Let me think about it

If you follow me on Facebook, you probably saw a post a few weeks ago about how I was doing a lot of thinking and being all existentially contemplative.  I was thinking about a lot of different things, but among those things was this: I may not be a traditional plotter, but I do plan out a lot in my head.

I've realized over the past few months that I can't just sit down and write.  Well, I can't sit down and write a whole story.  I have to let the first part of the story spill out of me in one big blast, but then I have to wait.  I wrote the first chapter of "Frenchie" (my current WIP) about three months ago.  Maybe more.  And since then, I built my plot wall to keep track of where I'm going, but I haven't done much more with it.  Except think.

Here's the thing - the thinking is a big part of it for me.  I had this Big Important Letter to write, and I kept putting it off and putting it off.  I drafted it in my head several dozen times, but I didn't put it down on paper.  Finally, at the last possible minute, I sat down at the computer, and it just poured out of me.  One draft, a few brief tweaks, and I was really happy with the result, as were the others who had to approve the Big Important Letter before it could be sent.

As much as I would like to be writing "Frenchie" right now, I've realized that I'm still in my equivalent of a plotting phase.  I've wondered a few times if I should write down any of my plotting, but it doesn't feel like it will help.  I'm pretty sure I just need to let it happen.

But it's almost ready... I can feel the story bubbling inside me.  Is that weird?  Maybe.  But that's just the way I work.

Look! A plot wall!

Early stages, but still! This is more plotting than I've ever attempted before! (and apparently, I'm excited - Check out all my exclamation points!)

First Kisses

I've been watching Bones lately - just got Netflix, and I'm totally catching up on a pile of shows that I didn't manage to catch the first time around.

Anyways, I just saw the episode where Angela and Hodgins had their first kiss, and as I was watching it, I suddenly remembered just how a first kiss feels...

There's the tingle all the way to your fingertips, the anticipation.  Your heart speeds up, fluttering instead of beating in that moment where everything stops - the moment when you look at him, and he looks at you, and you just know that it's about to happen.

You can smell him in that moment.  His shampoo, his cologne, the gum he's been chewing in the hopes that this moment would arise.  He smells good, because if he didn't, the moment would pass and you would politely say goodnight and walk away.

You move closer together, slowly, and you can feel his breath on your face, and you're thankful that you had those two sticks of gum in your purse after dinner. There's a brief pause, and you can tell that he's watching for your reaction, needing to be certain that you want this as much as he does.  And then you're moving again, and you're looking at him, until he's too close for you to focus, so your eyes close, trusting your instincts to bring you together.

And finally!  His lips touch yours, just a soft brush at first, testing the waters.  And then, with both of you abandoning your doubts and insecurities, your lips touch again, more firmly, drawing on each other...  And your heart is still fluttering.

I like it.

I've been slowly unpacking all of my things into the new house (despite having lived here for almost two months!), and I'm taking my time because I want to actually put things away, not just get them out of boxes.  Of course, I've also occasionally been distracted by things that I unpack.  One of the things I unpacked this weekend was my NaNoWriMo story from 2007.

It was actually... good.    It was, well, weird.  It didn't feel like I wrote it.  That is, I don't really remember writing it.  I can actually pick out a voice, and, well, wow.

I'm not saying it's perfect, not by a long shot.  There were errors that I picked up right away, like the MC being allergic to nuts, then getting an almond mocha coffee.  Oh, and it's not finished.

But I actually like something that I wrote.  And that's promising.

SNI

Ah, the sexy new idea.

It gets in the way of the BOI (boring old idea), which was actually an SNI not that long ago.  I'm still writing the story in my green notebook, but I have a sexy new idea that is taunting and teasing me!  It's not a novel idea. It's not a play.  It's not a short story.  It's a web video story.  Yes, in my head, it's a mini-series that will go up on my YouTube channel.  I want to start writing it so badly...

But I'm going to force myself to wait.  I will finish the green notebook story (henceforth called Green).  I will finish it, and then, while it is marinating and getting ready for a second, computerized draft, I will let myself write the web series.  And then I will find actors.  And then I will film it.  And then I will show it to you.

Be excited.

Mixed emotions

I almost cried at work today, and it only took a few seconds for me to figure out why.  Here's the deal: back in March or April, I applied to instruct a workshop.  In May, I got an email telling me that I was accepted not only to co-instruct one session, but that I would be able to co-instruct all five workshop sessions at this conference.  Hooray, right?  I was pretty psyched.

Yesterday, the boss-lady gave me the program for the conference so I could decide if there were any sessions I wanted to attend.  I got crazy busy and didn't get a chance to look at it yesterday, but today I started flipping through it just before lunch.  I found a bunch of cool sessions, and then decided to check out the other workshop sessions.  I flipped through to the workshops, and there was my name.  Right there, in the program, I'm listed as one of the instructors.

Of course, it made me giggle with glee!  And then I had to show a couple of my work-friends, most of whom were not quite so excited as I was.  Then I went back to my desk and felt like crying.  Why?  Why would something that I want to do make me want to cry?

Because I realized that it's still what I want to do.  I want to be teaching again.  I have never been so happy or satisfied in a job as when I was teaching.  And I can't do that now.  If I wanted to get back into it, I'd have to go back to school and get at least a Master's, if not a PhD.

Don't get me wrong, I love writing.  (And for anyone interested, I'm past the 4k mark on my latest WIP.)  But I'm not going to fool myself into thinking I can make a living off of writing.  I don't think my novel-length works are quite ready for publication, and even if they were, I don't think I can write fast enough to make a living at it.

I'm feeling a weird mix of emotions right now, but I'm working with it, and trying to figure out what else I can do to keep myself happy.  I know that I should put all of my happy-eggs in one basket - I'm going to make sure that I'm doing lots of stuff with the theatre, and doing lots of knitting and crochet and cross-stitch, and cuddling my puppy, and spending time watching bad movies with friends.  All of these things make me happy.

And I'm not saying that I'm miserable in my job now, because I'm not.  I just don't love it the way I loved teaching.

Hrm.  This post was a bit of a downer.  But it don't let that fool you!  I'm not down, I'm just trying to figure myself out.

First Draft Ick

I'm just over 1100 words into my new WIP, and already I'm looking at it and thinking, "I can't use this!"

But then I started thinking about it, and I realized that's the way I work.  I write a first draft to get to know my characters.  The story isn't going to actually start until probably about 10k, but that's okay.  That first 10k gives me backstory.  It lets me meet my characters.  It lets me figure out their quirks.  It lets me realize which adjectives I'm using way too often for each of them. ;)

And when I'm done this first draft?  I won't just edit what I've got.  I'll do a full re-write.

I can hear the screeches from the plotters out there.

That's just how I work.  My first draft is the equivalent of an outline.  There may be a few scenes here and there that I'll keep, a few phrases that just stick, but the second draft is, for me, where the story becomes a real story and not just back story.  The next edit will look more like what most people probably think an edit should look like.

The important thing, though? Once I sit down and do tonight's session, I'll be around 1500 words, and I'll be on a three-day writing streak.  It feels so good to be writing again!

I have an idea!

After several weeks of utter despair that I might never write again, I have an idea!

I don't know if you can grasp just how happy this makes me!

It's a love story, which strikes me as a bit odd, because I've written off the idea of romance in real life.  Of course, I still adore reading romance novels, and stories with romantic elements, so maybe it's not as surprising as I first expected.  I may not believe that everyone will find their 'true love' or get a happily-ever-after ending, but hey, it's still fun to read about, right?

I'm really excited about this.  I've started writing tonight, and I'm feeling good about it.  Even if this story goes nowhere, I'm writing, and that's a very good thing.

Maybe the rest of my life will start to come back together again...

*twitch* *twitch*

Those of you who know me in real life know that I often joke about having OCD.  At one point, in a previous office, my co-workers labeled me with chart stickers because I organized the sheets of stickers.  Why am I telling you this?

Because it's an issue.

I find that it doesn't take much disorder for me to become, well, agitated.  I can usually talk myself down, or distract myself, but the point is, I need structure.  It's funny, because you'd think that a writer or other sort of creative person would not want structure or limits or boundaries, but I can't work without them.  I need a deadline (and preferably a close one) to get things done.  That's part of why I work so well with NaNoWriMo.  There are definite goals and deadlines, so I get my wordcount and get the story done.

When I'm crafting, I often gravitate towards knitting, crochet, cross-stitch, and sewing as 'relaxing' crafts - because they have patterns that I have to follow to make things turn out right.  I like scrapbooking and card-making, but I find that I enjoy both of those more when I have a plan, whether it's a challenge template that I've found online, or a design that I come up with before I start working.

Today, I've been dealing with OTHER PEOPLE.  OTHER PEOPLE don't necessarily get it.  They don't always understand that I need to know what's going on.  They don't understand that, when I don't have any idea when a project will end, I get upset.  When this goes on for a month or two, I can't sleep properly.  I start living on caffeine and sugar, which makes me somewhat less than fun to be around.  Overall, it sucks.

So what is the point of this long, rambling post?  If you know someone like me, please, please, please take pity on them.  Give us deadlines.  Give us endpoints.  Give us updates!  Just don't leave us in limbo.  It's bad for everyone involved.

Beta and Critique Readers

Over the years, I've been part of several writing groups, ranging from informal gatherings where the topic of writing just happened to come up, to NaNoWriMo groups, to critique groups.  I've shared my work, and read others' work and given feedback.  If there's one thing I've learned, all beta readers/crit partners are NOT created equal.  Here are some of the characters I've run into:*

- The Published Writer.  You've probably run into him at some point.  He's had a short story published in an ezine.  Or he wrote a novel that was published by a small press.  Whatever it is, he has decided that he is talented.  Very talented.  So talented, in fact, that you, an unpublished writer, could never measure up to him.  Your writing will never be as good as his, because your work is not published.  Like his.  Did I mention that he takes every chance he gets to remind you that he is published.

- The Emphatic Realist.  This fellow writer doesn't quite grasp the concept of the suspension of disbelief.  At all.  He can't figure out why you've insisted on ignoring a particular historical figure in your historical romance, even though it would not do anything to further the plot.  He demands historical accuracy!  And that plane you have in chapter three - that style of plane has two rows of seats, not three.  Obviously, you haven't done enough research.

- The Genre Snob.  He doesn't read anything but one genre.  The romantic drivel you've written is completely mindless, as far as he is concerned.  And the YA project?  Why you're wasting your time on such a pathetic genre is beyond him.  Sure, it's okay for what it is, but it's not much.  Trying to get this guy to like anything that isn't in his genre is like trying to make my dog eat... umm... okay, that metaphor doesn't work.  It's like trying to get a shark to swim backwards.

- The Insecure Crank.  He doesn't think that his writing is any good.  To see your writing, which is (theoretically) good, just irritates him.  He doesn't like the thought of someone being better than him, and he will find every little error possible in your work.  He will find errors that don't exist.  He will find flaws in every character and setting.  He will find tiny plotholes and blow them into gaping chasms.  Because he thinks his work is no good, he will not let yours be good either.

Of course, not all critique partners or beta readers are one of these folks!  I have met amazing readers, people I trust to read anything I write, and to give me honest feedback.

- The Read-Everything Partner.  He will read absolutely everything that is written.  Genre, length, style - it doesn't matter.  He has a preferred genre, of course, but he won't ignore a story just because it's not his favorite style.  His best line? "It's not something I'd pick out on my own, but I liked it."

- The Grammar Snob.  He knows the English language inside and out.  He knows where each and every punctuation mark belongs.  He may not be able to correct flaws in your character arc, but he will make sure that your final draft is polished to a high sheen.

- The Gentle Let-Down.  Your story sucks.  The characters are one-dimensional.  You have no arc.  Your plot has holes that a Mack truck can drive through.  But he can still point out the good things, like your ability to place a semi-colon in just the right place, and make you feel better about having churned out a big ol' pile of crap.

*All genders have been made male for the purposes of masking identities.  If you happen to recognize yourself in one of these readers, chances are good that I'm not actually talking about you personally.  But hopefully, you recognize yourself as one of the awesome ones!

Sara

Sara stared down at her hands.  The sticky, red trails almost seemed to move as she watched them.

"So much blood," she murmured.  Shouldn't it be hot?  Or at least warm?  But her hands were cold, even with the blood on them.  Sara turned her hands over.  The blood was everywhere.  It had left her hands and moved towards her elbows.  It had dripped onto the floor.

No, dripped was the wrong word.  Dripping was slow, gentle, painless.  The blood had poured from Andy's body, even as she had tried to stop it.

The blood had been warm then, she thought.  It had been hot, and pulsing, and alive under her hands.  It had a mind of its own, ready to escape the confines of a body, ready to see the world.

She had tried.  She did everything she knew how to do.  Except gloves, came the thought from the back of her mind.  She should have put on gloves before touching blood.  That's what they had taught in her first aid class, so many years ago.

There was no time to find gloves, though.  Sara didn't know if she even owned any.  The only thing she could do was try to cover the gaping wound as Andy grew pale.  And scream.  She vaguely remembered screaming.

"Miss?"  The deep voice made Sara jump.  She looked up from her hands into a the eyes of someone who had seen this before.  "Please, come with me.  We need to get you cleaned up."

"It's Andy's blood," she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.  "I should keep it for him."

"Andy doesn't need that blood, sweetheart," the man said, sympathy written across his face.  "Come on.  We'll get you taken care of."

"It's Andy's blood," Sara repeated, looking back down at her hands as the man helped her up, wrapping the blanket more securely around her.  "I should keep Andy's blood."  It was easier to look at the blood than to remember how the light had faded from his eyes.

She could swear she still saw the blood moving.

I'm ba-a-a-a-ck!

Yes, that's right, after almost two weeks away, I have returned!

So what was I doing to keep myself so busy I couldn't blog?  Well, I'll tell you!  I was at the theatre.  A lot.  Like, every night.  I just finished stage managing a show, and it kept me out until after 11 every night.  Back in the day, when I was all young and stuff, that wouldn't have been a problem.  Now, though... my usual bedtime is 10, so being out till after 11 is problematic, to say the least.  By the time I'd get home, take care of Mia, get my stuff together for the next day, and do my night-time tooth-cleaning-face-washing-wind-down routine, I was hitting the hay after midnight.

But the show is now finished, and it was a fabulous success!

Today, being Memorial Day, was a day off from work, so not only did I not have to go back to the theatre, I didn't have to go to work, either!  It was glorious!  Of course, I woke up at my usual time.  The light in the summer makes Mia wake up much earlier than I'd like, and she won't let me sleep.  Since I was up, I decided to have a productive day.  I did 7 loads of laundry, knit 14 rows of Baby Bear's blanket, packed two more boxes, watched Julie & Julia, The Pursuit of Happyness, Mona Lisa Smile, and Fame, and the first four episodes of Season 1 of Dexter.  Wow.  I also made lunch and dinner, walked the dog several times, and vacuumed my living room.

Oh, and I've been working on a new story.  It's not on paper (or screen) yet, but I'm ironing out some details in my mind, and I should have something tangible very soon.  It's nice, doing some more writing.  I've been on a reading kick lately, and it was a nice break from writing, but I'm ready to dive back in.

What about you, blogglings?  What have you been up to for the last few weeks?

Just a few notes

Dear Target,

You know who has size 5 feet?  Short people.  You know who can't see the top shelf?  Short people.  Please make sure that the dude who sets up your shoe area is aware of this fact.  If I have to jump up to see what's in the box of shoes, chances are, I'm not going to bother.  You're pretty much guaranteeing business for Payless.

Vertically challengedly yours,
Danielle

*****

Dear Sunbeam,

While I appreciate that you manufacture one of the only hot-air poppers I've been able to find, if my options are a) eat no popcorn or b) pick up burning hot kernels from all around my kitchen before my dog can find them, I'm going to just go without popcorn.  More kernels ended up randomly flying around the room than ended up popping and landing in the bowl.  Please talk to your design team and suggest that they fix this issue.

With flying popcorn,
Danielle

*****

Dear subconscious,

Please please please please stop playing the same scene in my mind every time I close my eyes.  I didn't like seeing it the first time, and I don't like replaying it.  It's not pretty.  And it makes me a little bit nauseated.

Sickeningly yours,
Danielle

*****

Dear HEA,

I swear, I haven't forgotten you!  I promise!  I've got a brand new notebook all ready for my next draft, and I promise that I've been thinking of you.  It's just, with this new house, and a show, and work, and a very loving puppy, and a baby blanket to finish, and about a million other little things, well, I've been busy.  But I will make time for you soon.  I promise.

With love and procrastination,
Danielle

*****

Dear Lindt,

You make the best chocolate ever.  I love you.

Melting for you,
Danielle

Some things should not be explained.

Warning: this post contains spoilers about the movie "One Hour Photo."  If you're thinking of watching it, and you don't want to know about the ending, come back and visit on Friday.

I've had "One Hour Photo" in my DVD collection since 2003.  I've started to watch it several times, but it has always bored me, and I've turned it off before the halfway point.  Yesterday, though, I managed to sit through the whole thing, if only because I've decided that I have to finally watch every DVD in my collection.  (There are about six more I need to watch to reach that goal.)

I didn't enjoy it.  Robin Williams was good at playing a creepy guy, but there just wasn't enough going on for me.  What really drove me nuts, though, was the ending.  At the end, Sy (Robin Williams) has been arrested and is sitting in the interrogation room with the detective.  He asks about the detective's family, then goes off on this insane little spin about how good fathers don't make their children do dirty things and take photos of it.  Basically, it felt like the writers were justifying Sy's sociopathic behaviour by saying he had a bad father.

Seriously?  Was his father sitting there, telling him to go and terrorize the couple?  No.  Did his father mess him up? Sure, but he's still an adult and he's made his own choices.  I really felt like this was a cop-out.  Lots of people have shitty childhoods, but they don't all turn into crazy people.  I don't want to essentially be told that it's okay that he did this, because his daddy was a bad man.  It's not okay!  Don't feel sorry for the sociopath!  Don't tell me that it's not his fault.

I've seen similar endings in a few books that I've read (although I can't think of their names off hand - I'll add something in the comments if I remember later).  It's similar to the whole deus ex machina concept, although almost in reverse, if that makes sense.  I will accept when a writer tries to make me feel sorry for a victim.  However, once that victim turns around and uses his problems to become the one who is doing wrong, don't expect me to have the same reaction.

It also feels a bit, well, lazy.  "I can't think of a good reason for him to be all crazy-like.  Let's just make him an abused child."  Um, yeah.  Because nothing else makes people crazy.  Believe me, I know a sociopath or two, and they didn't have horribly abusive parents.  They're just that messed up on their own.  I think they get off on the chaos they can cause.

Anyway.

The point is, I didn't like the way the writers chose to end the movie.  I think it would have been better to just end it when the cheating husband came home and his wife stared at him from across the room as the police protection packed up and left.  The explanation of the crazy seemed unnecessary.

Finally! Finished a few!

This week has been, well, crazy.  I'm feeling pulled in a dozen different directions, and I've been multitasking beyond my standard capacity at work, but that's okay.  I went out shopping last night, and in addition to buying the pillowform I needed for one of my projects (see below!), I bought a new notebook.  There's just something that feels good about a new notebook.  I used to be a Moleskin gal, but lately, I've been using the Ecosystem notebooks and loving them.  I'm feeling the need to write by hand, and I'm about to start the re-write on HEA, and it just felt right.  So the new version will start out hand-written in a pink notebook.  Very princess.

I've put the blanket for Otter/Baby Bear on hold, mostly because I tried doing the color-blocked section, hated the way it was turning out, and ended up frogging ten rows of blanket.  Otter, you'll appreciate this - I'm using Grandma's needles for the blanket!  Our grandma was notorious for getting almost all the way done with a project, realizing she had made a mistake somewhere earlier, then ripping out the whole thing and starting again.  I didn't rip out the whole thing - I kept the first 100 rows, so it's not too bad.  But I'm waiting until I have time to go to the yarn store and ask for advice on how to proceed.

In the meantime, I've actually finished two other projects.  The first was a birthday present for a friend - Matt bought a sock monkey for Brie, and wanted her name embroidered into a tattoo on its arm (like those commercials where the toys went crazy - do you remember them?).  I've been putting it off for months, but tonight, I finished it!  It wasn't hard at all, and it didn't take long to do, but I just didn't get around to it.  Now, though, it's off the list!

The other project I finished (at 10:30, which is after I wanted to be in bed, and has delayed this post) is a sweater-turned-pillow.  I started this one YEARS ago after finding this awesome yarn.  Unfortunately, I didn't get enough to actually finish the sweater I started, but I really liked the pattern. So I modified it, and voila! Years later, a knit/crochet pillow cover.  I'm pretty happy with it.  And there's just enough of the yarn left to make a simple scarf or something small.  Maybe.

So that's what I've done while waiting impatiently for the weekend.

Booooo! And also, first-person POV

I was on a streak!  I read two awesome books in a row, polishing each of them off in a single day.  I was on a roll!  I was ready to keep on going!

I picked up book number three, and just before the halfway point, the MC did something so stupid and out-of-character that I had to put the book down and walk away.  Argh!  I'm actually pissed off at the book right now, and it's been kicked under the bed.  The stupid thing wasn't the only bit that irritated me, though it was what made me stop reading.  I noticed that this book was really dated.  The references, which would have been pretty current when it was published in 2007, just seem, well, dumb.  And in ten more years, they just won't make any sense at all.  Note to self: don't reference too much pop culture, or your book will get really old, really fast.

All three of the latest books (the two awesome and the one under the bed) had one thing in common - they were all written from the first person POV.  Up until I read The Duff by Kody Keplinger, I had not read much that was written in first, and what I had read was chick-lit style (which I really enjoy, but it's not serious stuff (usually)).  These days, there's more and more popping up, and I'm starting to find myself more open to reading it.  I'm still not sure about things written in first-person present tense, but I'm working on it.

After reading these books, I started thinking about HEA, and the full re-write I'm going to start very soon, and I think that a first-person POV might actually be just what the book needs to feel right.  It focuses entirely on Princess Jane (formerly Princess Martha Louise), and I really didn't get into much of anyone else's head in the first draft.  I think I'll try the first couple of chapters and see how it's feeling.  This might be what I need to feel better about the story.  Wish me luck!

National Crafting Month

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard by now about the earthquake in Japan.  I hate how useless disasters like that make me feel.  Maureen Johnson, though, isn't being useless.  Check out her blog, and think about donating. ShelterBox seems, to me, to be a brilliant idea!  If you're like me, trying to figure out some way to help from halfway across the globe, this could be your answer.

Now, on to my own stuff...

Did you know that this month is National Craft Month?  That's what the big sign at JoAnn's told me yesterday, and I'm pretty psyched about it.  If you haven't gathered from my other posts, I'm a big crafter.  BIG.  So it stands to reason that I should have BIG plans for this month.

So far, I've finished Otter's sweater, made her a card to go with it, a birthday card for Tanya, two back-up birthday cards, SIX bridal shower cards, three general cards, worked on Mum's cross-stitched Christmas stocking (for next year!), finished a dishcloth, and finished three more squares for my picnic blanket.  And we're not even halfway through the month.

My goal in this National Craft Month is to finish up at least one of my other outstanding projects.  I'm thinking the picnic blanket will get targeted, if only because I want to go on a picnic before it gets too hot out.  Of course, the Hufflepuff scarf is another good candidate.  Once one of those is finished, I'll move on to the next round of baby gifts (do people ever stop breeding??).

And, of course, I'll still be reading and writing.

Speaking of reading, I'm still working my way through Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire.  Today, when I sat down to open the book at lunch (because that's still when I do most of my reading), I realized that I'm almost done.  It still doesn't feel like I've actually made any progress, if that makes sense.  There was a lot of the story that was presented as dreams/memories, and I think that's why I feel like I'm still waiting for the story to get going.  It's not dragging - I just feel like I'm waiting to get to the conflict, but the number of pages left makes me feel like I should expect the resolution soon.  Once I'm finished, I'll be able to give you a better impression.  I hope.

And speaking of writing, I sat down to continue editing "Happily Ever After" and realized that I need to just start over.  But that's not a bad thing!  The first draft let me get everything out.  Now, I can start working on the story using the characters as I knew them by the end.  Wish me luck!

A Bit About Writing/Reading

I still like Meliora!  I re-read my short story, and I still like it.  However.  It needs more.  I totally get the comments that I got on it, and I'm really starting to think that Meliora needs a whole novel, not just a short story. Know what that means?  Plotting time!

In the meantime, I've been listening to audiobooks lately, rather than reading.  Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE reading.  Unfortunately, with the other stuff I've got going on, I haven't had a lot of time to read lately.  Instead of abandoning books altogether, though, I've been listening to audiobooks.  I can listen while I drive, while I work, while I shop (yes, I listen to books while shopping), while I knit... Audiobooks make it nice and easy to multitask.

The thing is, I'm cheap.  Or broke, depending on how you look at it.  Anyways.  I don't want to spend $20 on an audiobook, especially if I can just buy the paperback for $7.99 or so.  I've been using the iTunes store and stocking up on classic books via Librivox.  I started off with Jane Eyre last year, and while I don't think I would have had the patience to read it, I got through the audiobook in just a couple of weeks.  I've also listened to most of the Anne of Green Gables series - I had read them as a child, and I was surprised to find myself enjoying them the second time around.

Right now, I'm working my way through Victor Hugo's Les Miserables.  I've finished volume one, and I started on volume two this morning.  As I was listening to it, I remembered why I had such a hard time getting through it when I first read it.  I was in junior high, and I was so proud of my three-inch-thick book.  I felt all smart and cultured as I carried it around.  It took me several months to get through the book.  It wasn't above my reading level, and the language wasn't anything complicated for me.  It was just, well, boring.  Hugo takes nineteen (19!) chapters to set up Thenardier as a thief.  Nineteen chapters of inane details about the battle of Waterloo.  NINETEEN!

Ahem.

By going back and listening to these classics, though, I'm getting a better handle on flow and pace and plot.  I can see where Hugo loses my attention, and where he gets it back.  I'm not saying that I can now write better than Victor Hugo - what I'm saying is, I'm starting to realize the things that make my attention wander.  Once I realize what makes my attention wander, I can start to take that stuff out of my own writing.  If I can get rid of the boring stuff, that just leaves the interesting stuff - the good stuff!

So I shall continue slogging through the boring parts and finish up Les Miserables, possibly by the end of next week, and then move on to the next one.

Curious about what's up next?  Well, I haven't decided for sure, but here's what I've got in iTunes, ready to go:

1. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
2. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
3. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
4. Chronicles of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
5. Emma by Jane Austen
6. Heidi by Johanna Spyri
7. Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
8. Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
9. Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
10. Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter
11. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
12. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
13. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
14. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodges Burnett
15. Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
16. Ulysses by James Joyce

Any suggestions about what should be next on the playlist?  Or other suggestions for classics to listen to?

Weather's got me down

Ugh.  Switching to a M-W-F blogging schedule has thrown me off.  Clearly, I missed blogging yesterday.  I'll blame it on the weather.

It's been raining for the better part of two days, and it's making me miserable.

I realized a few years ago that I'm very sensitive to weather.  I probably have a mild form of seasonal affective disorder, actually.  When it's cold and dark, I get unhappy.  If it's just cold, or just dark, I can usually manage, but the two together equal blah.

The rain is even worse - there's something that goes on with the barometric pressure that gives me crazy headaches. I'm hating this weather, although I suppose rain is still better than snow, right?  Blah.

On the other hand, there's been a lot of fog in between the patches of rain, and despite the darkness, it's been making me think about Meliora.  Lots.  I really want to work on her story again!

I must admit, I didn't do much writing this weekend.  Okay, I didn't do any writing this weekend.  I know, I know.  Instead, I crafted.  The weather was gorgeous, and I didn't want to be staring at a computer screen, so I opened the curtains, and spent time outside, and drove around.  It was great!  I think, though, since I have tomorrow evening off, and it's still supposed to be rainy, I'll pull out Meliora's story again tomorrow and have a look-see.  Cross your fingers that I still like it when I re-read it!

A quiet weekend

I'm ready for a quiet weekend.  Sure, last weekend was somewhat quiet, but that's because I was so sick, I couldn't do anything at all.  Well, okay, I went to Savannah, but Sunday and Monday were fairly immobile.

This weekend, I don't have a lot planned.  I like that.  I've got the usual stuff - dance class, gaming, crafting - but not much that should keep me up late or wake me up early.  I'm looking forward to sleep.

More importantly, I've got a Shiny New Idea that's been percolating for about three weeks, and I think I'm ready to write down the bones of it!  I really do need to finish up Partners before I get deep into a new project, but I want to write down the basics of this new idea.  Maybe I'll finish the current draft of Partners this weekend!  That'd be awesome, because then I could get it out to my next set of readers, then edit some more, then take it to the theatre!

Hmm.

I have a new goal for the weekend, apparently.