Upside down and backwards

Christine and I got together yesterday and had a successful writing fest at Borders. She finally nailed the opening of her latest book (and it rocks) and I finished the last scene of Ghosted (I’d written pretty much all of it, but for some reason left a chunk unfinished along with a note about what was supposed to got there). So next I’m going to write the second-to-last scene, and hopefully the key to unlock the rest of the book will be revealed to me. If not, I’m just going to keep writing backwards. Hey, it’s an adventure.

Then Teresa and I had a phone confab about Angelika (which needs a new title; comments welcomed!), which did blow open the problem we were having with it. We didn’t really know our main character, what her internal goal was, and what her flaw was. Whee! It won’t massively change what we’ve already written—we’ll just have to tweak a few things—but it will definitely help with both the internal and external conflicts. Go us!

Now I’m on the plane to Houston, where I’ll swap to a plane to Little Rock and be with my beloved again! They actually fed us lunch on this flight. I’m gobsmacked. People have been very friendly today, even early this morning when we were all yawning on the bus from parking to LAX. Maybe it’s because of the date?

It’s also Tommy Shaw’s birthday! (Apropos of anything else, except I am on my way to see the band!)

Sometimes, I really love technology

1. I wasn’t entirely sure I understood the point of Facebook, especially since I already had a MySpace account. But I had a few friends who were on one but not the other, and I have to say, Facebook is much prettier and easier to use. My point, though, is that an editor I worked with five years ago (on Dyke the Halls) managed to track me down via Facebook, and was delighted because he wanted to invite me to submit to a new anthology! In fact, he said, “Hope it might be of interest to you (maybe even a few times, since I can use more than one story under your many pseudonyms...).” Major warm fuzzy, and I’ve already sent him a Sophie reprint; a new solo story will be written before the deadline.

2. Ken bought a tracking device for the bike that pings a website about every half an hour. I’m trying so hard not to get obsessed with checking the site to watch his progress across the country, but it’s so addictive!

3. YouTube, and finding video clips of David Tennant licking an ice cream cone. (Yeah, I’m in that kind of mood.)

4. Digital cameras allow us to capture random but wonderful images. When the cats sleep in the laundry basket, Eostre always picks the whites basket and Grimoire goes for the colors basket…

(Yes, we have a window in our closet...)

Random Things to Celebrate

• I got my comp copies of The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction, which contains the Sophie Mouette story “Under a Double Rainbow.” It’s a truly pretty book. I love the cover design, the feel of the cover (close, but not quite matte), the title and author fonts. I keep picking it up to pet it… It's just luscious.
  
• I get to see Ken Thursday!
  
• I get to see Styx Friday!
  
• I worked out today with Jen, and it felt goood.
  
• I get a massage tonight. Not only will it feel great and help put my body back the way it ought to be, but Melanie and I always have fun.
  
• Extra-tasty and smooth hummus.
  
• The last scene of Ghosted is almost finished! Of course, the book is far from done, since there’s roughly the last quarter of it to write to catch up to the end. But I sort of know the second-to-last scene—I’ve typed up some brainstorming notes about it, anyway—and I feel in my gut that that’s the one that’s going to crack the code of this book for me. And even if it does’t, it’s going to be a fun ride.
  
• I’m meeting with Christine tomorrow to write together (and laugh and inspire each other and, I suspect, eat lunch).
  
• Trader Joe’s dark-chocolate-covered Joe-Joe’s. Like fudge-covered Oreos, only infinitely better—and they’re all natural. I try to limit myself to one a day…
  

Okay, off to write until Melanie gets here!

Irrational fear and the breaking down of sanity

Dammit, why does CB&TL have free wireless now? I come here to escape the temptations of the Internet!

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I have this urge to run away. Go on a retreat. I wish I had some cottage or cabin where I could gather all my writer friends for a long weekend, to write and read and talk and take long walks. No Internet, no TV, although maybe a DVD player to watch movies while we drink wine and laugh.

I wish I had the money to rent such a place. Of course, the hotel in Oregon is now for just this purpose, but then I’d need the money to fly all my friends there….

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For now, though, I’m sitting here in CB&TL with Sabrina, and I’m writing, and it’s mostly crap but it’s happening. I’m writing the last scene of Ghosted, because I have to write the last scene in order to figure the rest of it out (or figure the beginning out. Or to move ahead. Or something.). Then maybe I’ll write the next-to-last scene, because I don’t know a lot of it, and the only way I’m going to find out is if I write it.

That probably sounds insane to a non-writer, but there you have it.

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Ellenie and I had an extremely productive writing day today! I forgot to note my starting wordcount (in part because I’m trying to get away from worry about exact counts and enjoying the process more), but I think I wrote about 1K. Kinda lame for 3.5 hours of work time, but the important thing is that I broke past my irrational fear of…whatever I was irrationally fearing.

Then, because a mom and her small boy plopped down on the couch next to her while she was working on a love scene, Ellenie suggested we go out for an early supper, which we did at Roxsbury Deli.

I may do some more work tonight, since I’m back to being fired up about it and don’t want to lose that, but first I’m going to do some other bits that need doing (e-mail, etc.) and then I think I’m going to indulge in a celebratory bubble bath. Because, among other things, I’ve realized lately that I need to celebrate the small successes!

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I also stopped stressing about the fact that Ken hasn’t called, because it’s probably due to the fact that he has to buy a new phone charger. He’s set up a tracking device on the motorcycle that occasionally pings my e-mail with a link to a Googlemap that shows me where he is (how cool is that?!), and he was nearly Salt Lake City mid-afternoon today. Since he still had a banquet ticket to the rally he couldn’t run due to the second bike problem (the clutch), he figured he might as well attend, and then continue on to Arkansas. He’ll probably call me from a hotel phone later.