links, not-funny and funny

not funny:
Bringing the War on Terrorism Home: Congress Considers How to `Disrupt` Radical Movements in the United States

[ Many observers fear that the proposed law will be used against U.S.-based groups engaged in legal but unpopular political activism, ranging from political Islamists to animal-rights and environmental campaigners to radical right-wing organizations. There is concern, too, that the bill will undermine academic integrity and is the latest salvo in a decade-long government grab for power at the expense of civil liberties.

David Price, a professor of anthropology at St. Martin's University who studies government surveillance and harassment of dissident scholars, says the bill "is a shot over the bow of environmental activists, animal-rights activists, anti-globalization activists and scholars who are working in the Middle East who have views that go against the administration." Price says some right-wing outfits such as gun clubs are also threatened because "[they] would be looked at with suspicion under the bill." ]
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very damn funny, via neadods: Peter Petrelli/Chris Eccleston emo-a-thon in macros.

Eccleston FTW!
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Right. Working. Me. Gone!

two steps forward, one stagger back...

Remember last book, when I was kvelling over the fact that I finally had a handle on How I Work, and how much easier it was to deal with my usual writerly insecurities once I had that handle (okay, stranglehold)?

Right. That, as they say, was then. This is now.

The past week I've been really struggling with what needs to be done, and I'd look at the 80% of the manuscript that's done and think "OMG this is DREK, this SUCKS, there's no way I can send this to Madame Editrix, she will think I've lost it entirely."

And yet, I'm pretty sure I haven't lost any significant portion of my brain or talent, and these are the same characters, the same setting, the same world... why the sudden difficulty, book 6 rather than the relative ease of book 5?

Yesterday, it hit me in the face (much like a salmon, yes). Book 1 was a long time ago, and it was First Novel, so my brainset was, well, weird. Books 2-5 were part of a larger story arc, even as each book stands alone, and by the time I got to FREE FALL (#5) I was in the downward slope of a damned big mountain, where my main concern was keeping everything on track and not picking up too much speed. That's one kind of difficult, but I understood it.

BLOOD FROM STONE, on the other hand, is yes, the 6th book in a series. But it's also a true stand-alone -- with the attendant weight of five previous books of history behind it. So I-as-writer an being asked to a) create a story that established readers can fall into with a sense of "ohhh! old friends, new story!" while also b) create a book new readers can approach with confidence that they won't be sideswiped with Expectation of Previous Knowledge or swamped with Too Much Information, but will be able to pick things up as needed and only what is needed.

In other words, I'm overthinking the book. And I have to, at this stage, overthink it. Even if it means I drive myself crazy. Once it's all done, and Madame Editrix has done her thing on it, then I can go over the story again with less stress and more fun. I hope. In the end, it will all be well, and I will be happy (as happy as I ever am, anyway) with the result.

But damn, this stage is making me nucking futz.

*snerk*

evilmeer: OMG they made a sequel to National Treasure? I'm going to have to rent it when it comes out on dvd. And hate myself.
name redacted to protect the guilty: E-gads, really? Um, yeah, if I was up there I'd invite you over to watch it. We'd have to open a bottle of wine and swear each other to secrecy, but....
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also, Bones? Makes me so very very happy. "Santa got kicked by a reindeer?" "You're gonna swab our bells? Will it sting?" And beware lawyers feeling puckish. Oh yeah. No Very Special Moment and no insulin needed, but oh so perfect...


Working. Incoherent. I did warn you guys about the incoherence, right? /random