"I'll take a little bit of everything, thank you. Hold the drama," I asked and received.

Had a good INK meeting last night and accomplished more than usual. Our group, renamed INK-Lite for our summer schedule, critiqued, talked, read, and listened to workshop files. If time had slowed just a bit, we had a couple other things to explore but those will have to wait for another time.

Today, I dove into book reading and sure enough, before I finished one chapter, I was struck with J&T story ideas. The Husband and I closeted ourselves indoors since heat was predicted for the day but by mid afternoon, I was annoyed. Not with the heat or staying inside but with pets who demanded constant attention (with claws and drool and after spending the entire morning and lunch hour on the floor with them lying all over me) and with household activity that seemed to interrupt every time my brain was nearing a complete and total earth-shattering understanding of some complex science-y thing crucial to my story's thematic point.

So I started and stopping writing half a dozen times before I gave J&T one last shot. I started with 810 words, added about 600, moved around about 400, edited out rambling sentence after sentence, polished some words, add a few more, and deleted a small section. I ended with...810 words. But they are much better words, I swear!

The good thing, no, the great thing is whereas I knew where I was going with the story but didn't know how I was going to get there, I sure as heck-fire do now. And I'm terribly excited about it. If I can do this right, applying what I'm slowly learning about story structure, this one might end up being downright terrifying.

But now it's research time. I need to look up a bunch of stuff that I can only hope to get right. Space stuff and their effects on Earth. I don't plan on putting much of the stuff in my story, but I need to understand it in order to not come off sounding clueless and uninformed. Where's an astronomy/earth sciences professor when you need immediate access to one's brain?

INK had a wonderful time with David Levine last evening, so much so I'm almost willing to bet everyone in the INK group probably wrote something afterward, or at least spent time thinking hard about writing. Man, his analogies make everything make sense. I'm purposely going to ask him to explain so much of the world I don't understand (like math maybe, er, or maybe not) over the next few months, or at least toss out a question here and there until he starts avoiding me which might happen because I mean really, how many analogies can one person have in their back pocket?

I'll bet he's got tons.

Anyway, I was just dazzled. He's a great speaker.

I didn't write anything today but I sure as heck-fire thought hard about it. Almost got the Craftsman tool cabinet I lust after with all my heart and soul like though. So close. Still can't justify the cost (plus the cost of all the tools I want to fill it with). Someday.

It's a great beginning to 2008. Today, a small, local newspaper published a story featuring several writer friends and myself in regards to participating in National Novel Writing Month, and it's front page. If you don't live in or around Southwestern Washington State to be able to pick up a hard copy, view part of the article here.

(Note to Jay , Mr. Follett, and Chris: Books in hand shown in article photo -- I never meant to be a suck up.)

New Year's Eve was wonderfully spent in Seattle at the Westin Hotel, North Tower overlooking the Space Needle. Did the news report a fireworks glitch? Funny, we didn't notice. We were in awe and now, we're home. Back to work and writing.

And lastly, per a meme posted on Jay Lake's blog and one I found interesting. I'm not a big meme fan generally but this one was different. This list is based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. The exercise developers ask that if you participate in this blog game, you acknowledge their copyright. Hopefully, this and my linkage covers it.

To participate in this blog meme, copy and paste the below list into your blog, and bold the items that are true for you. If you don't have a blog, feel free to post your responses in the comments.

Father went to college
Father finished college
Mother went to college
Mother finished college
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Were read children's books by a parent
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Went to a private high school
Went to summer camp
Had a private tutor before you turned 18
Family vacations involved staying at hotels
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
There was original art in your house when you were a child
Had a phone in your room before you turned 18
You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left
You had your own room as a child
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
Had your own TV in your room in High School
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
Went on a cruise with your family
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family

Jay Lake's visit here Saturday evening to speak to the INK writer's group went beautifully. Photos here.

I'm still a little astonished something didn't go awry, such as having an area power outage or our alarm going off unexpectedly or any number of other things that could have happened. I don't even think I said anything that might have come off wrong, or too wrong (in the event I did anyway). I think all the electronics failures we've gone through over the last few months have spooked me a bit. I was happy to see that every thing behaved well.

Today is all about getting the butt back into the chair to write. I've got three short stories to revise and a new one half written. That one's been eating at my brain, screaming to be written every bit as loudly as The Car Novel is screaming to be finished. Hold on a little longer, little Car Novel. Your time will come.

One of the story revisions will be sent to the Writers of the Future contest before December 31st. At least, that's the agreement I signed up for when we all, the INK members that is, agreed last Saturday night would be a good idea for everyone to send something in.

Okay, I'll play. I need exactly this kind of thing to set me running into 2008. Insert deep breath here.

Clickity-clickity. Back to work.

My cold is finally moving out. Fear my Neti pot, you dasterdly cold! But really, if I’m going to get to lie around in bed for days on end, I really need to learn to enjoy the time away from responsibilities. Steve kept the house emaculate despite a rough work week. Oh why not say it outright, it’s been a rough work year for him. I’m amazed at what he’s accomplished.

INK is getting together here Saturday evening and hopefully, our first speaker, local author Jay Lake, will be joining us. In the SF/F/Speculative Fiction world, he’s a pretty big celebrity around these parts and a hoot to listen to. Selfishly, I’ve wanted to sit and talk to him about his various writing processes for about a year, and I really missed hearing him at any real length at OryCon. But if I don’t get my fill here, maybe I will at RadCon in February or maybe at Norwescon in Seattle in March. So many cons, so much writing I have to catch up on.

I finally got through the current Apex Digest and am wrapping up the last of Matheson’s ‘I am Legend’ anthology. I put Palahniuk’s ‘Rant’ back on the shelf for after the first of the year after reading the first couple of chapters. Being sick for ten days means readjusting my reading schedule. Between tonight and Saturday, I hope to finish off yet another short anthology, finish up the rewrites of ‘Bumblebee’ and ‘Convention #482′ and perhaps use a light hand in the first rewrite of ‘Feeders’ before diving back into Follett’s ‘Pillars of the Earth’ (a personal favorite) before I tackle his follow up ‘World Without End.’ If I’m good and I stick to it, I ought to be back to reading short story anthologies by mid-to-late January and resubmitting my rewritten shorts to fresh markets. After that, I’ve got a minimum of six new ones to create in 2008. 2008 is going to be a fun year!

*Note to self: Move 'The Terror' up in reading que.

The INK meeting was highly productive.

That sentence sounds terribly drab and boring but it is truthful. We could have talked hours longer on the bright shiny-ness that was OryCon and I've no doubt we'll have more discussions about it in the coming months. But for the time being, we've settled on the group's 2008 plans of which several have already been set upon toward accomplishment.

Dang, but we can be a productive group when we decide to be!

Today is the final day of NaNoWriMo. INK proves, once again, we rock because we all have finished our novels. Ris and I spent several hours at the Washougal Library last night in support of other area writers who were, are still striving to finish their 50K words before midnight tonight. But really, any amount of words written for NaNo during NaNo is worth celebrating. Big pats on everyone's backs for participating at all, no matter what your word counts are!

I spent my time at the Library working on a short story rewrite. At OryCon's ORC (Open Read and Critique) I was given a great idea for improving the short story I read and I'm working on implementing it. But I ran into a temporary snag while working it in. Maybe it was just the atmosphere; the Library being bright and cozy with nice, polite people sitting around typing quietly but I had the hardest time getting into the right frame of mind for the scene change. The frame of mind? The story's main character gets aroused while participating in a writing critique session, not over the content being read but because he's daydreaming and he's daydreaming because he really hates participating in writing critique sessions.

I have the tendency to think and write in a man's voice (really, I'm trying to learn to think female but it's just so boring to me), and although I have written a sexual man's part before, it was harsh and brutal. This one requires subtlety. It's just a different frame of mind. I'll get it, I know I will. It'll come to me soon.

wOOt! INK meeting tonight! 7:00 p.m. Cole Haus Library.

Schedule:

OryCon debrief.
Expanding INK membership and audition process.
Local author invites - Jay Lake to start the series.
Plans for 2008.
Critique of mystery story.


I really need to figure out how to add our library view webcam here. That way, readers can hold me to my vow to keep writing and cry foul when they don't see me sitting in the writing chair.

NaNoWriMo is rapidly coming to a close. Kami and Ris are still plugging away but each in the home stretch. Thursday night Ris and I will be going to the final Washougal Library from 6 p.m. until midnight (unless it snows or something). Even though I finished my NaNo novel weeks ago, I'm still working on NaNo #2, mostly in the form of editing the first half of the Car Novel. I'll be going to the Library to help support others who are still writing. It's the least I can do for a terrific group of writers.

OryCon 29 in Portland was held last weekend and I had a blast. I didn't stalk as many authors as I felt I did last year but I did briefly chat to a couple with whom I needed to touch base with; one for the good of INK and one for INK and selfishly, myself. Steve attended the three day event with me and I was worried I'd accidently say or do something that would cause him to feel embarrassment and somehow, that would wave the magical fairy dust feel of the weekend away. Low-key was the theme of the weekend for me and everything went well.

The writing panels were outstanding with authors like David Levine, Phyllis Radford, Mary Rosenblum, Dianna Rodgers, Jay Lake, Kay Kenyon and Devon Monk being just a few of the standouts. The late night Open Read and Critique Sessions (ORCs) were phenomenal and I nearly burst with pride when Kami thanked me publicly for bringing the concept to her attention earlier this year. When the ORC lost its pros for the Saturday night session, Kami, Ris and I 'INKed' the ORC in the Clarion/Milford-style and I felt it was very successful. Every one of the writers who had attended Friday night's session returned Saturday night and with the addition of several additional writers seeking critiques, the round table was packed until 2 a.m. Even though there were parties going on right outside the ORC door, mattress surfing right down the hall and a Tiki bar across the hall, every ORC writer stayed, read and critiqued each other. Man, there are a lot of good, up-and-coming writers out there writing some great stuff. I can't wait to see where OryCon's first ORC attendees might be in a few years.

Steve and I lucked out and got a room at the Marriot Hotel Saturday night with a fantastic view of the Willamette River. Sunday afternoon, after the sessions were all but nearly over, I picked up a small piece of art I purchased earlier and got to meet with the artist, G. Scott Heckenlively, who graciously signed and personalized his work for me.

Leaving OryCon, I've found, leaves a bittersweet taste in my mouth. It's a wonderful weekend and I learn so much from so many people, most I won't see or hear from again until next November at the next OryCon. This taste tells me I must find a way to surround myself with the fairy dust feel more often than once a year. If I want to continue to develop toward becoming a published writer, I must continue to learn from the best, cutting edge authors who attend these events as I can. And I must continue to write, to read and to grow, no matter what.