Month: August 2008

bookmark_borderStruggling

Posted on by PaulaO

My push to write has ground to a halt. Bits and pieces of flotsam and jetsam have jammed my gears. It is irritating.

Meanwhile, I’ve read some truly awful books (with poor editing and copy editing, too!) and while I know I can do better than that, I just can’t seem to get it going.

I did have some flashes of inspiration and wrote out several two page somethings. One was very very weird. Weirder than my normal weird. I deleted it. The other two I saved. Maybe some day, if you are nice, I might share. Don’t hold yer breath though.

I still can’t just let myself go and write whatever comes off the tips of my fingers as they bang the keys. The three short stories (more like flash fiction) kinda helped, but I can’t seem to do it on the current WIPs. Very frustrating.

I hurt my back today. I bent over. Silly of me, I know. My shoulder is killing me, too. When Fay was giving us the much needed rain, I was drugged to keep the pain at bay or at least to a dull roar. Monster Blue is still at the repair shop. Come to find out, the monkeys in Charlotte had freakin’ unplugged everything underneath. They’d opened the battery compartment and unplugged everything. Since I’d had trouble with it before that, I didn’t think to actually look. But while Mobility Concepts had the thing, they did some upgrading for safety reasons. I had a busted armrest (damn flimsy plastic on a place where people put their weight to transfer) and was missing both armrest pads (one blew off on the way to Atlanta three years ago). I can go get Blue at any time while they wait for the parts. And I can, now, since Lorna finally got her car on the road and I have My Truck back.

At any rate, there ya go.

bookmark_borderTime Lines

Posted on by PaulaO

Arrgh.

The current direction of BG2 just ain’t gonna work. I have Ellen and Sam moving down together (from Philly). But it’s just not working. I can’t do Nikki and Ellen’s plot with Sam and Chaz’s going on, too. The time line just isn’t coming together right. And it’s just not time, it’s plot. That thing that readers kinda hope happens when they buy a book, yanno? Silly readers. What do they know, right?

Anyway, I’ve now got to back up and make it Ellen moves down alone, but perhaps Sam comes with her maybe, to help? Then returns up Nawth? She needs to come down later to meet Chaz again, but right now, it just isn’t working.

Sometimes I wish my characters DID talk to me, ’cause then I’d put their fictional asses to work! You don’t like where I’m taking you? FINE! Where do you want to go? I figure if I fall asleep during the movie in my head, then the book isn’t working as it is.

Dammit. And I’d crossed the 10K line today, too!

bookmark_borderWriting for Whom?

Posted on by PaulaO

Used to, I just sat down and wrote. My mind wasn’t crowded by crap such as sentence structure, plot, and the dreaded Show, Don’t Tell. (shudder)

I could sit down and write several thousand words a day and not break a sweat. A story just flowed from one point to the other, rambling along its way. When it was done, I just cut out what didn’t need to be there and fixed the rest.

Now I’m lucky to get several hundred words a day. I keep thinking (which is a problem of its own) about where the paragraph/chapter is going, how to keep it in line, etc etc etc. I don’t let the story just take off and take me along with it.

It’s driving me nuts.

It started not long after BGCFA was released. I stopped writing for myself and started writing for Them. The fun, the joy, was lost in the chaos. Or, perhaps, it was lost in the order. Chaos is something I almost thrive on. Yeah, sure, I like my sheets to match. And I like all the spoons in the drawer to face the same way. And watching me play Tetris would make you think I have OCD. Trust me, I don’t have OCD (or CDO, which is the same but in alphabetical order like it should be).

I am trying to write, honest I am. The deadline isn’t bothering me, so that’s not why I am failing. I tend to set myself up to fail in order to prove I am scum on the pond God created. I may not have OCD but I do have OHR. Anyway, I am trying to write. I want to let loose what is inside but it is hesitant. Afraid to show its face only to get slapped down by the Chicago Manual of Style. And since it knows the CMS is a hard back book of 956 pages, it isn’t going to just rush out and greet the world again. I may be crazy but I ain’t stupid.

What I think I will do is dig out my Zen, select the Writing folder of music, and just start typing. Worked before. Maybe it will work again.

bookmark_borderBigfoot Update

Posted on by PaulaO

From MyWay News:

Researcher says bigfoot just a rubber gorilla suit
Aug 19, 8:01 PM (ET)
By JUANITA COUSINS

ATLANTA (AP) – Turns out Bigfoot was just a rubber suit. Two researchers on a quest to prove the existence of Bigfoot say that the carcass encased in a block of ice – handed over to them for an undisclosed sum by two men who claimed to have found it – was slowly thawed out, and discovered to be a rubber gorilla outfit.

The revelation comes just days after a much ballyhooed news conference was held in California to proclaim that the remains of the creature found in the North Georgia mountains was the legendary man-ape.

Steve Kulls, executive director of squatchdetective.com and host of Squatchdetective Radio, says in a posting on a Web site run by Bigfoot researcher Tom Biscardi that as the “evidence” was thawed, the claim began to unravel as a giant hoax.

First, the hair sample was burned and “melted into a ball uncharacteristic of hair,” Kulls said in the posting.

The thawing process was sped up and the exposed head was found to be “unusually hollow in one small section.” An hour of thawing later and the feet were exposed – and they were found to be made of rubber.

Snort. Of course it was a hoax.

The end of the article is the best, in my opinion:

On Tuesday, Clayton County Police Chief Jeff Turner said he has not spoken to Whitton but processed paperwork to fire him.

“Once he perpetrated a fraud, that goes into his credibility and integrity,” Turner said. “He has violated the duty of a police officer.”

source

bookmark_borderQuote

Posted on by PaulaO

Once you accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something…
wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.

bookmark_borderWant a Book?

Posted on by PaulaO

Soon, as in, early September, I plan on ordering a bunch of my books. I’ll be sending some to Ruta who recently bought Amazon Books in Minneapolis. These will be signed and have a sticker that says “Winner of Goldie” or something like that. GCLS provides 50 stickers to the winners. (and I’m one of ’em!)

The rest of them I’ll keep around for whatever reason comes to mind. Such as for you guys and dolls.

If you would like one of the books, signed however way you want it, let me know. You’ll have to pay for it, of course, but it won’t cost any more than an unsigned book. And if anyone already have one and want it signed, send it to me. I promise to send it back. Just email me (you can use the contact page) with your information.

I won’t kiss it though. That’s a femme thing.

I hope to be able to finally have a reading (shudder) or signing at Malaprops soon. And hopefully another at a bookstore in Sylva (you reading this Robyn??) I hope to sweet talk other writers into joining me at both locations, probably Jane Vollbrecht. These are things I’ve been meaning to do (I know it is hard to believe, but I don’t like limelight) but keep putting off. With BGCFA now a Goldie winner and at least one other BG book coming out (yes, yes, I am writing it), it may become an obligatory thing.

bookmark_borderBooks I’ve Recently Read

Posted on by PaulaO

I’ve been reading a lot lately and enjoying most of the books.

One of Lorna’s co-workers, Patti, loaned us Stephanie Meyer’s books
Twilight
New Moon
Eclipse

She also just loaned us the last book, Breaking Dawn. I’ve not read it yet, but Lorna did. I’m not so sure I like them but I did want to see how each book ended. They are really drawn out monster books, basically. Far too much angst (a lot of it unnecessary) for my tastes. And some of the science is wrong, which bothers me the most, I think. (spoiler alert: The werewolf says he has a regular body temp of 108F. Impossible. He may be a werewolf but he still has a human body and it can’t live at that high a temp. It was silly of her to make it that high.)

The Lesbian Fiction Forum had a challenge where we read a book in a genre we either don’t like or rarely read. The next two challenges we all read the same book.

Away From the Dawn by Kate Sweeney (horror/erotica)
The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson (a science fiction-slash-fantasy)
Hotel Liaison by JLee Meyer (romance) – this is the current one
The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith – up next

I’ve also read:
Something to Be Thankful For by Carrie Carr (romance)
Merker’s Outpost by I. Christie (SF)
Broken Wings (funny as heck with serious undertones) by L-J Baker (Fantasy)
Lady Knight by L-J Baker (um, fantasy/romance?)
Earth by David Brin (SF)
The Fated Sky by Henrietta Branford (young adult)

On the plane home from Phoenix, I read Sue Slate, Private Eye by THE Lee Lynch. It was a fun read but too short!

Earlier today I finished Daughters of a Coral Dawn by THE Katherine V. Forrest. It is the first of a series of books she wrote way back in the early 80s. Science Fiction, by the way. I had the pleasure of meeting Katherine in Phoenix. I even had lunch with her, Lee, and Lee’s Sweetie. It was relaxing!

That’s a lot of books but I feel like I am missing one somewhere.

I’ve got a bunch lined up. A bunch by Lee Lynch that I’ve read before but loaned out my copies, never to be seen again. She gave me signed copies of The Swashbuckler and That Old Studebaker for my birthday. She’d also brought extra copies of other books so I bought them at the Star Crossed Production’s table. And, of course, I ran her down (not over) and had her sign these, too.
Dusty’s Queen of Hearts Diner
Morton River Valley
Cactus Love (collection of short stories)
Rafferty Street

I’d read Dusty’s book before but no clue where the book is. The others I’d not ever read so this will be fun.

In the auction, I won the bid for a bunch of Catherine Friend’s books.
The Perfect Nest (a children’s book)
Hit By a Farm (a kind of memoir)
The Compassionate Carnivore (non-fiction)
The Spanish Pearl
Crown of Valencia

The last two won Goldies this year in Phoenix.

I’ve got a lot of reading to do! And I’ve got a lot of writing to do, too! It’s a tough life.

bookmark_borderBigfoot? yeah, right

Posted on by PaulaO

Some dumbass rednecks (which are not to be confused with the generic redneck) in Georgia have claimed to have a dead body of Bigfoot in their freezer. In the press conference, held in California, not Georgia for some reason, they presented photos of the creature.

One was of it in a freezer. Another of it was of its mouth and tongue. And another was of some sort of brown thing walking in the Georgia forest.

Now, let’s say you have big news to share. You have an object that shouldn’t exist because, despite various claims that it does exist, no one has ever found one. You have found one at last. So say this object is huge (they say it is 7’7″ and about 500lbs) and you can’t just carry it with you as proof. Whatever does one do? One takes photos of it. LOTS of photos. After all, it’s lying still in your freezer so you can take a lot of different shots and angles. You are able to view the images on the computer and make sure they are not blurry, not over or under contrast/lighting, and definitely show what you say is proof. Right?

Unless you are two dumbass rednecks from Georgia. Then you have one photograph of the creature in the freezer and one over-bright out-of-focus photo of what they say is its mouth and tongue.

Riiiiight. And they want to be believed? Not gonna happen. In northern Georgia, they are near a lot of universities, including University of Tennessee at Knoxville which has a huge animal hospital as well as a large cadaver study department. No one from there was asked to examine the body. No one from Atlanta, a hot bed of genetic and scientific enterprises, was asked to examine the body or its DNA.

I don’t believe them for a moment. This is too big a deal to not ensure you have adequate proof. Unless you are a dumbass redneck from northern Georgia.

Linkages:
Wired News article – Bigfoot Hunters Fail to Produce Creature’s Corpse
Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization – Georgia Bigfoot Body Hoax

bookmark_borderMisc. Updatages

Posted on by PaulaO

In my buzz to get prepared for the GCLS Con as well as Real Life events, I’ve been neglecting some websites lately. There’s several I’ve not visited nor commented about here.

Bad news first. My good on-line friend, Winston Rand, died unexpectedly. I have a long list of RSS feeds and I at the least scan over the subject lines at least once every two days. So when I saw the same subject line had been there for much longer than usual, I went to visit his blog, Nobody Asked…. The title of the post was “Voice, Stilled“.

(snip)
Winston…he was a “pretty good guy.” This is how he wanted everyone to remember him.

Actually, Winston was a damn good guy. He was the most honest and caring and giving man I have ever known. I am so fortunate and blessed to have known Winston Rand, to have been married to him for 14 years.

Winston passed away Saturday, June 28, after a 38-hour illness and 3 surgeries totaling 12 hours in an attempt to save his life. His memorial service will be Tuesday, July 1, and will include things you may have seen on his blog, such as his recent post about the styrofoam cup that got tossed about in the traffic of life and found its resting place. His favorite song will be played — “The Rainbow Connection,” by Kermit the Frog, as well as a bluegrass version of Rocky Top.
(snip)

Roomie, what Winston called his wife on his blog, wrote the post. It is a beautiful post and you must go read it (link to full post and all the comments). Roomie is a writer and a damn good one, too.

I was struck numb by the news. Winston was so full of life, so full of crap, that it just didn’t seem possible for him to be gone. But he is. Or, he was. Winston posted another blog entry today titled Bring It On.

(snip)
Now I — and mind you, I am ashes sitting on the end table in the living room — am getting a $360 bill from AT&T for contract termination fees. Too bad, they say. No such thing as extenuating circumstances. They’re sorry I am dead. But they don’t care. I’ve got to pay that fee. It’s a contract, after all. A contract is a legal document. Legal documents go with you to the grave and beyond. They wish they could help, but they can’t. AT&T is a big boy and they aim to keep their side of the bargain.

So folks, I’m back! At least according to AT&T. I’ve got to pay my phone bill till January of 2010. Now I’ve just got to figure out how to get my ass, uh, ashes up and together and get out and earn some money to pay that damn bill because, well, it’s a contract and AT&T really needs that $360!
(snip)

Sheesh. So even though you freakin’ die, you are still stuck with the phone bill?

***

Next up is some other bad news. Lew Scott is battling cancer. Three kinds, actually. Lucky him is one of those people with this “cancer gene” thingamabob. At any rate, Lew was doing good there for a while, but it seems he is losing the battle he was not going to win anyway. But he is giving it the good fight. His wife, Elena, is a good friend of mine. I hate that she has to go through this. I hate that any one does. You can read the latest over at her blog, The Scott Times. Please keep both of them in your prayers, whatever format they take.

***

On some good news, Sam Andersen is dong great! There’s a recent scare but it came down to a bad reaction to Sudafed, of all things! Sam is the son of another friend of mine, Jean. A little over two years ago, Sam was moving a car and somehow had a bad accident that resulted in major brain injury. Sam is in there but it is difficult to communicate with him due to a long list of reasons. At any rate, check out Sam’s story and Journal over at the Caring Bridge site.

On the afternoon of Saturday, April 8, 2006 after a great day with his Dad, and friend Jim from CA at the car swap meet, Sam was involved in an accident within a half mile of our home. He was moving the car to work on a project in the garage..wasn’t going anywhere, and we were shocked to find him missing when the EMT and sheriff came to the door with the news. Sam was wearing a seatbelt..there are no marks on the road..or off..to help us understand what happened. It really doesn’t matter at this point. All we care about is is his returning to us..Sam is 19, the youngest of 6 brothers and one sister..and uncle to Rosie 5, Amelie 6mos, and Lily 4wks. We’re all waiting, Sam, especially Rose.

***

On a non-RSS feed-slash-subscription note, I am writing TWO Butch Girl novels. I can’t decide which one I want to write so I am doing them both. I know, I know, I’m bonkers. But knowing me, and trust me, I know me weller than you know me, I will settle on just one within the week. Or two. Hopefully by my January deadline.

bookmark_borderCase o’ the Big Head

Posted on by PaulaO

Still. And loving every second of it.

Let’s see. Getting to Phoenix wasn’t that bad. I had two great flights with an talkative man in the seat next to me. That makes time fly by. However, while outside waiting for the Super Shuttle, I got something in my eye which then led to a lot of problems. Luckily, one of the other volunteers is also an EMT and worked with me to get it fixed. We tried 3 different eye drops until we got the right one. After a night of not blinking and rubbing it, it was much better. Patty was afraid I’d cut it and we’d need to go get it taken care of. It got all gummy that day but the eye drops worked wonders.

This con was so relaxed and calming. The hotel was HUGE in terms of horizontal space but was only 5 stories tall at the highest. I made it to a lot of workshops but I also skipped a lot and hung out with people instead. I got to meet a lot of new folk and get reacquainted with a bunch more.

I went to almost all of the Coffee Chat things. They were excellent!

Saturday morning they auctioned off some cutie pie authors (which means I was NOT one of them). Nell Stark, Georgia Beers, Karin Kallmaker, Lynn Ames, KG McGregor. I think that was all of them. The auction was for the first dance after the awards ceremony. Nell went first and went for “only” $110 but her willingness to act up set the tone for the rest. I can’t remember all the amounts, but Lynn Ames went for $300 and Karin Kallmaker went for $600!

Now, here’s where I get all soft and mushy. The night before, a bunch of us went out to dinner and CL said she was going to bid on Lynn Ames. But Lynn said CL would have to get permission first (wimp). CL got out the cell phone and after some texting back and forth, she got her permission. Then Saturday morning, I see the CL is bidding on Lynn but as the price goes up, people keep handing her money so she can be the top bid. Finally, CL wins and I lean over (I’m across the room) and grin at her. She then says “Happy Birthday”.

Yes, Saturday was my birthday. And yes, friends paid $300 for me to dance with Lynn Ames. I about had a heart attack. One, to think that people like me enough to spend that much money as a group. And two, a dance with LYNN AMES. She and I later discussed it and we decided she’d ride on my lap in the chair. Lynn is a sweetheart and was thrilled to be gifted to me for one dance. It was fun. It was embarrassing. And I’d do it again.

Then at the awards, I was getting nervous. CL made me write up a speech so that I’d not make a fool of myself if I actually won. So I did and stuffed it in my shirt pocket. Regal Crest racked up the awards! Six of ’em, not including the Director’s Award to Nann Dunn. K E Lane won three awards for her book, And Playing the Role of Herself (Romance category, Debut Author, and Popular Choice). Jane Vollbrecht (my editor for BGCFA) won an award for In Broad Daylight in the Dramatic General Fiction category. Brenda Adcock won in the Mystery category for her Redress of Grievances. And then there was mine in the Debut Author category.

In each category, three people announced the finalists (split between them) then each one announced one winner each. In the Debut Author category, that was Katherine V Forrest, Karin Kallmaker, and….crap, someone else. You know, I haven’t a clue who won the third Debut Author award nor who announced it! Isn’t that awful?! Shit.

Anyway, Katherine V Forrest goes first and announces K E Lane. Katherine is K E’s idol so that was just wonderful for her. Karin Kallmaker announced the second one. She steps up, puts the award on the podium, and opens the envelope. Then she picks the award back up, kisses it, and announces the winner. When she picked it up, I knew it was me.

The rest is a blur. They tell me I raced up the ramp so fast they thought I was going to go airborne. I am soooo glad CL made me write it down, else I’d not known what to say. Later I’ll put my words here to share with everyone.

Thought I’d share the highlights. More on the various individual workshops tomorrow.