Noble · White · Champion · of · Light

Really, it only took me fifteen minutes. A new record!

( Road Trip (261 words) )

Or rather, a drive-by?

BusyBusyBusy, and I'm just on long enough to beg solicit some words. I might even have a tale for posting later tonight, depending on when I get words.

Have at it!

Got a rejection slip this morning. This may seem weird to many writers, especially the apprentices, but I was quite happy to see a rejection slip in my inbox--indeed, any correspondence that says, "You're a writer."

It's a story that has been out over two hundred days and, honestly, I'd forgotten about.

It was a nice little rejection ending with a "not for us". And I'm fine with that. On to the next market!

I was happy to see it not for what it said, but for it's affirmation that I was a writer. Recently I'd forgotten I was a writer. I've been having some serious stress at work and it's brought some introspective moments.^{1}

Friday morning I found myself wondering what on earth I was doing in the IT industry when my degree was in Fine Arts. "Why am I not a writer?" I asked myself. Growing up, I never said, "I want to work with computers". I.T. 'happened'. I fell into it. It was the job I took at university to help put me through school, and I seem to have been stuck there ever since.

But I've always wanted to be a writer. I've got the rejection slip today to prove it. I had a dig through my Sonar files and found a few stories that weren't off doing rounds, though I thought they should be.

Today's alas-o-gram will take a bit of research, for the audience is more the (Christian) Romance crowd. I'm not as au fait with these markets as I am the SFF markets. Feel free to suggest any markets that would like a futuristic romance story with religious undertones.

One languishing story already has a market I want to send it to, as soon as the market opens 1 August. The moment they whack up their sub address, my story is so there!

Some days I feel like that Far Side cartoon "The Elephant's Nightmare".

---

^{1} I think these introspective moments when I'm stressed are a reaction to my soul freaking out and trying to solve the problem that's causing me stress. Part of my problem-solving process involves looking for a possible escape route, aka, what happens if I drop everything and run for the hills?

I adored Joss Whedon's "Dr Horrible". I sang along, my daughters are still singing along and I cried at the end, it was so bittersweet and beautiful.

For the rest of the weekend, I sat, wistful, for several reasons. I'm sorry it was only open for a short window; I don't know if there will be any more, and I don't know how long it will be before I can buy the DVD. Oh yes, I will buy the DVD.

An SF musical (with mandatory love story) filmed and broadcasted across the internet. It is the best thing I've seen all year.

(Hey Joss! I've got a degree in film and music and have computer experience! Can I join you on your next project? Puh-leeze?!? PLEEZpleezPLEEZpleezPLEEZpleezPLEEZpleezPLEEZpleez...)

I can has a good spouse.

( That which caused my initial stress: network disconnectivity. )

So I went home all frustrated. Now, His Grace had been listening, for the past six weeks, to my sotto voce grumbling about the stress of work. But that night I burst out in a fit of temper.

Nobody likes to be screamed at, even if it's not one's fault. Yet he sat there and listened to me while a month and a half of frustration came tumbling out in an hour. And that's why he's a great husband.

Now, His Grace happens to be a computer scientist. When my raves of anger dwindled down to mews of helplessness, he drew a scarily-accurate diagram of our server room (based from my tearful description) and gave it a good squiz.

"You tweak the dooleyhopper?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"You fiddle the faddle?"

"Yep."

He thought some more. "That modem a dual-address modem?"

I didn't have a clue.

"Go find out," he told me. "Power been cycled on the Cisco switch?"

"Uh... no?"

He nodded sagely. "Try that tomorrow and see if things work. You owe the Oracle one cheesecake."

Sure enough, a boot to the old Cisco switch solved the problem and I now have a library full of grateful librarians.

One cheesecake coming right up.

One does not truly appreciate how long the process from draft to publication is until one goes through it.

But our first Romance Spinners project,"The Enchanted Faerie" finally has it publication date!

Woo-fricking-hoo!

So, on 21 November of 2008, get thee hence to The Wild Rose Press and secure your digital copy of "The Enchanted Faerie".

Wanna hard copy to drop into the tub? That's due for release in May 2009. (And quite reasonably priced, I thought.)

And now let us have a squee of delight for one of the fluffy little royal-icing roses on the cake, the ISBN: 1-60154-364-6

Getting better at this sort of thing, I hope. Still not quite as good as martinlivings.

Thanks to:
callistra bubble
silk_noir crepuscular
mnfaure How about a word picture instead? Mmm.. yeah. Okay. (See if any of you can spot it.)

( 950-word story: 'Corporate Medium' )

Yesterday I was busy with a sick child. Today I'm busy at work with a sick system. This morning we had a sick car. Illness all around!

Normally I put in a request for words on Monday, but that wasn't going to happen, so here it is Tuesday and all that.

Toss me some words and I'll see what sort of tale I can cobble together today.

Today I have no desire but to go home and do nothing but indulge in fiction. I have no idea when I'll be home today, as I'm waiting on some network guys to come and change the IP address on the new modem they installed last week.

I don't know when they'll show up.

Life is full of I-don't-know's this week month quarter.

At least I have chocolate.

Work has been quite busy the past six weeks, thus the lack of my presence on the Internet, or indeed anywhere else but at work or the crossroads.

( Computery geeky stuff for those who are interested. )

This is, what we call in the IT industry, 'job security'.

Okay, so it's Wednesday. Tuesday at work was so busy there was no way I could think straight and when I came home, I had fifteen different things to do and I didn't even get to turn on my computer, much less write anything.

So, work was just as bad as it has been for the past six weeks, but I managed to sneak out a wee bit early and I had a few music students be late, so I cranked out this slightly-delightful little 1K tale. Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks to...
mikandra yoyo
callistra dirigible
lanyn melancholy
dorianegray viscid
...for their words.

( Spell Programmers )

Gimmie some words and let's see if I can come up with something...

a) short
b) funny
c) spontaneous
or
d) two out of three.

Meanwhile, ( today's gripe. (Don't worry; it's short.) )

Yep, that's it. I officially suck this week as a writer. The following 1775-word story is an unfair and unworthy response to the very, very good words that
jpsorrow (pompous, batshit, electrostatic)
and
mnfaure (malady)
and
rcloenen_ruiz (malapropos)
gave me. In fact, you are better off just reading the above words and imagining the terrific and humourous story that they could all have been found it, because to read the following story will be a waste of your ten minutes.

Still, these words count towards my million, don't they?

( Tweeville )

I almost didn't post it, it's so bad.

Yahno, that's exactly the sort of story I had to suffer through in University workshop classes. Crap. It's tweeness has embedded itself in my brain, dormant for nearly twenty years, only to awaken now? Bugger!

Why can't I write this week? Where has my muse gone? It took me until nearly eight-thirty tonight to even try and come up with a plot. That is so not me. I hope I can blame this on the cold I've got and the stress in my life (stressor #1, how on earth do I rearrange next quarter's schedule so Their Ladyships can go to gym on Thursday; stressor #2, I learned today that the IT manager is seriously thinking of pulling me from my on-site position at the library and sticking me in the generic Help Desk centre up at the Council building. That is so not on!).

Maybe next week I'll be a better writer.

Now, unrelated opinions: should I continue to play around with my style and voice in little exercises like this, or should I rewrite Troth of the Dark and hope I've improved enough in my craft in the past short while to make a difference?

Because Justine Larbalestier told me to and mikandra is also following the herd (or should that be 'heard'?).

So...

How to Write a Novel
by Heidi Wessman Kneale

Okay, this should be titled "How I Write a Novel", but since there are only so many ways of going about novel creation, no doubt several people may benefit by hearing about my method.

For me, a novel doesn't start with an idea, but the resolution of an idea. I've gotta know how the novel ends. Otherwise, I'll start writing only to have things fizzle out in the end. Nobody likes a dull or unsatisfying ending.

But if I can come up with a dramatic and satisfying ending, then I've got a novel.

No, I'm not an organic writer. I tried to be one once, but half-way through I discovered I had no idea where I was going. I had to sit down and brainstorm the rest of the novel. Therefore, I'm a structured writer. I like to have some sort of roadmap to let me know where I'm going. I don't have to write down the map, but sometimes it helps.

Now that I know how the novel ends, I need to work out how what sort of snafu situation led to needing that particular resolution. Once I suss that out, I can sit down and write.

Coming up with the ending and the beginning involves a lot of thinking and sorting and shuffling in my mind. This is called pre-writing, and it all happens in my head. I could spend months or even years shuffling stuff about. I'll spend idle moments working out scenes, playing with descs or character motivations.

Knowing where I'm going and how the novel is going to end makes for fast writing for me. Once I've got the gist of how things connect, I can sit down and crank out the words.

The events that happen in my novels are due to the goals and motivations of my characters. They have something they want to accomplish, and so they set out to get things done. Something comes along to prevent them from reaching their goal by the direct route and they have to deal with that.

I never have characters that prefer their status quo and suddenly they're tossed off into the deep end. I have characters who have dreams and goals and suddenly they're tossed off into the deep end. I prefer this, because not only do I have a character who's trying to cope with treading water but they've got to examine themselves and their own personal goals and how will they achieve them now?

I believe this makes my characters proactive, rather than reactive. Makes 'em more interesting that way.

Setting. I confess I haven't been very good with setting in the past, but recently I've been exploring on how I can make setting better. I've figured out that I should treat setting like a character. Setting should be given mood and other characters should interact with it. I don't know why it took me this long to figure it out. I should have figured this one out in the early 90's when I was studying moviemaking and stagecraft. Lighting is very important in film and theatre. By changing the way you light something, you give it atmosphere and mood.

Same thing applies to writing. The details one points out should add to the emotional environment one is trying to create, either by highlighting or contrasting it. I need to be a better gaffer in my novels.

Pacing is important and I try to pace things so that they have a certain rhythm. I'm still trying to get the hang of this.

Last, and maybe most of all, I must love the novel. I must love it so much my heart aches when I'm not working on it. If I love it, I will indulge in it and that indulgence will show.

Now, since I never envisioned an ending to this post, I'm going to fizzle out now and no doubt will only think of a clever ending much later.

Meanwhile, how do you write a novel? Novelists must understand their method for the best chance of success.

For some time now I've been aware of The Rules.

We all know about women and their rules. Women have rules, women need rules, the world is better off for the rules they bring to it. (Now, men may disagree but that is another post.)

But today I'm going to speak of The Rules, specifically. The Rules are ones that all women should know and observe. Not all women know all The Rules, but lucky is the woman who susses them out sooner, rather than later, keeping them faithfully. By observing The Rules, a woman's life is made easier than it might otherwise be.

To help my fellow women in their sussing, I'm going to share a few of The Rules I am aware of. (In no particular order)

1. Never love a man more than he loves you.
2. Never leave your purse in the car.
3. Always think before you speak.
4. Modesty becomes you and is in your best interest.
5. Never leave the safety of the group at night.
6. Never relinquish complete financial control.
7. Possess the skills to be self-sufficient.
8. Don't be stupid.
9. Remember you don't know everything.

And there are more. I'll probably remember them after I hit the "post" button. Maybe I'll add them later.

But I post these here while I am thinking of them so that others can learn the easy way. Learning the hard way isn't always for the best.

Okay, posting a request for words now, because I have no idea what tomorrow's gonna be like.

I've got a virus of some sort, and I'm not top-o'-th'-morning. Came home early from work today and crashed for the afternoon. Unfortunately, I got some later stress that undid all that good rest.

( Ah, the joys of scheduling chillin's schedules. Sucks, don't it? Oh, and whiny self-indulgent complaints. )

So, feeling that I needed to work on my craft, I cranked out a story and posted it to the OWW. I knew it was crap, but wasn't sure how. My peeps told me how it was crap. Hmmm... I wonder if the story was crap because I'd forced it, or if it just wasn't a good idea in the first place. I tried to do something I don't normally do, but couldn't maintain consistency in style and voice.

So, to see if it was a fluke or if my cold had affected me or if I'm just all Mercury retrograde through Gemini this week, I want you guys to toss me a whole bunch'a words and we'll see if I can turn out something interesting on Tuesday or if I'm currently writing crap.

I'm too scared to tackle my "I see dead people" story right now. It's a good premise and I want to do it justice.

Ah, the joys of being a journeyman.

Gakked from rhfay. This is my attempt to provide semi-interesting content in my blog.

Post 3 things you've done in your lifetime that you don't think anybody else on your friends list has done. See if anybody else responds with "I've done that." If they have, you need to add another!(2.b., 2.c., etc...) Have your friends cut & paste this into their journal to see what unique things they've done in their life.

1. I have performed live at Carnegie Hall before a paying audience and possess photographic proof back in Utah.

2. I flew across the world with a 12-month-old strapped to my back and a 2-year-old on a leash.

3. I bought my piano as an impulse purchase at the Royal Show (read: State Fair) and have never regretted it once.

I seem to be getting worse and worse. I tell you, I had a hard time with callistra's "paleontologist" and mindseas' "mainstay".

( 850-word tale about a rock. )

Now, I may or may not get to this today. Life's quite busy today and lots of things have been going snafu.

Still, toss some words my way and I'll see if I can crank out a tale today while Their Ladyships are at Tap class.

meanwhile, if anyone knows how to install software from a .bin file on Linux, I'd really appreciate a clue. The following instructions from the company that makes the software don't work. And what the frell is a .bin file anyway? Maybe I'm showing my ignorance, but it's no compression format I'm familiar with.

Instructions:
1. Download the milup160_02.bin file, as appropriate. Pick Save to Disk at the prompt.
2. Right click on the file and select Show Properties. Choose the Permission tab and verify the Executable box is checked for Owner.
3. From the main menu, choose Run for the appropriate .bin file.
4. Choose Next when prompted by the setup wizard.

Yeah. right. "Run" doesn't exist on a linux machine. Simply executing the bin file doesn't work, nor does apt-get. The package manager doesn't recognise it as a package. This sucks.

ETA: okay, I was running it wrong. Instead of typing milup160_02.bin at the command prompt, I should have been typing ./milup160_02.bin. Really, I am thirty-six different kinds of idiot today. Duh. Program now installed. Whether or not it'll run waits to be tested.

Oh, and it seems the head gasket (or one of 'em, anyway) is going on my car. I won't even begin to tell you how much that'll cost to fix.

At least the fire drill at work today went smoothly. And Richard's new portfolio is up. There's some really nice shots in there.

Gakked from sartorias, who gakked it from asakiyume. This video can also be found on Where The Hell Is Matt?.

For tikiwanderer, because she asked:

From The LED Light.

LEDs wired in series:

LEDs wired in parallel:

When I did mine, I did them in series. Easier for my purposes.

Yes, the legs on LEDs are different lengths. That's how you tell the polarity.