I'm sick

Why do I keep doing this? Buying books when I know I don't have time to read. I barely have time to pay the bills this month (the mortgage is due when?) Yet I received three in the mail today (one weighing in at almost 900 pages) and have six more I've purchased in the last month. Not to mention a stack of others in my TBR pile. Why, why, why? I can't possibly read them during my lunch hour, the only uninterrupted time I have nowadays.

My friends, I suffer from readabookamania. Or maybe it's neverhaveenoughaphobia. There is nothing as comforting as a wall of books, read or unread. Unless it's a full freezer. Or a full pantry. Or stacks of magazines. Or fat quarters of fabric. You know, I think I might have a "stuff" problem. Ya think?

What book are you dying to read?

Enchanted Beowulf

Weekend movies:
Enchanted, a Cool Whip of a movie, sweet and airy with a fly speck of Susan Sarandon (wicked stepmother) crunching scenes like they were Fritos. Disney pokes fun at itself in a sweeping, let's-everybody sing in Central Park kind of way. Grade: B+

Beowulf, the digital version. It's like watching video game characters act in a movie. Sometimes, they're eerily real (Ray Winstone, normally a pudgy Englishman now enhanced

to Gerard Butler 300 buffness) Sometimes they're wooden (Robin Wright Penn, oh, Buttercup, what has thou wrought?) Crispin Glover does his wacked out character routine, John Malkovich is John Malkovich and Anjelina is pretty much naked except for some strategically placed mud. If you can get over the digital characters (300 is way better) I'd give it B-

The score is excellent. Listen here:http://www.beowulfmovie.com/

The nose hits the grindstone

What is a grindstone anyway? Where can you buy one? My grandpa used to have one, about 12" across, set on its side in a wooden frame. He'd sit on one end and push a pedal, turning the grindstone faster and faster then he'd sharpen knives and axes and anything he'd need for the farm. Grandpa was a sadistic old coot (kidding.)

Week last for NaNo and I'm within site of the end. Or the middle, as this book will top out near 400 pages. I'm at 160 with seven days to go. The steam has dropped off a bit. I blame it on POV changes, it always takes me a page or two to get into a new scene.

Wednesday, I wrote awful sex. I didn't write awful, the sex was awful. It was meant to be. Who says it has to be earth-shattering the first time? For my characters, that would be all wrong. She has trust/intimacy issues and the circumstances leading up to the sex were very stressful. Here's a hint - it will get better. Here's another - the best music to play while writing sex is Andrea Bocelli.

Today's best line, used when the H/H argue about the pressure of being a leader:

“Someone has to do the dirty work, right?”

“Nay. Someone has to survive to live with the pain of deciding who dies.”

Do you know who I am?

Saturday, we went to a local museum to see a National Archive exhibit on loan. It happened to be in the neighborhood/staging area of the Christmas parade. The parking lot was empty because the burly guard told us if we parked there without proof we went to the museum, we'd be given a ticket for $50.00. I would have liked to have seen the parade, but hubby was a stickler for seeing the exhibit (which has been there for six weeks and will be there another six) so we went through with our original plans.

While we waited for Sir EatsAlot to unchain the gate, a big SUV pulled in behind us. I mean BIG. Hubby said it's the biggest one Ford makes. I think it would have held a hockey team and three or four mascots. Driving the SUV was one of our local TV anchors. You know who she is if you live in the area. First initial S. Anyway, I'm sure she pulled the "Do you know who I am?" ploy because she swung in behind us in her non-TV news vehicle and parked. Funny, I don't remember seeing her in the museum. Bet she didn't get a ticket, either.

Who do you know who uses the "Do you know who I am?" line? Or, is it you?

Whew, made it!

Fourteen days of NaNo, one hundred pages. Who would have thought? I slowed down for a day or two because I'd written myself into a corner and finally said "I can fix this later." Tonight is the second turning point, when Richard has to make the decision that will keep Lissa from the evil henchman. BIG, life altering decision.
This weekend, they have sex (woo-hoo) probably the earliest two of my characters have done it. (Not everyone can write it in the first chapter, er, scene, er, paragraph) I don't think it will be pretty, lyrical sex (Fwhuh?) Obligation on his part, and she'll be so twisted up inside trying not to empath his feelings that she won't allow herself to let go. All subject to change, of course. I have Andrea Bocelli to listen to, and time blocked out.
In other news, we had to put our kitty down. A really, really, really tough decision, but it was time. On the up, unfeeling owner side, know where I can get good carpet cheap?
Time to get out my agent list and submit again. Two a week. This will make it my. . .second week in a row. One thing about email queries, there's no waiting months and months for rejection.

Here is another picture of Lissa. As you can see, she's a very tortured individual. She just killed some more of the bad guys with her mind, but doesn't know how. The evil henchman is about to claim "dibs" on her as she appeared in his land first when she was summoned from Earth. Richard has to find a way to keep her, but there are strict laws on the losst, those without families. There's only one solution. . .

NaNo pages:97, chugging toward 100 by midnight.

Best lame-ass writing:(insert battle scene)

It's all about the word count, people.

Writing a book is like a hockey game

Let me explain why.

Both have three periods - a beginning, a middle and an end

Fights are known to break out

There are penalties for misbehavior

There are heroes and villains

It can go into overtime

In the case of the one I attended Saturday, the first few minutes (chapters) and the last few minutes (chapters) were the most exciting

You never know what will happen

There are always distractions

The only differences is - the heroes in a book generally have all their teeth and at the end, they get the girl instead of a big cup. Or a girl with big cups. Or -

Now let's hear your comparisons.

My book is like a ?

NaNo page count:82

What makes you scream like a girl?

More people would rather die than speak in public. It's our greatest fear. I think of this because tomorrow is my weekly Toastmasters meeting, and I am giving two presentations. One 90 seconds long (ish) on how easy it is to speak on Table Topics (an impromptu 90 second, don't know until I'm at the podium and see the topic what I'm going to talk about). The other is a PowerPoint (don't be impressed, it's three slides) presentation on recruiting new members. It's scripted, so I have no prep work other than winging the opening and conclusion. Am I nervous about doing this? Not anymore. Practice makes perfect and all that jazz.

Interestingly, authors - who live for words - seem to be the most petrified when it comes to public speaking, pitching to agents and editors or even saying hi to a stranger at a conference.

What is your biggest fear? Irrationally (aren't they all?) mine is falling down a flight of stairs.

Today's word count: zero (so far)

NaNo pages: 51 with no chapter breaks

It's like driving with a map in the fog

I'm discovering outlines are like maps. They show you where to go, but they don't tell you how to get there. I have this super-duper, four page, color coded outline with one sentence tags. Stuff like "Richard and Lissa on the road to his sister's." Uh-huh. Okay, what are they doing on the way? What do they talk about, sense, think?

That, my friends, is the challenge. Every day I sit down and think "Now what?" Every time I change a scene, it's "What do I do now?" Yesterday, my husband asked how many pages I'd written since our last conversation. When I told him, he said "Two pages in two hours?" Hey, I'd changed scenes. Two new characters stood there for awhile, like blinking cursors, until they decided what to say. After I get going, though, it's golden. Some really good stuff rolls off onto the screen.

I guess it must be working. I'm at thirty-eight pages and determined to hit forty before the night is through.

A map in the fog. Huh.

Lissa

I really don't have a full facial picture of Lissa, they're all like this one. Yeah, she has red hair. Longer, I think, and without the MayDay bouquet.

Yesterday's NaNo count - 10 pages. Don't be impressed, seven of those were from conception of the idea.

I have thirty-one scenes in the first half of the book on my spreadsheet. One a day. It won't be pretty, but this is the vomit draft, right?

Tonight - Richard's first POV scene. I have no idea what he has in store for me. On the other hand, I have several ideas for him (see yesterday's post, hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, nudge.)