Thought Patterns

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!

Whilst out of the realm of the WWW, I did some weally wonderful writing.

At last I mentioned it, I was writing/struggling with BG2. After starting over umpteen times, I dropped it like a hot 'tater. BG2 is back on the shelf. Not even on a back burner.

Instead, I am now working on BG3. While it sits just over 7K words, it is going very well.

BG1–Butch Girls Can Fix Anything–was about Kelly and Grace.

BG2–title unknown–is (was?) about Nikki and Ellen.

BG3–Butch(es) Girls and Stereotypes– is about Harri and Liz.

BG4–Butch Girls Have Many Talents–is about Chaz, Rain's sister, and Sam, Ellen's best friend.

BG5 will be about Rain and Deb, a protagonist from BG1.

BG6 will be about the matriarchs, Annette and Kaye.

Of all the characters, Harri is the butchest. She's also the most unsure of herself, the most underestimated person in the whole series. My goal is to help her come out of her shell. I like this book and always have. I'd like to get it finished by the end of March but, ha, that ain't gonna happen since that means 7K words a day.

Remember that nasty cold I had that somehow led to a kidney infection? Remember how nauseous I was? I've hurled (emesis-ed, regurgitated, up chucked) more in the past 30 days than I have in the past five years. I don't hurl. It's not part of my body's functions. I was 10 before I hurled for the first time. Thought I was dyin'. But enough with the TMI, hm?

It was/is from the antibiotic. So I quit taking it and the nausea went away.

Called the doc and asked for a different kind of antibiotic.

Nope, she said, keep taking the other no matter what.

So, dammit, I'm on it again and I'm nauseous again. Greeeat. I have to go in next week and pee in a cup to see if the infection is gone. Greeeat-er.

Plus I've been busy with my fish tanks, busy with Lorna, busy writing…yes, writing. I'm still on BG2 and I've actually done a little of an–gasp!–outline. I also did a time line for the BG books and did some planning for them as well.

Hmm, maybe hurling one's toenails erodes one's brain of natural protections set-up against outlining.

As I (once again) write BG2, I find that I am having to consult the BG1 manuscript quite often.

Ellen isn't mentioned in BG1. And Nikki comes alone to the bonfire near the end of the book.

Which means Ellen doesn't appear until after the bonfire. Which puts it…when?

I seemed to have shot myself in the foot when I wrote BG1. I tried to not have too many time-related references in order to give the book a "timeless" feel. Most of the book takes place in winter. And they go to a ball game in early April. Kelly has to wait until "true thaw" to dig a hole. So…when?

I also mention the Gay Pride Parade in the beginning of BG1. Several people have told me they want to know what happens to/with everyone during the parade. Crap. That means June, right?

Ouch. Just burned out another brain cell cluster.

I poked around on the current WIP whilst I was sick. Not much, just a few hundred words here and there.

Now that I am able to stay awake all day (although the urge to hurl is still strong), I opened up the WIP with the idea of reading it and continuing writing it.

And it sucks. I hate it. Boooorrrriing. Blech.

So, you guessed it, I started over. BG2 originally was my Two Year Novel project way back, well, three (?) years ago. It was the first BG book, although it wasn't called one since I didn't know there was going to be a trend. Its original title was "Uhauls and Toaster Ovens". The story line then was Nikki, a rural mail carrier, has someone knew move onto her route. Ellen, a software designer, wants to leave Philly and basically picked where she did by pure chance. They meet, become friends, become more…you get the idea. The underlying theme was to be the humor of Yankee learns Southern-speak.

When I wrote what would become BG1, I had Grace and Kelly meet three months after Grace moves to town. It never has "new-girl theme" undertones.

When I started to rewrite it last year, I changed the plot to avoid "moved to town and they met" scenario. Nikki and Ellen meet on-line via a lesbian website's singles ads. Ellen moves down and they have to adjust to the living-together thing. This is the version I hate.

Now I think I will return to the original plot. My goal is to let the humor out-weigh the romance and therefor not be the same as BG1. The "new-girl theme" will be predominant but that's okay.

In re-reading this post, I realized I started BG1 and BG2 the same year. I was writing with a gusto on "Uhauls" when I paused for my first NaNoWriMo in '04. That's when I wrote "Butch Girls Can Fix Anything" (aka BG1). After November, I tried to get back into "Uhauls" (aka BG2) and just couldn't.

I opened up BG2 and did 1024 new words. Surprised me! I'd been thinking about the scene in my head all this time, I guess that's why it came out so easy.

I'm feeling somewhat better. My ears aren't as bad but still stuffed. I'm congested and coughing still. I've decided to go to the doc after all. It's not good that my ears are still bothering me.

We set up the new fish tank today. What a cool tank! Lorna got herself a fish and he's in there now. We'll move Sumo and whatever snails are left (most of them died!) over into the new tank in a few days. I need more plants and a place for the new fish to hide. We tried putting them both in the little tank together but that didn't work out.

I've begun the hacking of what I have of BG2. It shrunk to 44108, which includes the 1755 new words I got today.

I've been discussing, via email, with others about what to name this book. The current choices got me to thinking and I have been roaring with ideas all day. I will go at it harder tomorrow.

Today was a weird day. The storm never happened. All the hoopla for it fizzled. And I didn't have the gumption to write. Oh, I had ideas a'plenty. Just not the oomph to write them down.

I'm a bad girl. No cookie. Oh, to hell with you. I want a cookie. A double dark chocolate Milano from Pepperidge Farms.