The blog will suffer tonight

Because I wanna write!  I'm feeling inspired - I know how Happily Ever After is going to end, and I want to write it now!  So I'm going to spend my few free minutes tonight working on that.  

Go visit my friends' blogs over there ---> 

They're totally cool, and full of fun stuff!

An Alexander Day

Today was an Alexander day.  It was a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day.  

Well, the evening was, at least.  And I've got the feeling that tomorrow is going to suck for a while, too.  But there's nothing I can do to change that, so I'm not going to worry about it tonight.

But the idea of a Alexander day reminds me of something else - a James story.

What is a James story, you ask?  I'll tell you.  Back in high school, I was part of a large group of friends.  One of our friends, James, had a rather specific way of telling stories.  He would tell long, winding, rambling stories.  They might include what his mother had for dinner and how many times the doorbell rang last night.  They could include half of the plot of the novel he was reading for English class.  The common factor?  The point of the story was always something like, "I like to watch CSI," or "I had pizza for dinner."

So there's a definition for you: a long, drawn out story that has a very simple point (which could be illustrated with a single sentence) is a James story.

Is this going somewhere?

If you poke around through my comments sections, you might see that question posed more than once.  I saw it again yesterday, and it made me stop and think.  Is this going anywhere?

I have tons of ideas for stories.  TONS.  If I had time, I would sit down and write all of them.  Unfortunately, I don't have time.  I've got lots of little snippets of stories floating around, waiting for me.

I've got four big WIPs right now - a novel called "Happily Ever After," a novel called "Til Death," a novel called "All About the Shoes," and a play with the horrible working title of "Partners."  I want to work on all of them.  However, I've got a full time job, and I'm volunteering at the local theatre as the stage manager for most of their productions lately, which leaves little time for, well, anything.  I squeeze in as much writing as I can, but it's often only on Saturday mornings that I get to sit down and write.

The play has my attention right now, because I'm halfway through the second act, and I will probably finish the first draft by next week, assuming I get time to write this weekend.  I've already got the first act out to a friend who's going to give me notes, and I've got a second friend lined up to read it.  (Both friends, by the way, are people that I trust for this sort of opinion - one is a writer, the other runs a theatre company.)  If I can get it finished and polished before the summer, I can give it to the Theatre Director of the theatre where I've been volunteering, and there's a good chance that it can be on stage for their 77th season (2010-11).  At the very least, it's a better chance than any of my novels have of getting an agent by then, since I've got connections to the theatre, and they've pledged to support the local arts in all ways.

I really want to finish "Happily Ever After."  I feel it really is the most commercially marketable of all my pieces.  It might morph into YA by the time I finish the edits, but I'm okay with that.  I really love the story.  I love the characters.  It's killing me to just let them sit there, all alone in my computer, while I finish other things.  But I need to do a little bit more research on fairy tales before I finish it.

"Shoes" is one that I wrote as my first attempt at NaNoWriMo, and the self insertion is HORRIBLE.  I've started the editing process, and it's brutal.  I've already killed one red pen, and about half of the plot, and I'm only on chapter two.  Yeesh.  But if I finish editing it, I can submit it to a critique group that I'm part of, and get some really good feedback - after being part of two critiques, I've started to figure out what sort of advice each member gives, and what sort of things each is really good at, and I'm looking forward to it.

"Til Death" is another one that has more self-insertion than I'd like in a final product, but it's not even finished yet.  But there's a part of me that doesn't need to finish it.  The first part of it was very cathartic for me, and that may be all that I need from it.  On the other hand,  I really want to finish it, just so I can kill off one of the characters, because I think that will give me a better sense of closure, both with the novel and with my life.

So I guess the answer is, "Maybe."  Eventually, I want all of these little bits to go somewhere.  But some of them may just be little bits for a while.  If I ever get picked up by an agent, though, I've got tons to pitch!

The Note

Erica muttered to herself as she walked across the parking lot to her car.  Her arms were loaded down with her purse and a ton of paperwork, and she was in a foul mood.  She had ended up staying late at work every night that week, and Friday was no exception.  

Juggling the precarious stack of papers in one arm, Erica fished around in her purse until she found her car keys.  Tossing the papers and her purse across the console and into the passenger seat, Erica sat down and sighed.  For a moment, she rested her forehead on the steering wheel, thankful that this awful week was finally drawing to a close.

As she lifted her head, a piece of paper on her windshield caught her attention.  For a brief moment, the pessimist inside her thought that it was a parking ticket.  Erica quickly realized, though, that it was far too small to be a parking ticket.  She got out of the car and retrieved the paper.

"Have a wonderful weekend!  - Marc"

Erica's heart gave a little leap.  There was nothing between her and Marc, of course, but still... it was nice to get a little note from a friend.  She got back into her car, still smiling.  She decided that yes, she would have a wonderful weekend.

Potential story beginning

My love life started when I was in grade four.  Craig Bradley had just had a fight with Melissa and decided that she wasn't his girlfriend anymore.   He came over to me at the monkey bars and asked if I wanted to be his girlfriend now.  I agreed, and for three days, he was my very first boyfriend.  

I had this pair of rings at home - the kind of adjustable, gold-tone bands that they used to use around wedding announcements back in the 80's - and I decided that, since he was my boyfriend, I should give Craig one of the rings, and wear the other myself.  After all, from what I could see, that's what people did when they were a couple - they wore rings.

I think that scared him off.  The next day, he made up with Melissa, and I had my very first broken heart.  I wish it had been my last.

Go somewhere else!

Yes, that's right, I'm redirecting you today!

Go visit MJ at her blogathon, and if you can, make a donation!

(Yes, I know this post is a cop-out, and yes, I know that was a horrible pun!)

Games are as bad as tv...

... if not worse!  I just lost three hours to Sims Castaway...  Sigh.

On the bright side, my puppy fell asleep in my lap, and is anxious to continue sleeping.  At least she wasn't trying to teach me how to stretch properly.

I'm off to bed, filled with cold medicine again, so we'll see what sorts of awesome dreams I have tonight!   Yay!