and this isn't even high-density living

 journal  4 Responses »
Jan 302009
 

Lately, all my mornings start the same way: I lay in bed, listening to the sound of my neighbour throwing up. First time it happened was a weekend, and I wondered (not without some satisfaction) whether it was him, suffering the after-effects of too much alcohol. But it's been going on for over a month now, so I'm pretty sure it's her, suffering the after-effects of impregnation.

It is possible to know too much about your neighbours.

To entertain you, I will direct you towards The Grammar Blog. I can't quite remember where I came across this blog, but I'm always up for a bit of syntactical geekery (hey, it's part of the job description, 'kay?), and at the moment there's a post featuring eggcorns.1

Fair warning, there's an embedded mp3 in the blog post, but rest assured, it's two DJ's talking, so nobody is going to assume you've visited an unsafe site. They are going to know you've tuned into (gasp) grammar radio, though.

  1. Must admit, I'd never heard of an eggcorn, and would probably have called any eggcorns I heard a malapropism. [↩]

remakes

 journal  4 Responses »
Jan 272009
 

Dear TV Executives of the United States of America,

Last night my TV showed me a sneak peak of the US version of "Life On Mars", and what do I notice? I notice the same thing I've noticed about all other US remakes. You keep the same characters. You keep the plot. All you've done is swap out the original cast and crew and locale for American equivalents.

For the love of God, WHY BOTHER? Is it some bizarre employment ploy, to make sure your actors and entertainment personnel always have a job? Do you think, if you recast it as American and broadcast it louder and longer than the original show, you and everyone else will be able to pretend you wrote this show all by yourselves, and first?

Please, just stop. You are so much better than this. Firefly, Arrested Development, Scrubs, The West Wing, and more, all prove you really have the chops needed to produce first-rate TV. You don't have to appropriate a good show and translate it for your populace; they're smarter than that. Truly.

Nolove,
the girl who has to sit through your remakes choking up her scant TV channels at the expense of new, original content

the switch, extended

 journal  6 Responses »
Jan 262009
 

I know, I know, I said I wouldn't bore you all with details of the switch from pc to mac, but secretly, I know you're dying to know whether I've lost all my teeth from frustration.

Surprisingly…not. In fact, I think I might even be smitten.

There have been problems, naturally. Excel is not exactly rubbish on a Mac, but it's not far from it. It certainly doesn't support as much functionality as the Windows version; I've had to import all my spreadsheets via Google Docs.

Then there were all the Mac "quirks" that I can't stand: the irrepressible start-up sound, for example, and the way hibernation is supported, but impossible to apply manually. Luckily, my Google-fu proved strong enough, and I have muted the startup sound and found a way to manually select hibernation.

I did use a Microsoft Access database to track everything to do with my manuscripts, which for the moment has been downgraded to a spreadsheet, because I've yet to find a freeware equivalent to Access for the Mac platform. Which brings me to the one thing I really, truly miss about the Windows environment: freeware. There's just not so much of it for the Mac, and what little there is rapidly evolves into shareware nagware. Less than ideal.

On the whole, though, I'm happy with my new computer. It's just far less fuss than operating in the Windows environment.

And apparently the anodised aluminium case tastes pretty good, too, because I cannot stop the cat from trying to lick it.

we are people people

 journal  Comments Off
Jan 232009
 

The past couple of days have been full of necessary, but non-writing, errands. No fun, no fair. I did do a couple of interviews, which I'll be sure to link to if and when they appear online.

In far more fun news, I very belatedly bring to your attention the new People People song, now with animated video:

Evan, one of the members of The People People, was a classmate of mine at Clarion South. It's a great tune, and if you want to hear more of their work you can check out their myspace page. I particularly recommend "Banish Me", which has been a favourite since I first heard it.

i swear to you, there are no big words in this book

 journal, shadow queen, writing life  10 Responses »
Jan 172009
 

Today I come bearing gifts: an excerpt of Shadow Queen!

Thanks to Allen & Unwin, if you want to try before you buy, without all the inconvenience of trudging into a brick and mortar store, now you can read the first chapter online, or download it for reading later. (Those of you who download will get the extra special glimpse of the book's layout and font-design, since the PDF is a true representation of the finished book.)

As a bonus fun-fact, consider when reading that this first chapter is in fact one-fifth of what in my head I still call the first chapter. Yes, when I say the chapters in the original manuscript were LONG, I'm not exaggerating.

For those of you who've already read the book, I give you instead the feedback from friends and family who have actually finished reading it:

P, on starting the book: "I think she went a little too hard too early on the big words — I don't think she'll be able to keep it up."

P, on finishing the book: "Er, I take that back. She did keep it up."

N: "Oh my God, I'm going to need a dictionary to read this thing!"1

B:2 "Tricksy. Very tricksy."

S: "Is this the sort of stuff you were thinking about while you were at work? Because the majority of what I think about is what to cook for dinner, and there you were all this time, pondering the ways to kill people? I think I'm a little bit scared now."

And, the overwhelming response from pretty much everyone: "What the…? Cliffhanger! I have to wait HOW LONG for the next part? AGH!"

So, people, consider yourselves warned.

  1. Honestly, I thought I took all the really hard and obscure big words out. Honestly! But, er, apparently not. [↩]
  2. Somewhat paraphrased [↩]

this is the part where i start making no sense during a conversation

 journal, talatu, writing life  6 Responses »
Jan 162009
 

A productive day on the short story today; I finally, after days of false starts, feel like I'm getting somewhere. (Did I mention I think outlining in advance is much more efficient? I did, didn't I? Although, to be fair to my poor beleaguered brain, this story is not entirely without (my kind of) outline. I know the characters, and their motivations, and I know the arc of the story. It just wasn't flowing.)

I've hit the end of the first third, and this is the dangerous time. This is the time when the world-building starts to reinforce itself and remind me I need to actually include it in the story, not just in my head. The characters start doing things which remind me I haven't foreshadowed that particular motivation yet, oops. The plot starts to hang on a few threads I'd meant to set up, honestly, I knew I meant to, I just got sidetracked.

Do you see the danger? This is the point in the story when I want to go back and start revising. And I am not allowed to, on pain of never finishing a story death.

This is the point where I start racing, wanting to get to the end so I can revise, and simultaneously I start toying with the idea of just tweaking this paragraph, just this section, just this whole manuscript so far. Because I hate the idea of the start of the story being broken, and not matching the ending, and what if I do forget the changes I need to incorporate, even though I've just taken the time to write myself a copious note in the margin?1 I've even toyed with the idea of letting myself write two drafts of this story simultaneously, writing the first draft and then, as a reward once I'd hit the day's quota, opening a fresh copy and revising as I go.2

Also, I am really, really tempted to name this story after the lyrics in a Cyndi Lauper song. That would be wrong, wouldn't it? It could also be expensive, which would definitely make it wrong.3

  1. This is not entirely an irrational fear. I've written myself some very strange notes in the margin in my time. I swear I thought they all made sense at the time, but that does not always mean they make sense on the second pass. At least short stories generally have less time between passes, so there's more chance I'll remember. [↩]
  2. Writers really is nuts. Who would think that's a reward? [↩]
  3. But I still wanna. [↩]

i bet i'll give up before it's written

 journal, writing life  3 Responses »
Jan 142009
 

In a move that surprises absolutely no one but me, I have come to a decision: outlines are not my style.

Seriously, now, stop laughing.

I would love to be one of those writers who outlines; it seems ever so much more efficient and streamlined a process than my own, which is to know a high point or two, to muddle through a draft of the manuscript which could more correctly be called a befuddlement of contradictory notes to myself, and then tear my hair out on revising said befuddlement into something approaching a story. Outlining would be much, much quicker, and less damaging on my hair.

It is with some irony, therefore, that Diana Peterfreund chose the very day I made this decision to post a tutorial on writing fiction synopses.

Here I am, trying to come to terms with my utter inability to plan a story in advance, doing my best to resign myself to the lengthy process that does work for me, and she goes and makes writing a synopsis sound easy. Attractive. Fun!

No fair. (And, er, yes, I will be trying out her advice by writing a not-a-synopsis of the next novel before I write said next novel. Because have I mentioned I'd love to be one of those writers who can outline?)

lions and tigers and bears, oh my

 journal  4 Responses »
Jan 122009
 

Walked face-first into a spiderweb today. Always fun. Mind you, close up, the sound of my hair tearing free of the spider silk was rather spectacular. The minutes I then spent picking spider web off my face and peering frantically to make sure there wasn't a wolf spider in my hair or down my top, not so much fun. I could understand if I'd been out bushbashing, but in fact I had just stepped out of my front door.

Bloody Australian spiders and their taste for manflesh.

On the topic of which, there's a huntsman in the dining room, lurking above the glass doors, who gets very irate whenever I pull the curtains to or fro. I'm currently operating on the time-honoured huntsman interaction policy of "If I just ignore him, he won't eat me in the night, and sooner or later he'll go away". Because, quite frankly, true-blue Aussie or not, I have to admit that huntsman spiders creep me the hell out. It's the way their legs DON'T FIT inside an upended bowl, and the way they will hang on one spot of your wall for weeks on end and then overnight they'll have moved to a spot which, in spider terms, is clearly more than a single night's journey away.

i sometimes think too much but say nothing at all

 journal, shadow queen  3 Responses »
Jan 102009
 

I am a happy little writer today because look what Tess sent me:

a certain author's book on display

a certain author's book on display

Not only is the book face-out, at eye-level, on an end-piece…but that's some damn awesome company she's1 in there.

Now, if you'll excuse me, the incomparably boppy "Eye of the Tiger" has just flipped into rotation, and I am to…well, write. But to boppy music. Oh yes! We live on the edge, the cat and bamboo and I.

  1. I use she, because I can't quite bring myself to say 'I'm' — it's my book in awesome company. I, you see, am ensconced in my usual habitat, with a cat and some badly-neglected lucky bamboo, wondering if I can make it to the kitchen to brew another pot of tea, or whether I really am just too lazy comfy here. Not much in the way of awesome company round these parts. Sorry, cat. Sorry, bamboo. [↩]

it really is who you know, in the end

 journal, shadow queen  9 Responses »
Jan 092009
 

Today, finding myself at my local shopping centre for the first time since Shadow Queen appeared on shelves, I dropped into Borders, only to find no copies. No copies! They'd had copies last week. I stood in the aisle for a bit, torn between disappointment at not actually seeing my own book on shelves after all this time and a quiet glee that people had actually shelled over money for the book. Perhaps fortunately, none of the staff asked me why I looked manic lost, so I couldn't share my thoughts with anyone.

I wandered off to my other errands, which brought me within range of the local Angus & Robertson. They did not have my book for sale last week, so I thought it safe to wander in and do a little browsing. Lo, what did I find, but copies of my book! So at last I have seen my own book in a real bookstore — even if it was on the bottom-most shelf. At least, thanks to that awesome cover, it was face-out.

Now, I'm told by reputable types, that it is normal for an author to offer to sign any books on display in a bookstore. What harm? I thought. I'm moving away in a couple of months anyway, I can always avoid the store if I make a total fool of myself. So I nailed my courage to the wall1 and offered to sign their stock.

The sales assistant's smile froze in place. "I'll just get the manager," she said, and she fled. That is the only description for what she did: she fled.

The manager came over, looking similarly concerned. "You want to sign the books…?" she asked, and I began to wonder if all those reputable types had been setting me up, in a stunning display of everyone in the world having a joke at one person's expense.

"Well," she hesitated, as if trying to find a polite way to explain that I was not being normal, not at all. "I suppose… If you want to…"

It seemed foolish to walk away at this point, so I started signing — which is when the manager mentioned a gentleman had been in just last week, asking about this book. She shared this information with a wide-eyed I-escaped-from-death sort of look. "He asked a lot of questions, about the publisher, about why we didn't have any copies, about why we weren't supporting local authors…"

Ah. No wonder they ordered in copies. My friends are well-meaning, and determined, and not beyond accusing bookstores of single-handedly destroying the Australian economy at a pinch. Bless 'em.

  1. you have no idea how hard it is, being me. honestly. [↩]
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