished the short story I was working on, the one about the magic little book, and I've been trying to think about what to work on next (while realizing in the back of my mind that the book story needs some work!). So I've been goofing off, basically. I did read some good stories at Gothic.net yesterday morning -- I recommend Mark McLaughlin's outrageous story that takes place at an "oh-so-cool" party in NYC. I also read the Weston Ochse story that's in the lead in the preliminary Stoker for next year, but wasn't really sucked into it. I prefer my buddy Tim's story about werewolves and princesses, which has some Stoker votes of its own (including mine -- I finally figured out how to vote online). I also read a fairly good story by Christopher Golden in an older Cemetery Dance, and I'm quite interested in his book, Strangewood. Speaking of books, I got my copy of Neil Gaiman's American Gods yesterday, along with the graphic novel Books of Magic (thanks Shelly and Jim for the Amazon gift certificate!). It's going to be hard not to read the new Gaiman book. I'd wanted to read his other 2 novels first. We'll see if I can hold out. The cover is awesome, though I hate it when the author's photo is on the back cover. I always feel embarassed for them when I see that, or at least want to make fun of them (my brother-in-law Chris was here and saw it, and I immediately made a crack about how "that's how I'm gonna look when I get my novel published, as soon as I buy some black clothes!"). Even more interesting than reading Gaiman's book is the new stuff from my friend Chris, and the collaboration I plan on doing with my friend Jeff. Chris has a pretty kick-butt idea for an urban fantasy story that takes place in NYC and another world, so we've been shooting e-mails back and forth, talking about it. Fun. And Jeff sent me two stories he'd been working on (after I sent him 4 stalled stories) to see if they have the potential for a possible story written by both of us. If none of the stories grab either of us, I figure we'll just do something new. And lastly, I finally got feedback from my bud Cinque about The Last of the Hand. His biggest recommendation? Make it a trilogy! Doh! So maybe I'll get back into that again, see if I can't expand it into three books instead of packing it all into one. Whew -- three novels? Could be cool. I just have to decide what to focus on first. And there's still that baseball/historical novel I wanna write... Decisions, decisons. Don't get me wrong -- I enjoy this. All the possibilities are exciting, and pretty endless. Talk to you later.
News	mjj