michaeljasper.net
"Another Wrecked Web Site"
Sept. 7, 2001
An hour this morning was only the beginning...
Today's Quote:
The woman on the other side of the counter rattled her black fingernails on the glass countertop. “Um, are you sure everything’s okay? Because I have a tarot reading in, like, fifteen minutes, and traffic’s starting to get bad, and…”
“I am sorry,” Maria said, throwing the crystal ball and its stand into a box and taking an imprint of the woman’s American Express card.
Some soothsayer, Maria thought without a smile. Could she not look into her crystal ball and tell me John was all right? No, she is worried about traffic.
The 1/24/30 Dare Page
Okay, I'm keeping this journal short and to the point these days. It's pretty much going to be the same thing for the next 2 weeks or so -- I'm working on finishing up my urban fantasy novel. Drafting, revising, polishing, and not sleeping. Simple.
Ah, but there's so much more to it than that, of course! There's the idea that comes to me to fill out a scene while walking the dog, or there's the friendly e-mail from fellow writers cheering me on (thanks Sarah and Chris, not to mention my co-worker Rebecca!), or there's another friend offering to look over the first half of the book (thanks Cinque, Kathy, and Clarke!!), and there's always the heart-pounding thrill of trying to squeeze in a couple hundred words while I'm on my lunch break.
So, I did about 500 words this morning on a brand-new scene w/ Maria, and it's coming together nicely. She gets a mysterious phone call, then advice from a wannabe fortuneteller, has a short flashback about what happened to her 500 years ago, then she has another curious customer. And it's all wrapped up by, yes, another phone call. You could cut the tension with a knife...
So I've got about 500 words added so far, but I plan on writing a lot tonight. Elizabeth is going to study for her classes next week, and then for a reward we're going to try and see "Memento" at the local 2nd-run theater to let our brains rest (though from what I've heard of the movie, it'll probably twist us up into more knots -- now there's an image for ya, eh?).
Speaking of my lovely wife, she had some excellent advice for me yesterday and today at lunch (she and I and my buddy Cinque had some fine Chinese food as a nice surprise after she got out of her class). I, being my usual hyperactive self, wanted to whip off a bunch of proposals to agents to try and get them to represent me. I was planning on doing this month anyway, I figured, and now that I had a nibble on my novel, I'd have some weight to throw behind my argument for them to pick me up. Elizabeth countered that I needed to be focusing on my writing, not finding an agent right now.
After about a day of thinking otherwise, I have to admit she was right. She always knows what's best -- I'm glad she's so grounded. I have a tendency to get "over-stimulated" sometimes, sort of like when I pet our cat Pumpkin for too long, and he tries to bite my hand off -- too much of a good thing, you know?
Not sure if that comparison makes sense or not, but thinking about Pumpkin makes me laugh, and that's a good thing! Later.
Sept. 6, 2001
Wow, I think I got my hour in today...
Today's Quote:
Jersey ignored his instincts and gazed with longing at the sleek black computer with the flatscreen monitor. He bet it had killer graphics.
The 1/24/30 Dare Page
Yow. I've been working all day on revising the first half pages of the fantasy novel, and it's done at last. My eyes are starting to bug out of my head, and I'm nowhere near being done! Ah well. From here on out it'll be fun -- I'm doing a good bit of drafting. I think I can do it. I've got most of the weekend freed up to do it, and I'm in pretty good shape, I think.
Thanks to my mom and fellow writers Derek, Tim, and Bill for their words of support! Every compliment and congrats and wishes for good luck counts, and I'll be taking them to the bank.
Let's see, what exciting stuff did I get done today, besides editing? Well, I think I clarified a lot of stuff from the older section -- remember, I've had bits and pieces of this story for almost 10 years now! So there was a lot more work than I'd expected just pulling all these different plot strands together and making everything (hopefully) make sense.
I also really enjoyed rereading my sorta dream sequence with Archie as he flashes back to his encounter with the strange Druid. Very cool stuff. Overall, I added another 3,000 words to the draft.
I've got 3 volunteers who are going to read over what I get polished up (thanks guys!). I'm always interested in hearing more from folks, so if you wanna read a fantasy novel set in future and past Chicago, among many other setting around the world, let me know, and I'll e-mail you what's ready to be read! Now I'm ready for a break. Later!
Sept. 5, 2001
Some news, fingers crossed!
Today's Quote:
And so Chicago burned that Sunday night of October, 1871, and the last sorcerer of the Hand had been subdued. The fire filled the city with a heat that would never again be equaled, not even on the hottest summer day, for a hundred and thirty years.
What I'm Listening To:
"Reveal" REM
"SuperUnknown," Soundgarden
The 1/24/30 Dare Page
Well hello there. I'm a bit behind today, as you may have guessed if you checked my site earlier today. I did a bit of writing this morning, but nothing really to report on -- mostly moving some chapters around in the middle section of my novel, and sort of figuring out what happens next logically. So I didn't have much to report (though I did work on it for an hour, and also cut 200 words from a horror story I plan on sending out soon).
Well, as they say, that was then, this is now.
Okay, I don't want to be all melodramatic and jinx myself, so here's the deal. I got a response back from a book publisher (a relatively big one, too) who was interested in my query package for The Last of the Hand. So they sent me a letter asking to see the whole shebang! Woohoo!
But there's a small catch. Of course -- there's always a catch, right? Well, this catch is all my fault, actually. You see, I'm not exactly done with the book... I've got a good chunk of it written, and it's all entirely outlined. I spent an hour or so revamping the structure tonight, and it's pretty darn tight. It's just... missing some stuff.
Sooo... the plan is this: Write a lot, starting right now (I'm entering edits from last weekend, fixing up the first section so that part is completely done), send sections to as many people as I can to proof it for me, and get the entire manuscript back to the publisher two weeks from tomorrow. Can he do it? Keep up with my misadventures right here!
I plan on getting a ton of writing done tomorrow, probably more than an hour's worth. ;)
In related news, congrats to fellow writer (and 1/24/30 Darer) Derek for getting an agent to take a shining to his novel. Too cool! That's another friend who's been having luck with an agent (Tim P. is another). Everyone's getting in on the fun -- I'm just glad I can be a part of it. Now I gotta get back to work. Later.
Sept. 4, 2001
Throwing down words while battling a nasty cold...
Today's Quote:
He started with the tracking software. Slipping a mini CD from his shirt pocket, he began installing an anti-anti-virus program on Mexico’s computer. On York’s computer he connected to the Internet and sent a quick message out to five of his hacker friends from his grad school days and told them which ports the computer had available. Within ten seconds, two of his old buddies were wiping York’s hard drive and writing nasty lines of code in its place.
What I'm Reading:
Strange Days, Gardner Dozois; The Last of the Hand, Michael Jasper
What I'm Listening To:
"Last of the Mohicans" soundtrack
The 1/24/30 Dare Page
Good morning. I'm back at the good old day job, having run out of time this morning to update (plus good old RoadRunner has not been cooperating lately, so I would've had to dial in anyway). I'm fighting the stinking cold I picked up in Philly, probably from shaking all those unwashed hands, as Lizzie suggested (yechh) or most likely from staying up to late and drinking beer and hanging out in crowded rooms. So this may be a short little entry.
I'm getting quite pumped up about all I've done on Last of the Hand lately. I've gotten 4,000 words added in the past 4 days alone, plus I have a ton on hard-copy edits to earlier chapters (from the plane trip on Friday) that I can use later when I'm revising and ready to send this out to an agent.
The section I wrote today dealt with former operative Jersey, who's on a mission to sabotage the van of the other operatives while they're waiting in line at a Krispy Kreme (note to self: add a detail about the "Hot and Fresh" sign being lit up in red neon!). So I get to do some goofy gadget stuff, which is always fun. My only concern is that the previous chapter also ends with someone getting knocked out (Archie), and the same happens to Jersey at the end of this chapter. Hmmm... I'll worry about that later.
I hope everyone else in the Dare is enjoying it as much as I am. Later.
Sept. 3, 2001
Our hero returns on the Day of Labor... ;)
Today's Quote:
As the dragon and its rider approached where Archie/John stood paralyzed on the barren ground, the rider's flung his hood back to reveal flowing blonde locks and a wicked smile of self-confidence.
"Is this what you wish to know?" the rider screamed, and the dragon bucked at the sound of his voice. The rider pulled hard at the rope around the dragon's neck, and the dragon kicked with his back legs in anger, to no avail. Smoke spilled from two holes in the creature's face where its nose should have been. "You see now who has tamed the dragon."
What I'm Reading:
On Spec, the World Beat issue; Strange Days, by WorldCon Guest of Honor Gardner Dozois; The Last of the Hand, Michael Jasper
What I'm Listening To:
The rockin' clock radio in my hotel room...
The 1/24/30 Dare Page
It's day three of the hour-a-day Dare, and I just finished a cool hallucinatory sequence featuring Archie, a dragon, and his old friend/old enemy Michael. Very fun! Poor Archie has gotten a raw deal in this novel -- he's constantly worn out from using magic, he's gotten beaten up twice (so far), and he loses consciousness repeatedly(!). In this middle section of the book, well, things get worse for him. As if it wasn't bad enough that he was in forced hibernation for most of the 20th century... Hey, our characters suffer so that we don't have to, right?
I'm having fun with the new stuff of the novel. I'm looking forward to reading some more Tim Powers for inspiration. I read the first sections of a couple of his books, and he always pushes me to write some wild and crazy stuff. His book Last Call was really amazing, and was part of the reason my story "Natural Order" worked so well. I owe him a lot, from his writing and from his teaching. It's ironic that he never got a chance to read my story, isn't it (we ran out of copies!).
But back to the novel for second. I haven't gotten to my other main character, Kelley, for over 5 chapters, but I should be writing her chapter on Wednesday or Thursday. I hope I'm not leaving her out in the cold too long. I just have all these other characters to set up for the final section. Lots of fun things are happening now, and I really want the plotlines to be tight and logical. I'm very, very excited about this novel. If I keep up with the Dare, I should have a good chunk of this done by the end of the month. (Then revisions, after I bang out a story or two in October...)
I had a little time to surf last night, during the Hugo Awards, and I was really happy to see that a lot of the folks doing the Dare are chugging along and getting some great writing done. It warms me leetle heart! Seriously, if this helps anyone like it's helping me, that is incredible. I'm glad we got it going. All of us involved in the Dare know how important it is to be creative and we all know how much effort it takes to put everything on hold for just an hour to step into our dream world and imagine the lives of our characters. It's a powerful and exciting thing to do. It's also fun! And now that I've got my hour of writing in already, I can truly enjoy the rest of my day, knowing that I just took one step closer to realizing my dreams.
I realized hanging out with Jeff this weekend how avid a reader he is, compared to me. I have terrible concentration, and can only read non-fiction stuff like the newspaper or articles when there's something else going on, even if it's something as trivial the the radio or the TV. Reading fiction requires all my energy, while Jeff was always whipping out a book and reading.
I noticed that all over the con this weekend -- people would stop and pull out a book anywhere and start reading. Even at one of the parties, we saw a girl reading Animal Farm and another guy reading a hard SF book. That actually led to one of our refrains throughout the weekend as we jumped from party to party -- we'd ask each other "But is this party as fun as reading Animal Farm?" Yeah, sarcasm is good...
As I reported yesterday, I was relatively slack about doing con-related activities on Sunday. Today I may try to catch former Clarion teacher Greg Frost's reading at 10:30 (it's almost 10 now), then I plan on picking up Gardner's new collection of stories and getting him to autograph it so I can talk to him for a second. I kept meaning to say hi to him, but felt like a total fanboy and backed off. Plus he was too busy checking out a couple of the ladies who went to Clarion this year... ;)
Speaking of activities, I did get to meet another NAWer yesterday, Chiara Shah, who bought a copy of WotF so I could sign it for her. She was very cool, and I hope she had fun at the beach this weekend. Jeff and I were hanging out at the Bridge table from 11 to 11:30, then we escaped. Sold two whole books (both to Chiarah).
I'm looking to head out of here around noon, after I check out. Maybe I can get an earlier flight, though it's doubtful because it's Labor Day. I figure I can read at the airport for a couple hours, and I can alway whip out the old laptop and write if worse comes to worse. I think I would've enjoyed the con more if I'd left yesterday -- it's hard keeping up my energy for four days, especially since I know only a fraction of the people 'round here. I envy Jeff, who bailed out yesterday at noon. It would've been nice to have some more time with Lizzie. Oh well, live and learn, right? I had fun, for the most part.
And now I need to run take a shower and try to catch Greg's reading. Later.
From later today:
One final update -- made it home a couple hours ago, after catching an earlier flight back. Read a couple very good stories in the Dozois collection -- "Solace," "Executive Clemency," and "The Mayan Variation" (a clever baseball story) -- and chatted a bit with John Kessel, who was on the same flight as me. I enjoyed the Dozois collection even more than I would have, I think, because 1) I was going home early and getting to see Lizzie, and 2) I finally got a chance to talk to him at his signing. He remembered me and mentioned my story that he bought, which made me feel better. And he signed his book for me, in typical Dozois fashion that didn't even hit me 'til later: "For Jasper -- Hope to be signing your collection someday -- Gardner." (Why he'd be signing copies of my book, I dunno... but it made me feel good; plus I don't think that's what he meant!).
All in all, a good way to end the Con. It's very damn nice being home! See you.
Sept. 2, 2001
Con Burnout!
Today's Quote:
Red and black lines crisscrossed the Druid's face, like a fool's idea of a map without labels. The geography was broken only by the mad lakes of the big man's eyes and the hard ridge of his unsmiling mouth. The Druid had no nose.
A low mewling sound came from John's mouth, unbidden.
The Druid gave a tiny smile and blinked. Suddenly John could move again, as if he'd passed some sort of test. He cursed Michael for not warning him that the Druid was in this evening. He'd planned to simply drop the ten silver coins from the mayor of one of the villages they had protected from a raid, along with the scroll from the other teacher, Ishi, onto the Druid's desk while the man was out teaching that night. Michael had assured John that the Druid would be gone.
John's hand was on the handle of the door when he heard the Druid's voice. "Look, if you wish to know," the deep, nearly inhuman voice said, making John nearly cry out.
What I'm Listening To:
Nothing but the weird sounds of water sloshing somewhere above me in my hotel room...
The 1/24/30 Dare Page
All righty, it's 9:11 p.m., and I just got my hour of writing in! Nothing like waiting until the last minute, right? Hey, give me a break -- I got it done, didn't I? And it was rough, forcing myself to do it, but as always, I'm glad I did (I don't want to be a bad role model, y' know).
I'm forging into new territory on the novel now. I'm over 33,000 words into it, having added over a thousand in just the past hour (wow -- did I really do 1k? -- not bad!). I'm going back to the main character (one of them, that is), Archie the bum, who's having a bad dream about the mysterious Druid. The Druid is responsible for bringing magic into the world, and he's also a weird fella. Got these black and red tattoos all over his face and body (got the idea from one of the cool pieces of art yesterday in the art show), and these really bright blue eyes... heh. It's fun creating new characters like that, especially those with a really unique look to them. Archie's having a nightmare about him, and then he decides to give Maria a call on the cell phone she gave him, but he doesn't quite make the call. I'll get to the rest tomorrow. I'm quite pleased with what I got done here today.
I could have easily let it go until later. I've been suffering from too little sleep all weekend. I have no one to blame but myself, of course -- can't blame the party suites here at the hotel for having all that free beer, though I did partake of a good bit of it from both the SFWA and the Tor party suites. It was pretty fun, though crowded. Jeff and I hung out for a couple hours at various parties, along with my fellow Clarionites Rosie Smith, Harry LeBlanc, and Steve Johnson. I chatted with John Sullivan and his wife Elisa for a while at the sffnet suite, and said hey to 'Zette for a while and talked about the wilds of Nebraska, then Jeff and Rosie and I meandered down to the Tor party, hoping nobody would ID us for the wannabes we are.
We talked with Bud Sparhawk for a while, who introduced us to Artemis editor Ian Strock -- a note to all writers: Artemis does NOT take only moon-based stories! Any SF will do! Ian is fighting that misperception rabidly (I think the magazine began that way, but is no longer limiting itself, which is a wise decision). I may send him something, though when I bought a copy of the latest Artemis in it, with a story by NAW's own Ron Collins, I don't think Ian had a clue who I was... I'm seeing a lot of that 'round here, and it's a little offputting. I guess folks don't really pay attention the way I do (and I'm not saying I'm great or anything, but hell, I at least can remember your face a day after I meet you, if not your name!).
But I digress...
I met a couple more cool folks, like Gerard Hournar (I hope I got your name right!), who has at least 3 new books coming out, mostly from Leisure. He was a very nice guy, very grounded and interested in hearing what Jeff and I had to say (like me, Jeff likes to write the occasional horror story as well). Talking with Gerard made me want to check out more horror get-togethers -- I've not had any bad experiences thus far with that group of folks, and everyone's been more than friendly to me. Some of the SF folks are a bit too... intense about what they're doing, too focused, in a bad way, I think. The horror people seem more realistic. And more fun to hang out with!
So I had a bit too much too drink, and outlasted Jeff once again, and rolled back to the room around 1 or 2 a.m. I got to see lots of folks and enjoyed myself. I didn't get to see Toby much, or Tom Gerencer, but I'll see them again some other time, I'm sure.
As for today, I sort of hit the wall. I felt pretty crappy at breakfast, and perked up a tiny bit afterwards. I'm too old and out of shape for this kind of socializing. I sort of needed some time to just recuperate and hang out by myself. I was about talked out! Weird, huh? I went to a couple things today, dropped a chunk of change on some awesome books -- hardcover first editions of Tim Powers' Dinner at Deviant's Palace, The Anubis Gates, and the sequels to Last Call: Expiration Date and Earthquake Weather. I also bought (on impulse) a nice hardcover of James Blaylock's Thirteen Phantasms and two issues of On Spec (really nice digest-sized magazine) and the latest Artemis. The panels I went to today were okay, but not all that informative. I slept through the Strange Horizons Tea Party (sorry guys!), then made it to a very cool reading by Jim Morrow. I'm wishing his newest novel, The Last Witchfinder was coming out sooner, but he doesn't think it'll see print for another year. After the reading I of course had the bug to buy the first 2 books in the Godhead Trilogy, but it was probably for the best that I couldn't find them.
And now it's about 9:30 or so, and I'm going to try and find the Internet Lounge and see if I can't upload this stuff and check email. Elizabeth said that email wasn't working at home, so we'll see if that works here. Speaking of my lovely wife, you don't know how badly I want to see her and get back to some normalcy! I don't think I'm cut out for these convention things. I have a limited amount of socializing that I can do before getting tired of it. Especially this crowd... Whew. Some of these folks make me feel reaalllly normal. Later.
Sept. 1, 2001
Hard at work... with a special added World Con Report as a bonus!
Today's Quote:
A man in dark robes stood inside the alcove of the abandoned church, watching a dozen runaways and homeless children in front of the bakery. He'd been watching them all week as he recovered from his exhaustion from the previous week's activities. Thinking he would kill two birds with one stone, he thought he would look for a new recruit while he regained his strength. The Druid was always looking for new, strong members to fill their ranks.
What I'm Listening To:
Muzak (I'm in the Marriott lobby), plus some movie theme songs played by some dude at the piano ("E.T.", "Star Wars," etc. -- only at WorldCon!)
The 1/24/30 Dare Page
Okay, well I feel like this Dare is off to a great start! Here I am at WorldCon, at about 9:30 a.m., and I just got done writing for over an hour (I guess I get extra credit for going over 60 minutes, eh?). I wandered around the maze that is the Philadelphia Marriott and Convention Center for a while this morning after I woke up at about 6:30, then I found the lobby was the best place to sit and write. The place is filling up now, as the programming begins at 10. I called Lizzie (I miss her, man!) and then got to work!
I am now all caught up in my novel, having edited all the new stuff of part 2 that I wrote a few months ago. I also spent some time re-reading the first 30 pages or so on the plane -- we had a good long delay before even leaving the runway, so I had plenty o' time -- and marking it up like crazy. It worked out quite well. Traveling is exhausting, but I made it here.
Okay, it's about 4:30 in the afternoon now. I had breakfast with Jeff, then we went to some more panels -- one about literary scams (basically -- a writer should never pay to get something published, ever) and then one about finding a good literary agent. I may have a few names to send my novel, when it's finished.
I haven't done any networking with the agents, though I did have fun chatting with people I met through Clarion as well as a couple folks from Writers of the Future. Jim Kelly and I had a good chat in the SFWA suite, once it had cleared out a little; the place was totally claustrophic in there. He's doing well, though he didn't appreciate my comment about the progress of his novel (I think his exact words were "**** you very much!!!"). He was joking. I think...
I also said hi to Greg Frost, had a nice long talk with Clarion director Lister Matheson ("Tess, release the hounds!") as well as fellow Clarionite Rosie Smith, and got to meet John Sullivan, Vera Nazarian, Tom Gerencer, Lazette Gifford, and Derek Smith (sorry I missed ya for beers at 9 last night!) as well as the Strange Horizons crew -- Mary Anne, Jed, and Sunita. It was a lot of fun, though Jeff and Frank and I needed a rest so we went to the Retro-Hugos for 1950, which was pretty cool. I had a couple beers and about lost my voice from talking so loud and long in the con suite, and finally got to bed around 1 a.m.
Then I was wide awake this morning at 6:30 a.m.! Man! Those habits die hard, don't they? I was really good -- got up, snuck out of the room without waking my roommate, and found a place to set up the laptop in the lobby. After I got a hold of Lizzie and chatting with her -- man, do I miss her! -- I got down to work.
I feel good about what I did this morning, though it was all rewrites, and nothing brand-spanking new. If I had the time I would've loved to have gone through the rest of the first section, the middle 60-70 pages or so, but I can do that later. I really need to move onto the new stuff, which is what I revamped this morning: the first 4 chapters of the middle section of the book. So tomorrow morning, when I get up (fellow Darer Derek has already labelled me a geek for getting my writing out of the way already!), I plan on getting back to good old Archie, our main man. He's still a bit unbalanced by the intense action after so many decades without using any magic at all. It's the begin of his ultimate downfall, actually... But enough about that! You'll have to read the book... ;)
As for today, it's been a pretty good day. I sort of got worn out all of a sudden during the interview Ellen Datlow did with GoH Gardner Dozois. I did get the urge to write another SF story for Gardner dealing with blue-collar workers in a future somewhat similar to Gibson's or Neal Stephenson's or even Bruce Sterling's (or maybe the world envisioned in Charles Strosser's "Lobsters," which I started reading on Thursday but didn't have time to finish), but instead of focusing on the wired and connected groups with all the cool tech, I want to show what the workers of the future are doing in reaction to the tech all around them. It was a good interview, don't get me wrong. I just tend to get ideas for my own writing when I listen to other writers talk.
And speaking of listening to other writers talk, I need to decide whether I want to go sit in on Jim Kelly and John Kessel's readings, or if I want to go to a discussion about the future of SF magazines with Datlow, Van Gelder, Sheila Williams (who has my card on her desk at Asimov's!), and Warren Lapine. Hmm... Decisions, decisions. Hopefully I can catch up with the Strange Horizons crew for dinner later. I got to chat some more with Mary Anne at the last panel I went to. Lots of cool folks 'round here. Later!