| I'm out, I can have my life back! |
[Jun. 29th, 2009|06:43 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | home at last | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  ecstatic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | birdsong out the window! | ] |
Today was my travel day, after a week of awesome (torture) at Seton Hill.
I defended my thesis, taught writers a new way to look at Word, and PITCHED Limna's Hold TO AN *EDITOR*! She didn't ask for a proposal, but that's in part due to the fact that I don't have an agent. So I don't know what that means about my book right now. But either way, my next big project is finding an agent. :)
I'm trying to to be sad about ending my time in the WPF program by telling myself that I'll see all those wonderful people again in the future. Like when we're on the convention circuit pushing our books on everyone.
Another project I need to get underway is building a website. This get's complicated as I want to build it for both writing and for my jewelry making.
And I do have one more project to keep me in the writing mode. My goal is to get a short story published be it anthology or magazine. I have so many ideas for stories now I must write them!
I've found one anthology already so I'm off to a good start. |
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| been a while |
[Jun. 21st, 2009|02:16 pm] |
hmm, it's been a while since I've posted so heres some quick highlights of the last couple months...
My thesis passed
My Genre Essay Passed (it was excellent, and I thoroughly enjoyed writing it)
My mini-module teaching subject was passed (and arranged that I got a computer classroom for it!)
I got my plane ticket to June Res for free because US Air screwed me over so horribly at last January's Res (I've learned the power of a good complaint letter:)
We got a Bread Machine! I love it.
I'm Going to Readercon 20 two Weeks after Res!
It's rained 90% of the last month... my still newish apartment has humidity issues and dehumidifiers cost like $200 :(
3 day countdown to res:
In working on my mini-module, I've gained tons of respect (sometimes even more) for all the teachers I've ever had (Handouts are evil)and must complete them all today.
I've completed my workshop crits for res
I've decided to have them mail my thesis (so I can fix a few things more) so there is nothing available to the public for future embarrassment.
I have yet to think really hard about my Pitch to Betsy Mitchel of Del Rey Books that I will have to do at res. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 16th, 2009|03:29 am] |
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I Passed. My book passed both readers. |
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| rescued |
[Apr. 20th, 2009|07:10 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | relieved | ] |
by the cable guy!
We have the Internet again. Just in time for tomorrow night's chat too.
We were supposed to have the net a week ago, but the provider fucked that up and sent the lines to another house delaying the process another two weeks. Well, they couldn't fix their error any faster and lost our patronage. We abandoned them and went with hot heels to the cable people who got us connectivity in under a week! Go cable guy.
So much for cleaning the floors in my spare time... |
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| 2 week internet silence from me |
[Mar. 27th, 2009|11:44 pm] |
We should be mostly settled into our new place by next Monday or so. We're going to be canceling our Internet here and our Internet there won't be available until April 13th. This means no Internet for me between 5pm and 8am. I'll still be able to access the net at work though.
The plus side is that I can finish my thesis with no Internet distraction.
The downside is... no Internet at home for 2 weeks....
I suppose I'll live... |
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| Dude... Life |
[Mar. 26th, 2009|09:28 pm] |
Life is hitting me full force right now.
Final deadline for thesis novel submission is April 15th
We are moving
so I am madly packing everything up
we get the keys tomorrow (I also get paid tomorrow, YAY)
and I still have tons of editing ahead of me
(Chorus) |
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| We got it! |
[Mar. 17th, 2009|07:53 pm] |
We got the unit in the 4 plex!
the packing will commence
I don't think I've every been happier to move.
Cedar siding, birdies, grass, no traffic, insulation, oh I can't wait! |
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| wish me luck |
[Mar. 15th, 2009|10:14 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  anxious | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Angel Blake | ] |
A week ago we decided to move. Now we're in the application and approval process, and we're pretty sure we're going to get it.
It's an awesome place. Instead of an apartment building above businesses on one of the busiest streets in Portland, we hope to live in a housing unit about a mile away on the end of a street off another street off of said busy street where we hear birdsong instead of traffic and sirens, and the neighbors have kitties who stop by and visit. This place is managed by a business that operates in New England, not just owned by one guy.
It has an upstairs, a bathtub, 1/5 bathrooms, and a dishwasher... but we'll have to see how it affects the gas bill--if we get the place that is.
So next week will be interesting...
packing, working 40 hours, and well, trying to graduate in June. I guess I'll be drinking a lot of wine and chamomile tea. |
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| the most uplifting thing I've seen all day |
[Feb. 28th, 2009|10:06 pm] |
was in my critique from my mentor.
"Delete comma, give it ten strokes with the knout, crucify it upside down for two days, then draw and quarter it."
And people in college thought I was tough on grammar... |
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| my horoscope was definitly right about today! |
[Feb. 6th, 2009|07:19 pm] |
You have high hopes today and your optimism may be enough to place you in the range of accomplishing your goals. Of course, you'll need to put in the required work, but your positive attitude can make all the difference in the world. If you believe in yourself, then dealing with a few surprises along the way won't prevent you from reaching your destination.
Yup... that happened today... |
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| I got up at 2:45 am to catch a flight. |
[Jan. 15th, 2009|10:23 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | shu | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | optimistic | ] |
And I got home at 11:15am. That must mean PHL, and therefore Residency!
Yes, I spent the last week at Hogworts/Gormenghast (depending on which books you've read) honing my writing craft and networking.
As always Residency was amazing and so I am exhausted. A little post residency tradition I've developed is sleeping like the dead for hours afterward. This year I kept that going. I slept until 6pm. How am I ever going to get to work tomorrow at 8 with my system so screwed up?
Despite my odd flight times, none of mine were delayed by the existence of PHL, which, by the way, is incredibly surprising. I really had a three hour layover in PHL.
Anyway, with Res over, I look forward to revising my 400 page manuscript, writing a critical paper qualifying it in the Fantasy genre (all those High School Themes and DBQs are coming in handy now) and participating in various forms of online discussion with all the wonderful people I spent the last week getting to know. If all goes well, I'll graduate in June.
Next month I predict that I won't be enjoying the revision part all that much. We'll see how it goes. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 9th, 2009|02:09 pm] |
So this morning I had to wake up at 5am to catch a flight. That went surprisingly well. However, when I'd rushed through Philadelphia airport to catch my next flight, I only found that it was delayed an hour. Grr for waiting, but I'd have had to have waited at PITT for my roomate/ridemate anyway. So no glitches and we made it to Greensburg safe and sound.
On with Res! |
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| Motivation |
[Jan. 2nd, 2009|09:44 pm] |
People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.
- Frederick Douglass
Time to get to work! |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 2nd, 2008|09:34 pm] |
Ahh! Revision, nothing like it. :)
Before I can go through and just make it pretty, I need to create a few tools first. I'll need to lay out a map of the educational steps my characters take to approach the end, and then I need to reoutline it to include all the changes I need to make. It's going to take a couple weeks. Then I'll need to ameliorate my grammar weaknesses before I will let myself rewrite. I'm sure this plan is going to change before end of April.
I wanted to get through the MS in one day, scanning for sections where my POV characters learn important things. It's taking me a lot longer than I'd hoped as I started on Sunday and am about halfway done. I think that it will go faster when I get to the parts that I wrote more recently and not over a year ago.
Interestingly enough, I've noticed some interesting things about the way I've used structure. My characters don't "learn" things during action scenes. They learn the most things during dialog. On occasion they learn things on reflection. While revising, I'd like my characters to figure more things out in sequels than conversation. |
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| my horoscope for today... |
[Nov. 26th, 2008|08:45 pm] |
"It's crucial to process your fear of the unknown because your attitude now can set the stage for Pluto's journey through your 3rd House of Communication. While the realization that things are really different may dawn on you slowly, you should be able to get a glimpse of the future right away. Your immediate environment will likely change more than you can imagine over the next few years and the more you cling to the past, the more difficult the shift."
The funny thing is, yesterday I was whining about hating unfamiliar things, and change... |
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| Relief! |
[Nov. 14th, 2008|11:29 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | ecstatic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Kamelot, Eden Echo | ] |
I am 26 today and it's been about the best birthday all around that I've ever had. I finished writing my first novel, it's untitled and about 118,000 words. I was a giggling fool all day at work...
I'll be taking the weekend off from writing :) But I'll return to the keyboard to produce 5-10 pages of new material to submit for SHU residency workshop by Friday! I know exactly what I want to write already so no worries here, no spoilers either.
After another little break (filled with baking, beading and sewing THANK GOD) I'll begin to revise. One little thing has been bugging me about that. How does one revise a 400 page rough draft that is filled with terrible abuses to the English language as well as plot holes and backwards developed characters? Do I start by going in and correcting all my commas and usage errors? Or do I get right to adding in the missing scenes and plot elements? Should I try to tackle it all at once?
What is more, there are elements of my story I must research in depth to "do it right." It's just one more thing to do now. However, having written the end, I know what I need to know about now.
Now I'm going to go find my glasses and perhaps read some Last Unicorn or watch a ridiculous movie with my friends. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 9th, 2008|08:38 pm] |
I passed term 3! W00t!
Now, onto term 4... |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 20th, 2008|09:15 pm] |
With this little time left before deadline (ten days), it really hurts me to be a compulsive e-mail checker.
I'm on the verge of the end and I'm like "has anyone sent me e-mail?" and i go check, completely ruining my train of thought. Sigh.
back to work... |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 19th, 2008|12:53 am] |
I know it's been a long time since my last post. I've been busy.
Both my siblings got married so I had to go and take part in all the magnificent festivities, which was fun.
All my other free time has been taken up with work on my Thesis, my fantasy novel. As of right now, the thing is 92% done and 371 pages long. I have about two weeks to finish it. I can only hope it won't go over 400 pages and that I finish ahead of time so I can proof it and not completely embarrass myself because it is very, very ugly right now. |
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| Blah |
[Sep. 10th, 2008|10:04 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | that little voice in the back of my head that says I'm not good enough | ] |
I feel like cardboard. I'm writing cardboard. This month sucks. 100,000 tonight or bust! |
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