michaeljasper.net "Another Wrecked Web Site"
Nov. 30, 2001 At month's end... Now Reading: The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien Now Playing: "18 Tracks," Bruce Springsteen	Just printed off some stories for a contest (no entry fees this time, so I entered 4 stories!!!). And now I feel sort of caught up. Got the car's oil changed and a new headlight so I'm no longer a cyclops car, cleaned the house for Lizzie as a surprise, and got the bills done. Now I'm going to spend the rest of my day reading my dee-luxe version of The Lord of the Rings Tomorrow I'm going to start work on writing projects again. I have two novels I'd like to revise in December, The Prodigal Sons and The Last of the Hand. After reading the novella version of the former, I don't think I have too much work to do on Prodigal, though I have more to do there than on Hand. Both novels, actually, could do with some more detail and bulk. We'll see -- I don't want to add stuff just for the sake of making it longer. I'm also thinking about some stories -- I have two stories I'd kinda like to finish -- "Gunning for the Buddha" and "Space Mercenaries," though I may try to do something with a mainstream story I started about Basskick, the band in Prodigal Sons. I'm taking it slow and not stressing myself out about writing. I need to learn how to enjoy it and not be so damn serious about it. At the same time, I'd love to write another 10,000 words next month... Just to tie my word count from last year... Ah well. I'm off to Middle-Earth. Later. mjj
Nov. 28, 2001 Surprising myself... Now Reading: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, JK Rowling Now Playing: "Gravedancer's Union," Soul Asylum	Just got my mainstream short story collection all pulled together and printed. 280 pages, 85,000 words. Whew. Not bad. I added my novella to the mix, which bumped it up another 120 pages. In a surprise twist, the contest that I was planning on entering, for novellas only, is biannual on even-numbered years, so I saved myself a huge hassling by emailing them last week. So much for that one. No biggie. In any case, I feel good about my stories and especially the novella, "The Un-Prodigal Son." I had some changes to make here and there, mostly stuff to sort of organize everything, but for the most part I liked what I was reading. I was pleasantly surprised. Revising the whole novel next month shouldn't be too painful. I may even mess around with my fantasy novel if I have time. Then in January it's on to something new. I'm not sure what yet, but it'll be... something. Hello to J and Kathy and Tony and Susan and everyone else checking out my website thanks to the link in the newspaper from my story! Glad to have ya here! I'll do my best not to bore you (but I'm not making any promises). Later. mjj
Nov. 27, 2001 Briefly... Now Reading: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, JK Rowling; "The Un-Prodigal Son," Michael J. Jasper Now Playing: "Midnight Radio," Big Head Todd & The Monsters	Just a quick entry here to say hello. It's been a busy few days. On Sunday I got back from Thanksgiving dinner at my family's house to find an email from the editor of NeverWorlds, telling me that my story A Feast at the Manor has been accepted there, and the check and contract are in the mail! Very cool, and a nice surprise. When it rains it pours, y'know? I've been following NeverWorlds more lately, and I like their stuff. They do nifty things to stories, offering them in a variety of formats, including mp3, so I can listen to my story. Rockin'. I got my big book of the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy in the mail yesterday, and it's a beauty! Leatherbound, with nice maps and pretty nice print, with a ton of indices and prologues and other doodads. As soon as I finish the second Harry Potter book, I'm diving back into Middle-Earth (I tore through The Hobbit in two days last week! I'm also polishing up my novella-that-became-a-novel, "The Un-Prodigal Son." I'm sending that off to a contest tomorrow, so I plan on rereading that tonight, printing it out, and mailing it off before the Dec. 1 deadline, along with my mainstream story collection, which will feature that novella as the "anchor" or final story. My current plan is to have the novel that "Un-Prodigal" became -- The Prodigal Sons -- completely revised by year's end. I've had the urge to write some more mainstream stories, and I'm reading some New Yorker stories from their summer fiction issue to get an idea of "what's happening" out there in mainstream land. The story I read yesterday was pretty good -- "Lucky Girls" by a new author about the other woman who is living in India even after the man she is having an affair with dies. Interesting cultural stuff there, with a nicely imagined ending. I think I just need to try something new. It's been fun so far. Later. mjj
Nov. 25, 2001 Where's Mike? Now Reading: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, JK Rowling	Hello there. Just a brief entry to say hello and let you know that my story, "After the Storm," can be read online at the News & Observer's website, but for only a week or so before they archive it and make it unavailable (unless you wanna pay a fee). I'm excited about this, because it's a story I've had sitting around for a while, and it's always cool to get a story in the newspaper! Even if I did had to basically chop the story in half to get it to fit under 1500 words! It was sort of fun -- I got to excise an entire character and cut the plot down to the bare minimum. Not a bad exercise, really. If you have a story you haven't had any luck with, just cut it in half. See what happens. ;) I took a break from writing until yesterday, and even then I didn't do any real writing, but mostly just reorganizing stories and updating them. Sometimes that's relaxing to do. There are a couple contests out there for mainstream story collections, and I'm tempted to send them my stories, including the novella version of my mainstream novel, entitled "The Un-Prodigal Son." If I get a chance to re-read it this week, I may send it out -- the deadline is the end of November. There's also a novella competition here in NC that I may send "Un-Prodigal" to. The only drawback is that these places charge reading fees, which I really hate. That seems really unfair. Ah well. I may have to pick and choose to conserve cash. Otherwise I've just been catching up on some reading and watching some movies, recovering from all the food for Thanksgiving, and hanging out with Elizabeth. It's been great. I just need a few more days off! Later. mjj
Nov. 20, 2001 Break it on down... Now Reading: The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien	Hello again. It's me, without anything new to report, other than a slight case of burnout. With a holiday weekend fast approaching, I'm gonna take some time off writing and try to remember what it's like to have a life again. I was getting way too frustrated trying to make my NaNo wordcounts happen, and it just wasn't enjoyable. I think I'll get back to Ghetto Dwellers in the not-so-distant future, but I want to enjoy it and not rush through it like I was doing. I'm glad I tried it, and I almost made it halfway there before I hit the wall. It wasn't writer's block -- I don't believe in writer's block: you either sit your butt down and write or you don't, and you can't use excuses like "I'm blocked." Call me harsh, but that's just the way it is. For me it was more a case of being worn out, and I was starting to get sick and run down again. Hmm -- could it have had anything to do with get 5 hours of sleep a day? Writing all the time? Not getting enough exercise? Consuming mass quantities of caffeine on a daily basis? Nah! Couldn't be! So I'm going to take this weekend off, most likely, and maybe get into the hour-a-day routine again. That seems to be the most workable answer for me, and the healthiest. I'm glad I tried the novel in a month challenge -- I like to try new adventures in writing like that. I just realized, with Lizzie's help, of couse, that I wasn't enjoying it like I should've been. I found myself rushing and not having fun with the scenes and characters and the world I'd created. Lesson learned. So what am I gonna do with my free time? For one, I plan on enjoying the time off work with Elizabeth, helping her get the house in order and cleaned, decorating for xmas, relaxing with our families, eating tons o' turkey and stuffing, and getting into the holiday spirit (spirits? did someone say spirits? why, of course I'll be sipping some of my Clan MacGregor Scotch with a splash of Sprite, my trademark drink!). Heh heh. Got to remember how to be a person again, instead of a writing machine! I've written 120,000 words so far this year, almost as much as last year (and yes, it's gonna be hard to not try and top my 130,000 words from last year...). That's a lot. And I've accomplished a lot. I believe I've set the groundwork for an incredibly successful 2002. I seem to have my best luck with even-numbered years, while odd-numbered years are more drudgery and hard work. Weird, huh? I also plan on doing some painting over the Thanksgiving break, possibly even painting our fence white, and our back doors red. If there's time. Maybe we'll try and get into a view of "Harry Potter," if the lines aren't too long. I also plan on reading all of The Lord of the Rings, provided I get my book tomorrow -- I'm halfway through The Hobbit already! What a great book. Lots of humor and fast-moving narrative. It's definitely geared more towards kids than I'd remembered. Bilbo could kick Harry Potter's ass. Gollum, gollum. So have a great turkey day, enjoy family and friends, and take a break from the hustle and bustle of the season and savor life. I think this holiday season will be extra special for all of us, as we discover all over again all that we have to be truly thankful for. Take care! mjj
Nov. 19, 2001 Some good news, at last! Now Reading: The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien	Howdy. Just a quick entry to let you know that I got another story accepted! My mainstream story, "After the Storm," one of my oldest stories dating back to '97, was accepted by the Raleigh News & Observer! Each week they print a short-short story from "Southern Writers" in their Sunday News section. My story "Wrecked" was published there in May of 2000, and lots of folks read it and commented on it to me, so I'm really looking forward to this story getting published there. It could run as soon as this Sunday. I'll keep ya posted. I'm excited for this one to see print, because it ties into two of my other stories that are all set here in North Carolina. Even though I've lived here over 7 years (can it be that long, already? Holy cow!), I haven't written a lot of fiction that takes place here. Most of my stories and novels have been set in the Midwest. So this story was a nice change of pace. Finally -- it's been a sparse year for publications, and especially for acceptances. Out of hundreds of rejections, this makes only acceptance number 3 for 2001. Oh well -- maybe I'm just saving up all the good ones for the last month and a half, right? I can only hope. In novel-writing news, I'm still breaking from the Ghetto novel for a few days. I may pick it up again later this week. Just hit a little bump or three in the road. Instead of writing, I've been reading for pleasure again! Just started The Hobbit again tonight, and Gandalf just fooled the trolls into arguing all night and turning into stone (I hope I didn't give too much away there...;)). Like I told Elizabeth, who's been asking me for updates on what's happening in the book: "Trolls are dumb. Gandalf's cool." Later. mjj
Nov. 18, 2001 30,000 words or no book for you! Now Playing: Old 97's Now Reading: Perdido Street Station, China Mieville My NaNoWriMo Word Count	From later: Okay, so I finished Perdido at last, and ordered my book, even though I didn't write much today. Sometimes you gotta take a break, y'know? I'm hoping to get some energy up for the novel again soon, but I may just let it rest for a while. I'm just glad to be done with the Mieville book, at last. Check out my brief review of the novel, if you're interested. See ya. From earlier: So here's the deal. I want to accomplish two things today: Finish the last 100 pages of Perdido Street Station and get to 30,000 words on my own $@#% novel. If I accomplish both, I'm getting a nice, leather-bound version of The Lord of the Rings, pictured below. How about that -- bribing myself to work! That's how slack I've gotten lately... But hey, I finally got paid for my story in Strange New Worlds, so I have to spend some of it right away (the rest is going to bills, unfortunately). Anytime I get paid for my fiction, I like to spend a least SOME of it on writing-related stuff. So I thought a nice leather-bound edition of one of my favorite books would be a fitting reward: I haven't written much since Thursday, so I'm woefully behind on my wordage. I just sort of hit a wall, I guess, plus I got a touch of a cold. This past week was pretty hectic, and I was worn out by the time Friday rolled around. Oh well. I'm feeling much more energized today, after getting lots of sleep this weekend, plus Elizabeth and I got up at 4 this morning to watch the Leonid meteor showers, which was a fun adventure, even if it was chilly. We had to have seen over 300 shooting stars from the comet's tail. Awesome. The best ones were green in color, and left long trails in the sky that didn't go away for almost 10 seconds. Some even flashed like lightning. We went up on the dam behind our house, at the Neuse River Tail Race, and there had be about 200 people up there with us. Nature has such great special effects, and gazing at the stars is ALWAYS a great way to put things in perspective! Now I need to get some writing done. Right now I'm describing all the different otherworlders as they trudge into the ghettos after being kicked out of the city. I'm trying to keep it interesting and not just a list of one alien species after another. And then there's the whole issue of the plot, as in, do I HAVE one? Hmm... In any case, I'm at 23,423 words right now... Later. Today's quote: The first group of exiles to meet us was a family of Kanilaro, humanoid creatures from a world similar to ours, but with less sunlight. Their swathed faces and bodies could have hidden any creature, but I knew they were the Kanilaro for their keening song and their beaklike noses that poked out of their bandages like accusing fingers. The largest of the Kanilaro carried two children on his back, his bass voice singing what sounded like a soothing melody to his whimpering young ones. Two females flanked the male, and an unswathed Kanilaro struggled behind them pulling a wheeled wagon creaking with the family's belongings. As one of the first of his kind to arrive here, his skin had been permanently burned, and as such was seen as a lesser being by his brethren. He was either in their employ as a porter or laborer, or possibly even as a slave. mjj
Nov. 15, 2001 By Jove, I've got... something... Now Playing: "Just Say Anything" and "Just Say Yo," compilations Now Reading: Perdido Street Station, China Mieville My NaNoWriMo Word Count	From later: Okay, so there's not a lot of joy in Mudville right now. It's almost 10 p.m. and I just don't feel much like sitting in front of the computer anymore. I'm up to 22,625 words, 80 pages, and 6 chapters (plus a prologue). Not bad. I'll have some time tomorrow and lots of time this weekend, so I'm not stressed. I just like the line about no joy in Mudville. Later! From earlier: This is the day I hit 25,000 words or there's no joy in Mudville. Every 3 days I'll be needin' another 5,000 words, until the end o' the month. Yep, today's the halfway point of NaNoWriMo. I'm feeling good about this, though my novel will probably be barely halfway done by the time I hit 50k. Probably closer to 1/3 of the way done. Ghetto's gonna be a FAT book. Phat too, I hope... ;) The good news is (the bad news being being that I have 3600 words to churn out today) that I finally figured out the plot problems I've been having, which has been keeping me from advancing as quickly as I did last week. The answers came at the usual time, while I was walking the dog through the neighborhood. And now it all seems so simple -- Bart is trying to find his way around his new home, meets someone new, and then bam -- the ghetto is mobbed by the folks who've been kicked out of the City. And we're talking tons of folks, mostly "off-worlders" who won't adjust well to being homeless. There's the conflict I've been looking for, in spades! Right now I just have to get Bart and his new, somewhat hairy friend Kursef, through the ghetto's food bazaar and close to the City gates. I'll let you know how it goes... Later. Today's quote: The old man's eyes widened, and I saw Kursef slip closer, her purplish face with its yellow down filling with wonder. Stories, I thought. They held power here, in the ghetto. I found myself warming to my tale, and I told them about Caution the witch, Graythorn the misled soldier, Dunimic the Wise, and Maudra the Powerful. I wondered at the story myself, as surprised at some parts as the others, as if it had all happened to someone else. Perhaps, in a way, it had. Long minutes later, I ended with my late-night mugging by the young warriors, which made the old man fume and swear in his native language. He went for his knife and began hacking at the meat on his spits in exchange for my story. mjj
Nov. 14, 2001 Just a measly 1,000 words or so (the horror, the horror!)... Now Playing: "Earth and Sun and Moon," Midnight Oil Now Reading: Perdido Street Station, China Mieville My NaNoWriMo Word Count	For some reason, I couldn't get a lot going on the novel today. Distractions, mostly, but I'm also have some troubles with the plot. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels a bit, stalling until the real plot begins... Usually I can just write my way through it, but I sort of feel like getting away from the computer and doing some reading -- Perdido Street Station is getting quite good right now, and I'm dying to see how it all resolves itself. Great book. Makes my stuff look like a children's picture book. Ah well. I'll fix it up eventually. Right? In any case, I got in a little over a thousand words written, not too shabby at all, and I think I can do some serious jamming tomorrow to hit 25k and still be on schedule. I may just jump ahead to the next chapter and figure out what to do in this chapter later -- the biggest problem is that there's a lot of description involved in Bart's first day in the ghetto, and that's hard work. I wanna get to the action! I just need to come up with some sort of conflict. Maybe he gets chased by the King's Guard? We'll see. Talk to you later. Here's a nice long quote to tide ya over! Today's quote: At nearly fifty paces from the wall, thirty paces from my cobbled-together home, I came across the food center of the ghetto. At its outskirts sat the younger and the older sellers, hawking their misshapen black potatoes and shrunken ears of wormy redcorn. They bragged about the quality of their vegetables and fruits in spite of the smell of rot hanging in the air. A muscle-bound butcher waved flies off the hanging sausages from his multi-leveled cart, and ensured me that his spiny rockular was pulled fresh from the Azure Sea that morning. How the man had brought the rank green fish the many leagues from the sea was a question I didn't stop long enough to ask him. His fish were most likely pulled from the algae-rich Zither, just as the vegetables of the other sellers had been pulled from the hard earth of pluck from wild trees and bushes. My empty stomach tightened on itself, and I shook my empty coin bag at the vendors with a look of apology.
News	mjj