A Meerkat's Bolthole

Brain never really engaged on Tuesday, so after taking Pandora to the vet, I gave up and dealt with a lot of small pending things. Y'know, filing, cleaning, laundry, answering e-mails, culling the pile of magazines TBR, figuring out what wines I'll be taking with me for the Seder Thursday night....

Also had some back-and-forth with Madame Editrix about the cover for Hard Magic. At this point, urban fantasy has a look that seems as carved-in-stone as Scottish romances, but there really is such a thing as too much over-identification, and I asked, rather plaintively, if we couldn't get away from the overt trappings, just a bit?

Some ideas were bandied about, and a compromise that I rather like was floated, but it will all depend on Voices Other Than Mine having their say. In a perfect world, the cover for Hard Magic would be a shot of Bonnie working a la the opening credits of CSI, only with a swirl of magic replacing whatever technical apparatus they were using, and No. Leather. Anywhere.

Also; no tats, midriffs, or high heeled anything. In the books, she is far more likely to be wearing cargo pants, engineer's boots, and a long-sleeved baby tee.

We'll see, the author said dubiously and yet with a spark of hope somewhere deep in her withered soul...

Thankfully brain staged a comeback Tuesday night, and another 2 chapters were red-marked and retrofitted. There are portions of this book I really like, and portions that are scaring me for what they're trying to do. That's a good combination, I think. But there's something rising out of the mess, slowly.

Like all books, this one's teaching me something new I didn't know about process: I'm still finding things my lizard brain left there for the mammal brain to pick up and work into the revised narrative, but the actual timing and results of that are...changing. I'm still not quite sure how. Updates as I figure it out.

And thinking about story-building let me to some more thinking about Monday night's episode of Castle -- ( some spoilers here )

And now, coffee, writing, and, um, more writing. And some red-lining and possibly some headdesking, kicking of walls, and whimpering.

As usual, this is a Fool-Free Zone*. For today, anyway. You may return to your usual foolishness tomorrow.

Despite the chaos of flooring and cabinetry and oops sorta forgetting to eat an actual meal until 5pm, I managed to haul another 1500 new words down on Pack of Lies, and am through to the penultimate chapter. As seems to be forever the case, the closer I get to the ending, the more I understand what I needed to do in the beginning, so before I write the final chapter I will be going back and starting the rewrite.

Yep, I rewrite without knowing exactly how the last chapter will go. I know most of it, of course. But the actual laying down of words? Doesn't get done in the first draft. Y'see, if I write that final chapter? The book's done. I'm ready to go on to the next project. If I don't tell myself how it all turns out for real-and-final, though? I can keep working at it.

Yeah, I know. My brain is weird. But you work with what you're assigned. And this particular weirdness works for me. That's the damned truth of this business: you have to go with what works for you, and toss everything else. There is no One Write Way.

Nick tossed me a glazed doughnut, and I caught it with one hand. Nifty held up six fingers, rating my catch. I gave him one in return.

Today, the cabinets are to be installed. The cats are already in hiding. If all goes well, tomorrow the crew will be off cutting and prepping the countertops, and I will be able to start putting some things away. Yay! (no working stove or sink for a while yet, but it will Look Like A Kitchen!)


( Meanwhile, an update to the Troll Situation discussed earlier: )



*I have nothing against April Fools' jokes, but there should also be a place where you can relax and not have to second-guess anything. Today, this LJ is such a place.**

** and no, this is not a multi-year lead in to a significant April Fool's. Believe me, I'm really not that ambitious. Or organized. Or ...am I?***
*** however, I did help perpetuate a prank indirectly... http://www.slowtravtours.com/index.htm You may recognize some of the photos...

Knowing that the week will, hopefully, bring the return of Better Homes & Deadlines, I had planned to do a hard push on the WiP this weekend.

48 hours + massive caffeine + Insomnia Cookies = 5,800 new words. It would have been more, but the weekend also brought with it the sinus headache that Will Not Die. Ugh. Still, I think good stuff was done, and I'm now one-and-a-half chapters away from (very) rough draft, alleluia.

It took us four bars and more beer than I was comfortable drinking that early in the day, but we finally found a little pub where at least half the clientele were non-human. The rest looked to be Nulls, surprisingly. Or maybe not surprising at all: people who were half in the bag before noon probably didn’t blink if their drinking buddy, in better light, might possibly have horns, or wings, or iridescent skin.

I also wrote out a quick precis for the crack story idea, and a longer option proposal, and read a collection of novellas from Christine Feehan. Yay me.

And now I am going to take the drugs that will kill this headache once and for all, and when I wake up it will be Monday. Or, possibly, Tuesday.


How was everyone else's weekend? Anyone do anything exciting I can envy?

Well, Blood from Stone has been Klausnered, so I guess it's in the pipeline. *braces self* Six books and seven years in, and wow, it's been a hell of a trip. Thankfully, Bonnie & Crew are letting me stay in that world while Wren & Sergei rest, and I know that there are still stories in the Retriever universe to be told, but... melancholy, baby. Melancholy. I think I may be writing more on this, as the book comes closer to release.

Have also made flight reservations to Dragon*Con, and am working out transit plans for WorldCon, and thinking about the great California Road Trip in October. And maybemaybe making a side trip to Chicago after that. And maybe Virginia, so Dori and Ashley will stop nagging me. *grin* And to think, this was the year I wasn't going to travel....

I managed to get away for a much-needed non-takeaway meal last night, rounded off with chocolates from La Maison du Chocolat. om nom nom. I've mostly grown out of my sweet tooth, but a fine piece of chocolate is still a thing of delight and they do some seriously fiiiine chocolate (I'd still rather be buying 'em in Paris, but I'm happy they're here)

Meanwhile, the patching and sanding continues today. Hopefully it will be a quiet day, as I'm well into the copyedit for Flesh & Fire and I really want to get it sorted soonest possible, so I'm not lugging it with me at Luancon.

(Speaking of which: ( reposting my Lunacon schedule: )

After the aforementioned six books with Luna, it's nice to see an old-fashioned full-on copyedit again. That's the one gripe I have with Harlequin -- they give us 'author alterations' but not the actual copyedit. They say it's the same but it very much isn't. (AA's are best described as pre-typesetting page proofs). So far, there's only one problem I've discovered, and that was from the CE misreading what I had asked for in my notes, and making that mistake throughout. Hopefully an easy enough fix. But it's still 400+ pages of close reading of a book I can't read without wanting to completely rewrite it (imagine a geek being handed a brand new piece of customizable tech and being told she can't crack the box. Then you'll have an idea of my frustration). Yes, you CAN rewrite portions of the book in copyedit, but since we're on a rush schedule to get galleys out in time for BEA... I suspect the production department would really rather I didn't.

And I need to get cracking on the next chapter of Pack of Lies, now that I think (shhh, don't scare it) the plot's finally come unstuck, and call Madame Editrix about Mustang specifics, before I finally start that, and...

I should get the hell off-line and back to work, shouldn't I?>.

The workmen have left and, much to my surprise and amusement, it was Pandora who was out and about first. Boomer is still in his hideyhole, wide-eyed and nervous.



I've taken photos, but figure I'll wait until there are several stages to show, and then do a single cut-tagged post, so folk who aren't interested can click on by.

Meanwhile, proving that if it weren't for bad timing we'd have none at all, I got an e-mail from Mam'selle Editrix informing me that the copy-edit for Flesh & Fire is en route... and due back Monday. And this weekend's Lunacon. Of course. Good thing I set up the caffeine providers in my office, for the duration..



Back to beating chapter nine into shape....

Happy birthday, marinarusalka! May it be filled with much happy squee.
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Managed to get 2,000 new words yesterday, working around paperwork and Other Life Events. Now all I have to do is keep that pace for another month, and it's smooth sailing. Um, yeah. Well, it's a goal. It's good to have goals, right? I also managed to write an entire scenelet that may not actually fit in the book, but was good to put down on the page -- it filled out a lot of the character interactions, and finally let me use some venom I've been saving for a special occasion. Never irritate a writer. You'll end up in a book, sooner rather than later, and it won't be pretty.
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I haven't been posting much about things financial or political because at this point you're either paying attention or your head's so firmly in the sand you've struck oil. But while we're all peeking carefully with one eye at the financial news, and wincing, there's other stuff going on in DC, too. From the New York Times this morning:

A few weeks before he left office, President George W. Bush told federal officials that, in effect, they did not have to bother getting the advice of wildlife experts before taking actions that might harm plants or animals protected by the Endangered Species Act.

On Tuesday, President Obama said that, in effect, they did.

Saving the future, one presidential edict at a time. (okay, it's not a total reversal. It's moving in the right direction, for a change. Save the polar bear. Save the world. [Not just the humans who live on it])
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And now I must get to that to-do list. Y'all have a good day, y'hear?

Good morning! (or evening, or tomorrow, depending on where you're coming in from)

I have posted my monthly meanderings over at SF Novelists -- this time on writing in what I call a "timeline" series, and why continuity really matters. Check it out, give me love feedback.
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I realized yesterday that I really miss teaching. It was the part of my editorial job I loved most, bringing people into new knowledge and understanding, and then seeing what they'd do with it. I haven't done enough of that lately. *is sad*

Managed to hit 2000 words for the day, and the end of chapter 6. This is very much "first draft" stuff, where I'm laying markers and establishing build-ups and turning points. To use my usual physical metaphor, I'm stringing muscle and veins along the skeleton, and not even worrying about the flesh just yet. It's ugly, but it lives. And the book is totally living up to its title.

I'm figuring this will eventually come in at around 90,000 words, which looks to be standard for the PSI novels. My goal is to get first draft done by early April. We'll see.

I really should be thinking about Mustang (the next 'Anna Leonard' book), having gotten my preliminary notes back from madame editor, but... the brain, it's just not there. Soon, though. And short fiction. Gods, I want to write short fiction again. Twisty, complicated, layered stuff not tied in to any book or established series...

Universe, I am not ungrateful for my life. I quite like my life. But do you think you could maybe find a way to give me a few extra hours every week, not taken away from anything else, just for short fiction? I promise not to waste it...


Speaking of which, the coffee is done, the cats are fed and complacent... it must be time to open up a file and actually do something.


(Wow, I really am spamming LJ this week, aren't I? Be glad I don't Twitter....)

(quote courtesy of kradical)

Despite my being cranky all over the Internet (saying Stupid Things about the economy -- "everyone should just walk away from their debts! That will make it all better! And if you disagree with me you're a Republican!" -- will annoy me. Srsly) it ended up being a 2900 3400 word day, which doesn't suck.

And I got to use "a horny faun" and "Kierkegaard" in the same paragraph. That made me feel much better.

(yes, Danny is in this book. I love Danny. He and Bonnie play so very well together, it's like I created him for that very purpose. I didn't, but I should have)

I may push for those extra hundred words, to round it off. Otherwise, tonight there is beef stew, and wine, and "Holiday" on dvd. *bliss*

I am being a bad writer-suri today: I am not writing anything. Mainly this is because I got in at 4:30 this morning (ow, ow, and also ow) and didn't wake up until around 10 (and then only because the phone woke me up,) and making potluck pasta and watching Leverage is about all my brain can handle.

Am having some interesting backbrain thoughts about the subplot, though, and scribbled down some notes that should make for an interesting mid-book twist. Also, ties in neatly with what's already been implied but not established about Talent in the previous series. Should also give me a way to bring forward a secondary character without jarring the narrative. That will be fun (and when you guys actually read this part, two years from now, maybe one person will go "oh, that's what she was talking about. Cool!" For you, dear reader, I dedicate that scene).

Later, there will be bill-paying, and then I am heading back downtown for the evening. I r a soshal meerkat.


Tomorrow, the world goes back to its natural order of things.


As an aside: having seen possibly the Ur bachelor's apartment, source of All Jokes, last night, I wonder -- how would y'all define the such a thing? How about for a woman? This is actually for research, so speak up, don't be shy, share your observations freely...

PSI #2: PACK OF LIES
Due: 4 May 2009


Bonnie's sulking about being ignored for so long, but we'll have her moving again soon...


EtA: and tonight, we have short ribs Provençal for dinner. Mmmmmyum