Friday, July 22, 2005

Interesting perdictament

Needed: 1 archival CD copy of everything that is on Alt. Biker Mice Site right now since things are getting a minor upheavel July 31st. So if the minor upheavel doesn't go over well, I have the old style to go back to.

Problem: No Internet access at home.

Solution: Get it at work.

Problem: No way to get the files off the web control panel.

Solution: They actually gave us WS_FTP, which I didn't find until after I started this blog. *Crossing fingers.*

Problem: FTP program works. I cannot fit the info onto the CD. Which doesn't make any sense because I can at home with the Nero CD burning program. This is the third CD I've lost because the data screwed it up.

Solution: Borrow the C drive until I can get files downloaded and zipped and then on a CD.

Problem: Now the FTP program went kuput. Looks like I got most of what I told it to get. So all I'm missing is a section of From Mars and the FanFic and FanArt sections.

Solution: Try again. After some lawsuits.

Okay. After throwing away the 5th CD for getting errors in the writing (maybe I bought a bad batch, or at least an incompatible batch), I switched CDs and finally got it to save. SUCCESS!

However, I'm not deleting anything until I see if it works at home.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

Friday, July 15, 2005

Best laid plans of...

So which am I, mouse or man? (Man as a stand in for humanity, of course.) This isn't a whine, at least I'm trying to keep myself from flinging full body into the self-starring drama a whine perpetrates. I want to focus my brain instead of jumping willy-nilly. Besides, whining always makes you feel worse about a situation.

The situation: Last night, I pulled most of my various office piles back into the office for later sorting and then settled to find what I considered worthy to mail out. The great-everything-goes mail out has to be delayed due to lack of funds for postage, but I would have everything ready by payday.

I listed ten stories (8 short stories, 1 script, and one the idea for Night Storm). Only two of the ten are ready to mail--as in I can't conceive of changing the story at all. As for the rest, some have been worked on and the rest need something badly.

More often than not, the true story is found in the editing. I know this, and I'm okay with it. What concerns me is the rewrites of material from the last decade. Am I doing it to the detriment of writing anything new? Not to even mention the 18 things on the writing burner. Gah, it's no wonder I've felt guilty about the little down time at the paying job that has been spenting reading.

And I'm not trying to buy into the busy drug. Most likely, I'm reading too much into this. Easiest solution is to dive into the story folder and find something that seizes my fancy, start working on it slow and steady, while working projects off my list.

I'm always preaching about finishing what you started and not let yourself get distracted by the muse. Am I just trying to justify a distraction? Does it really matter with an itching need to write instead of editing? And not writing nonfiction like the resource guide.

I'm off to find an idea I can percolate. Next will be doing my mailing homework. I need 40 potential markets for the types of stories I write and know them well. I like the idea in Page After Page to dedicate a day of the week for marketing endeavors. Marketing Monday then.

Having reviewed Page After Page, I've probably wasted my time worrying about it. Concentrate on the writing, not on the publishing. But it's also a matter of being fresh and true and growing as a writer. Which I won't do unless I get some new material.

Regardless, I will be concentrating more on fiction.

P.S. Does Night Storm really work as a superhero name?

P.S.S. To Jazz and any other Brits that stumble upon this blog: We Are Not Afraid.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

Monday, July 11, 2005

Fast update

Website down till August or September.

Home internet down till next paycheck--August or September at latest.

Furniture in home office moved and I'm almost back to be able to work there again.

Yes, I'm happy and fine, just a little crunched at jobs right now.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Crazy days

I guess T is having a good time. She hasn't said any differently in her livejournal. I'm guessing Red and Jazzy are both really busy.

And I'm actually typing this entry from home. Miracle of miracles. Foxy, I'm downloading the program now. I skipped exercising to come home and mop up sheetrock residue.

Let's see, I'm skipping over the paying job insanity. I don't want to think about that. Saturday was Chad and gang work on roof over the fire hearth while I worked on the Resource Guide in the office. Even though I was in air conditioning, I still got over heated and sick.

Sunday was house chores and sewing day. We went to Kenn and Amy's again this time armed with my speghetti. If you're looking for a whole wheat noodle, use Brallia's. So I have the first half of the dummy done, and need to stuff her and mount her.

Monday was USA Independence Day in more than one way. Mom cooked and me and Chad tore out a wall in my house. My house was built in 1919 as a four room Acadian cottage with a front and back porch and a dogtrot to the detatched kitchen. It was actually my great-great-grandparents' retirement home. Over the years, two more rooms were added to the back (making the kitchen and my infamous back bedroom), and the rooms in the middle where partioned with sheetrock and paneling walls.

Me and my mother were of the opinion that the wall creating a hall between the kitchen and living room needed to go. When I moved in August 2000, we were out-voted. Now I own it and use the tiny room space as an office. And suffered with lack of space issues. No longer. :D

Really with the furniture I have, I'll be using the same amount of floor space. But without the wall I don't feel trapped and the cold air from the window unit has a chance to reach the rest of the house. I'm cramped right now because I can't move the furniture around till this weekend. I will probably start unpacking shelves tonight. Course I have online stuff to do too. *Sigh* Never ends.

Read Free!
The BookWorm