Wishing Someone had wrote this advice when I was a teenager

Whatever: 10 Things Teenage Writers Should Know ABout Writing

I have lost some weight, but the pictures are at home to prove it. :p Been crazy this weekend.

"Covenant of the Restless" is finished for class. I'm still not happy with it, and haven't figure out how to add the Toby Locke and Kate fight scene, but I made some extensive changes to it. But since everything is due tonight, I'm clamping down on the perfectionist with promises to work on it later.

This comment from a member of my class makes me feel better about the whole story idea of "Blue Man" now. "This story is a welcome excursion from the realistic stories of this class. It takes a great imagination to create a story like this. Keep it up." Wish they had put their name on their copy of the story.

Okay, finished with the Blue Man version for class. A lot of typos, and a lot of people liked the idea, even if it confused them.

Notes for my official version:

• Time lapse is an issue


• Murdock's background


• Cyndia's looks


• People think Cyndia's thoughts are POV shifts. -- I think I caught all of those.


• 3 - 4 people don't like my title.

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The BookWorm

Zy's Novel

Progress Bar from Writertopia

"Covenant of the Restless"

Progress Bar from Writertopia

"The Blue Man on the Porch" for class

Progress Bar from Writertopia

Better Now

Found the notes from the class workshop on the story.

1. Dialogue (all those "thou"s)


2. Pace


3. Contractions - Apostrophes in the wrong place.


4. Make Kate more badass - more backstory


5. Change ghost visualizations - more ambiguity


6. Kate's motivation for leaving the cross

I decided to push back the open to show the shipwreck actually taking place, and hoping that improves the pace. And a flashback to the Toby and Kate fight will hopefully pick up the pace. All I can do at this point is try.

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Zy's Novel

Progress Bar from Writertopia

"Covenant of the Restless"

Progress Bar from Writertopia

"The Blue Man on the Porch" Class version

Progress Bar from Writertopia

Titles and Papers

This is probably a Discipline Under Fire post, but *shrug* I'm going for here.

First problem: I have no thesis for the Dante paper I have to do. None. I think I'm going to have to shelve the compare and contrast with Christine de Pisan, and maybe concentrate on the feminine in Dante.

Second problem: may not be a problem any more. "Covenant of the Restless" is the title for the Captain Kate's short story. Hopefully, it doesn't give too much of the plot away since "restless" refers to both the privateers/pirates and the dead. Now the second problem becomes, how to fix the story? I can't find the notes I made during class, just the story copies that a few left comments on. Maybe I filed those notes under the other class, I didn't look there this morning.

Going through the comments: too long for a short story, "thou" is formal (IT IS NOT! "YOU" IS THE FORMAL. Okay, getting a little worked up over that one.), female Captain is not historically valid, they must be part of the English Navy like "Master and Commander" but they don't act like Navy, too short and needs more backstory. I miss my list from class, I had wrote down about ten things and some glimmers of how to address it.

*Taking two Aleve before the headache gets any worse.*

I'm not sure how to fix the "thou" problem. If English Masters' students have no concept of Elizabethan English mechanics, the general reading public won't either. Wikipedia supports that view. :p That stance is arguing with the historian "but that's how they talked!" stance. Hence, part of the headache.

I also have to wonder is backstory worth giving up surprise, or can I do it in such a way that surprise is still valid? Was anyone surprised after learning the scar on Toby's face was given to him by Kate and he still supported her? Maybe I should angle for the support to be the surprise.

Okay enough of the piddle-paddle. Time to get to work.

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The BookWorm

"Covenant of the Restless" (Capt. Kate's short story)

Progress Bar from Writertopia

"The Blue Man on the Porch" FInal Version

Progress Bar from Writertopia

Revision Hell

I have to have the revisions on Blue Man and Capt Kate's story ready to turn in by next Tuesday.

Yeah, that was my internal reaction too.

Made worse that the changes I have started on Blue Man won't be finished by then. The class never heard about them, but still. ACK!



Yes, I promise not to use the Writertopia's progress bars everyday.

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The BookWorm

New progress bar!

I like having the progress bars in the side bars from Zokutou. But they are hard to keep updated in the template. And when you put them in the post, the invisible tables show up. So I went looking for something else.

Southern Expressions clued me into a couple of choices. I picked the simple progress bar from Wordtopia. Here's what Zy's Novel current status look like:


They also have a more animated graphic that you can use (more fun with NaNo):


I like them a lot! Now go see all the progress I made over the weekend and today in Discipline Under Fire.

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The BookWorm

Some clips from Google Video of the Day

Christopher Walken dancing to Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice". As far as I can tell this is the music video for the song. And Walken makes me feel much better about my dancing abilities.

Reworked trailers are funnier if you've actually seen the movie they've redone.
The Shining goes happy.
Sleepless in Seattle goes dark.

And Titanic gets a sequel. Titanic 2: the Surface Okay, I'm a Titanic nut and James Cameron won eternal good will from me for the sheer volume of historical detail he put into the film. Rose and Jack were just there for two reasons: a) make the tragedy human without stepping on any relations or survivor's toes and b) to run all over the sinking ship to see all the historical details.

So getting over the implausibility of Jack getting frozen in an ice cube, this sequel trailer idea works for me. I don't expect it to work for anyone else. Though I think it was the putting a Titanic survivor (who pretty much went through the sinking practically yesterday) watching "Titanic the musical" won me over.

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The BookWorm

TESTING

Couldn't update anything yesterday. Seeing if it will work today.

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The BookWorm

Interesting Times

April 21st: The Chinese proverb times, and it has been going on the whole week. Two people are leaving the office for better jobs. I’m thrilled for them, but also amused. Everyone keeps looking at me to make an announcement and I have nothing to announce.

I finally got my settlement from the 2005 wreck, but my bank wants to keep it tied up for ten days. *Sigh I was stupid, I should have went to Hibernia with it instead of depositing it with the credit union but they hit me with it at the end of the day and I couldn’t roll with the punch. Plus I was worried about the car and that put a screeching halt to getting it fixed last night.

My car had other plans. Leaving for work on this morning, I discovered my left front tire is flat. I can’t work the jack to lift the car to put the spare on, so I fill it mostly with a can of inflate-a-flat and head to Springfield. None of the tire shops are open. I head for Hammond. The car starts shaking like I’m in a jalopy. Pulled over at the next gas station and discovered that the tire has come apart.

Luckily, a nice man helped me get the spare on. (Chivilary is not dead in the South.) And I’m now sitting at Tire Kingdom waiting for them to get two new tires on, align the wheels, and change the oil. Turns out that one of the tires was bigger than the other three and that was probably a contributing factor to my alignment issues.

Hopefully, the check issue will get cleared up quickly and I can get the other important things fixed before we go to Texas again for a live-steel group event. I need to get my horn and one of the headlights replaced. The front bumper and windshield are my responsibility to fix—and waiting for the check—and the back bumper is State Farm’s responsibility once I get time to leave it with the body shop.

The TV is reminding me that I need to update my home insurance. Need to make sure I have away-from-home-expenses coverage and replacement-value coverage on contents. I probably want to update my electronics too. And if I end up making the improvements to the bathroom, I have to get that listed.

Now I’m going to move onto typing on Zy’s Novel and Blue Man while I have the time.

April 22nd: I spent about 4 and a half hours at work yesterday. Then to celebrate my income tax refund, I went out to eat with Joe and Krista, and then Krista and I went to see Silent Hill.

I enjoyed it, and Krista the true horror fan in our fan declared it alright. There is blood and gore, but by the time it really gets bad in the movie, they have set it up to where you’re almost rooting for it. They did drop the “breeding a Lovecraftian Elder god” plot line of the video game from the movie, but left enough questions on origins to pick it up in the sequel. I only hope the sequel answers what I felt was the big gip for the protagonists at the end of the movie.

So where am I now? Waiting for the other half of my car repairs to get started. Then a car wash and inspection sticker, and I should be good to go for the next 3000 miles. Still need to replace back bumper and fix front bumper and windshield, but it looks like that will have to wait until after the Tyler, Texas trip. I considered doing it today too, but I need to get the house in order (i.e. finish the back bedroom and go through that stuff) and I want that done before the trip too.

So more work on Zy’s Novel and the Blue Man while I have this enforced waiting period. When I post this online, I’ll put up what I managed to get done the last two days.

Finally posted, now time to go work on back bedroom progress!

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The BookWorm

Back Bedroom Part Two

Okay, I was a triffle ambitious that Part Two would have the "after" pictures.

As I said earlier, drawers fell down with a crash. Here's the stack that I made after the crash.


I drilled holes into the wall for the masonry anchors to hold up the drawers. Here's me holding up a blot that I'm afraid is too long, and you can see the hole with anchor in the wall.


Here's the holes where the whole damn side popped out of the wall. I didn't even have a chance to hang the other side up.


Why? Partly because I think the white support is slightly bent. You can see the supports in use in this shot. Granted it is the other side of the room, but you get the idea.


The second reason is because the two back rooms are a pine lean-to. They put 2x6 pine boards flat to make the walls and then covered with sheetrock and siding on the outside. There's no hollow space for the anchors to expand into!

And how do I know? Here's the holes I made with the drill on the kitchen side of the wall.


So tomorrow it's off to Lowe's for putty to fill in the walls, and 2-inch wood screws. Hopefully that should keep the damn thing on the wall this time. This is shaping up to be a fun weekend.

Stay turned for Part Three!

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The BookWorm

BULLSHIT BEHAVIOR FROM A PUBLISHER!

Millenia Black - Taking Care of Business: The Great Betrayal - Jim Crow Publishing

If sueing turns out not to be an option, release the publisher's name and let's boycott. I hate to put the other author's they carry in the position of no sales, but the only way for this behavior to change is to hit them where it hurts. And that is always the pocketbook.

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Back Bedroom Part One

I'm a third-generation pack-rat, thank you very much. On both maternal and paternal sides. Actually, me and my sisters are trying the hardest to break the habit. I use most everything that I keep, which is a step in the right direction. Pack-rat-ness seems rooted in poverty, though I think nature and nuture work against you as well. You want to hold onto things more even though you know you have no use for it. I constantly work on it, but like all subconscious problems it's always easier to talk about stopping them.

The old closet came out easily with three people hitting it. Here's the results.



The sheetrock underneath was in bad shape. Mice had chewed holes over the years, and generally unpainted ugliness. So we had to go to Lowe's for expanding foam, paneling, and the last of the closet shelving bits. Still not finished with the closet though, I have some more bits on the shopping list.

I couldn't have hung any paneling or the rest of the shelves without my sister Krista and our friend Joe.



My mother's comment at the end of the day: "You've turned the whole room into a closet." I resisted the urge to show where this is a growing trend in America, and pointing out that the only built-in closets I have are going to be demolished when the bathroom is remodeled in the name of family harmony. I have to have storage space and preferably a place to "put things away" instead of dumping them on the floor and shutting the door.

Monday night, Krista and I went through my material stash (2 large totes--50 gallons--and 1 medium sized tote--25 gallons, I think) and she ended up with 1 large tote and the medium tote full of material to start her costume business. I kept the material I need for my new list of sewing projects, and that will fit in the medium tote once Krista is through transporting fabric. I'm not going to lie and say it was easy to let go of the fabric. There was a lot of stuff I had fell in love with. But for now on, only falling in love when I have a specific project in mind.

Next step is to go through the Garb Closet and organize it. Of course I make these things so time consuming when I add in I want pictures of me modeling completed garb sets. But it is the easiest way to make sure I have all the accessories and props, which will then be bagged with the clothes. That storage solution alone will take care of a few of the boxes I have left. Those pics will end up in the Garb Closet blog, and possibly a website gallery.

After that it will be time to group Chad's stuff together and go through the boxes that are left. I have things that I have invested some money into, but I'm not displaying them (like the Star Wars figures). I settled on Ebay as a solution for the comics, maybe the figures will end up there. Course, I have to get off my bumpkis and set up the auctions. :p

I had a setback last night. I finished buying a top and casters for the drawer set kit that is a separate unit. The drawers mounted on the wall needed to shift up, so there would be room to park the dresser under it. In the processing of shifting them, the entire set up pulled out of the wall. Luckily, it was separate from the shelves and I have drywall anchor bolts that I hadn't used. So tonight I get to put extra bolts in everything.

So watch this space for Back Bedroom: Part Two when I'm ready to take the after pics!

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The BookWorm

Wednesdays Headache

Wednesdays must be bad to be me days. I took a muscle relaxer to ease the pain in my back and it only made me sleepy. Two Aleve seem to be doing a better job. At least, my head has finally quit pounding.

Things to do Today

1. Reading Diary - post what is already written. FINISHED! 4 posts left to write, and 4 books to pick out to finish the assignment.


2. The Garb Closet -
   
   
   
   • Type posts
   
   
   • Make new garb pics
   
   
   • Take pics of me in final garb outfits with proper backgrounds
   
   
   • Put current projects pics up in the sidebar
   
   
   • Update links
   
   
   
   


3. Discipline Under Fire -
   
   
   
   • Update progress bars
   
   
   • Post new developments of Zy's novel
   
   
   
   


4. Clean out Garb Closet binder - FINISHED!

Need to update Half.com listings. Add Block's non-fictional books to the Wish List.

Finally finished the summary of Lawrence Block's Spider, Spin Me a Web. Headache finally gone too, replaced by slight feet ache since I'm breaking in new shoes. *Sigh* I need to invest in one of those shoe stretchers.

I'm off to work on the rest of the posts.

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The BookWorm

To Do List Updated

I don't know if this is going to become a daily post or not.

Things to do Today

1. Reading Diary -
   
   
   
   • post what is already written -- FINISHED!
   
   
   • 4 posts left to write
   
   
   • 4 books to pick out to finish the assignment.
   
   
   
   


2. The Garb Closet -
   
   
   
   • Type posts -- FINISHED!
   
   
   • Put current projects pics up in the sidebar -- FINISHED!
   
   
   • Update links -- FINISHED!
   
   
   • Make new garb pics
   
   
   • Take pics of me in final garb outfits with proper backgrounds
   
   
   
   


3. Discipline Under Fire -
   
   
   
   • Update progress bars
   
   
   • Post new developments of Zy's novel
   
   
   
   


4. Clean out Garb Closet binder - FINISHED!


5. Update Half.com listings -- FINISHED!

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The BookWorm

Tuesday Quicky

Back Bedroom: Need to write and show the rest of the progress. Pictures are at home and I'm still not finished yet.

Scarborough Faire: That's where we went over the Easter weekend. It was good trip. Here's some pictures, but be warned, they're for "work." No cutsey shots of us being silly.

Not much else going on. I'm almost done with the semester, and I have a lot of writing projects to get moving on.

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The BookWorm

These people were in Atlanta and they didn't get my HELP!

The Legend of Zelda: The Hero of Time. It's a fan-movie, it's an independent movie.

So part of me is "yeah, show Hollywood that this can be done!" and the other part is "oh my Goddess, you actually put on tights and made this film."

*Twitch*

Ah, I got it. The real issue for me is he's blond. Yes, I know Link is blond in the third game which is what they based the store for their movie on. But the Link I know and love has brown hair and I don't care how many times Nintendo changes it.

The fan-sick puppy in me will probably get this film. Just to see what they did with the story.

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Just want to get this link out

What a Girl Wants #24: The Rest of the Story. I'll be donating to Friends of Lulu after payday.

I'll have to get back with ya on the back bedroom progress.

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The BookWorm

Tweaking and other news

Mario Spezi arrested in Italy for criticizing a murder investigation. Please, please help Buzz, Balls & Hype put the word out on this injustice.

In less serious news, I switched over to Bloglines and am loving every minute. It also has a feature for blogrolling, so I switched those links around to. Now I just have to spread the word on RSSPECT to more comics, especially those who aren't on a daily update schedule.

Now that I've spent a few hours setting that up, it's time to crack on the rest of the day. Namely moving things around in the back bedroom to tear out closet and replace with modular shelving. This room needs to be my sewing room/guest bedroom.






You can see by these pictures I have my work cut out for me.

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Getting Kicked in the Pants Yesterday

Yesterday's fun: blood work at the lab, mailed certified letter to close out April 30, 2005 wreck, set up Bloglines account. I'm keeping BlogRoll (it's easier to update the blog link list with it) but Bloglines shows LiveJournal updates. See Blogging 201 for more information.

Submit to Submission couples with the lessons from Lawrence Block have reamed me. So it's time to put yp, shut up, and get off my ass. Time to earn 100 rejections. I think I can use the word meter to keep track of rejections for web-prettiness. I'll keep track of the important details offline.

I sent off the Front Porch and got so worked up about it and doing laundry at the same time, I forgot to tell them it has never been published before. Tonight I need to get a list together of markets I should be subscribing to.

G.I. Joe: I spent wayy too long last night catching up on G.I. Joe continuity. It was a cartoon I watched religiously as a child of the 80's, but I had never read the comics. Too bad I didn't because I learned some stuff that left my mouth open.

#1: Destro is Scottish.
#2: They killed off Lady Jaye. *Sniff* She was my fave.
#3: Cobra Commander in the cartoon was a space alien that even his species didn't like and exiled to Earth. In the comics, he was an American who went around the bend after his brother returned from Vietnam with a death wish. That death wish led to drinking and driving and killing himself and Snake-eye's family. Somehow, the man who would be Cobra Commander decided it was the government and Snake-eye's fault his brother died and his life was shit, and things spiraled from there.

Cobra Commander was a home grown terrorist a decade before Timothy McVeigh.

And this revelation was caused because David Willis likes Cover Girl's butt.

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Acadiana Medieval Faire Year One

This is really bringing out the "Valley Girl" persona in me. Oh. My. God. We had 7000 people in three days!!!!!

Saturday alone had 1200. School Day was too big in retrospect, but every kid and chaperone I talked to at the drink booth was having a good time.

Sure, there were logistic problems (there are always logistic problems no matter what you do) but the concept worked and the theme is sound. The vendors sold heaps of stock, especially on School Day. They want to come back, and some are talking about building. Black Swan sold out of his entire stock of wooden weapons and shields. Our jewelry lady said she paid the bills for the next three months.

The kids were great; they even found my garter. I had lost it when running to plug a hole in the fence. So before we were swamped at the drink booth, I was laying a quest on them. Find my garter and I would have King Edward III knight you into the Order of the Garter. A girl found it, her two guy friends pushed her to getting knighted and took the pictures, the King knighted her with my dagger. Last image was her beating the back of one of them saying "I can't believe you did that to me!"

My babe Chad has done a good thing. I am so proud of him.

I will post pictures as soon as I get some to post. Here's to next year and that I'll have time to take my own pics!

News stories and reviews about AMF:

"Canterbury on the Bayou" in the Daily World

Traveler Creative History Teaching

Marisa's Fresh Canvas She and the other Americorps volunteers saved us Saturday and Sunday. And we really missed you on Monday, LOL! But seriously, this is a federal program worth savings. Before taking a break with us, they were cleaning up Katrina and Rita mess and building houses.

"Lafayette faire offers medieval view" in the Advocate

Acadiana Medieval Faire So you can watch out for Year Two progress!

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The BookWorm

Blog Maintenance: Progress Bars

I don't know what happened with Forward Motion's progress bars. Maybe they decided no more hotlinking. So I switched to zokutou word meter for all projects instead of just editing projects.

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The BookWorm