I've decided to keep a semi-regular online journal, not connected to any novel dare. That means you can keep reading me as long as you like!
Hmm. I suspect I lost some of you right there...
Anyway, the rudimentary semi-permanent journal page can be found here.
Go on. Entries'll be there from now on.
The astute reader will realize that I've had problems with this book. Those difficulties have largely been due to failures of discipline and organization rather than imagination, but it can't be denied that the problems have adversely affected my imagination-- and worse yet, my attitude. This past week, especially, it's been a chore to sit down and write, even though the words I've been producing aren't bad, in my opinion. So today I got to thinking about the novel, and the things I liked about it in the first place-- the kick-ass battles, the contagious magic, the dream-symbolism, the wicked villains...
And, while I hesitate to make broad sweeping proclamations about rediscovering the joy of my novel, I will say that today I rediscovered that joy.
Marla, our heroine, stopped running, gritted her teeth, and decided to make a stand.
I would've written more, but I had other things to attend to, mostly planning the class I'm teaching tomorrow (I'm guest lecturing in a poetry class at the University while the prof's out of town; I get to rant about line breaks, which I always enjoy doing).
Oh, this weekend I did work on the book, mostly typing in stuff I'd written in longhand, and what with fleshing out scenes and such, it gained about a thousand words, so that's reflected in the big word count, too.
I wrote these words at work, on my lunch break, because I didn't think I'd have time to write at night. I was correct. My girlfriend's going out of town for the weekend, so I planned to spend Thursday evening with her, and I did. Desperate for a movie, we went to see Return to Me, which wasn't as bad as I'd feared. I won't go into an exhaustive critique, but it wasn't a "You-have-my-dead-wife's-heart-and-her-spirit-lives-in-you-so-I-love-you" sort of thing, as I'd feared. The characters were vivid and fun.
Bookwise: Weird stuff happening, man. Fun scenes. The dreamworld is bleeding into the real world, as I mentioned, bits of landscape popping up here and there, and it's confusing the ordinaries and worrying the sorcerers. Divers alarums, black ferris wheels covered in spikes, burning arks, and so on...
Return to my main page.
Entries from a bygone era: Early February.
Entries from ancient days: More February.
Entries from the dim past: Fragments of March. Except for the bits that vanished.