LOLCAT FREIDAYZ

So far, so good.

You know today, where I'd planned to think positive thoughts? 

Well, I wasn't able to think about anything other than Release Notes and their editing. And testing. And release candidates. All day. And I got to the end of the day with watery eyes and stress oozing out every pore. 

So I went for a run with the hubs, and unpacked my BRAND NEW SHINY Battlestar Galactica: the Board Game!!! and gloated over it. Yes, I put all the individual pieces in their own pretty miniature plastic bags. You know, to keep them separated and happy. 

I know this is a miniature post, but hey, on the train I got in 2k of words, which basically means tomorrow, when there's a lolcat up, I'm 1/3 done. 

And that is a happy feeling. :)

Tomorrow: 'Just for today'

Tomorrow I have planned something special for myself. And I'd like to invite you to be in on it.

Starting tomorrow morning, I'm going to pretend (Fake it til you make it) that one of my most dearest, loveliest desires has - happened. It's real.

I think it'll be a good thing to just imagine. How would I handle it? Because frankly, I haven't given it a thought. And at some point, I'm going to need to. Why not send that positivity and happiness out into the universe? I never know what I'll get back. :)

So, wanna do it with me? I'll report on my experiment tomorrow.

And...brain dump.

So here we are. 

I've written three books on this blog, and am getting close (another 5 k?) to a third of a way through on my most recent lovefest, PoloGRRL. I've found an agent on this blog, and I'm subbing on this blog. I even found a crit group on this blog. And friends. Soooo bizarre.

And I love my blog. And my blog loves me. I think it is funny and weird, and kind of does exactly what I want my blog to do for me, which is namely provide an outlet for my writing thoughts as well as anything else that sounds or is interesting about what I'm thinking about. 

So many of my lovely friends write such great posts, so much time and effort gone into them. I really appreciate that. I love it, actually. Right now lately, though, I'm realizing I begrudge any time or creativity that is not spent on PoloGRRL or Forester's Son (or what-have-you wip), specifically on a post for the blog. I'd rather blow that creativity on my wip, you know?

I write this blog for me (and all my buddies, you buddies, out there) that just want another blog to read about some nutty, eclectic writer with two hairless cats. I make no claims to be the best at anything, to write the most profound posts, to be the funniest girl. I'll leave that for all the ones that are so good at it. And the internet has so much information on writing, the hows, whys, whats...I can only tell you what works for me. 

So I guess this is a notice that I'll continue to make this blog what cracks me up; a repository for notes to myself on the current WIP as well as other things I want to keep track of; and a place where, if you read enough, you'll know me pretty well. 

Sound okay?

Monday Rambles...

...I cut my finger, and I have a double ear infection. I'm okay, though grumpy from the headache and pressure.

...I got to 15k on PoloGRRL this weekend. As a certain agent says, 'I'm channeling it.' I think she's right.

...This week we have release at work so probably (unfortunately?) my posting might be spotty. Have to make sure the thing works, you know.

...It is official. I do so detest word. :(

And that is all. Cheers!

LOLCAT FREIDAYZ

Birthday Girl

So hey, yesterday was my birthday! 

And today I'm having my birthday party. Because sometimes, you've just got to be like that. And I am. Because I've finally reached *an age* that means I can do exactly what I want. 

So, sit down! We're having my party in my library today. 

I know, it doesn't look like enough chairs. So I brought up some old-school rockers. They're quite comfy. 

Don't worry, though, the fire is going - it's a bit cold over here. 

Now don't be shy! Here's some food to keep you going. 

Cake is so last year, don't you think? I have a great idea - 

I know some of you are wanting the booze. It's over by the fireplace. This is what I'll be having - 

So...it's on! Pull up a seat or run through the house nekkid, leave a comment and celebrate my birthday with me!

Uh,

Well, it's my birthday. 

Universe, help a sistah out. 

(Party's tomorrow, right here, ready set go! Today I go to drown myself in my sorrows. Oh, and to try and find a new home in my new city.)

How driving on an autobahn is like writing

Since I spent about 15 hours Saturday in a car, driving, I thought I'd point out certain unique driving conditions/things about driving in Germany to entertain you, and link them to writing things, to entertain me. 

1. Enter the autobahn at full speed. Do not slow, do not stop, be brave and do it. (I pin this to the Write what you love and it will happen. If you try to force it, you're just shooting yourself in the foot.)
2. Always signal. (When you have people passing you in the left lane - well, passing isn't really what they're doing when they fly past going 100 mph - you really really want to signal before you change. I think this this is equal to knowing what you want to write, and then writing it. In some people's cases, they want to switch genres, and sometimes I think they need to really think about it and ask other people for their opinions before they do it.)
3. Stay in the right lane *always* unless you're going to pass. (See above.)
4. Do not flip off other drivers.  (Don't say things about other writers anywhere public, where it could ever be eventually given. It's not nice and certainly not constructive.)
5. Stop at a highway stop if you're tired. (Take a break and step awayyyy from the computer every once in awhile. Trust me - it's fun!)
6. Don't eat the highway stop food if you can help it. (I can't actually find something to tie this to, it's just a warning for you. ROFL)
7. Sometimes you have to fake it to get into the left lane. (Changing POV? Wondering if what you're writing will 'work'? Try it and see...otherwise you'll never know.)
8. If you're stuck in a stau (traffic jam), just coast it. You aren't going anywhere anyways. (Take the speed of your writing as the speed it needs to be. Forcing or relaxing too much, it just doesn't do any good for anybody.)

Don't forget - Thursday's the day! Come by with your party hat on!

Flat Fun for a Monday

Well, we *might* have found a room. It's gorgeous, in a perfect location, and I love it lots. 

Here it is. Isn't it pretty? 

Like I said, we really do like it. We'll have to wait and see about if they take us or not, but we look pretty good on paper. (and in real life? dunno. lol) There's a hallway in there that the boys are going to looooove pounding down, though. 

Just in case (in the event that) they do say no, though, we're going back on Wednesday *coughcoughMYBIRTHDAYcoughcough* to look at a couple more rooms, just so we're able to get something. I'm so over this mess. heh. 

Tomorrow I'll have a better blog post up, international but relevant at the same time. Heh heh.

Oh - please mark on your calendars! Since I will be stuck in Berlin all day on Wednesday, I'm having my Birthday Party on the Blog on Thursday! I'll have the food, the drink, just need you all to come by to add the fun!

What!? No Lolcats today?

No lolcat today.

There are lots of them, but the LOLCATS decided to devote their slot on Fridays.

To this.

And this.

Puppydogs and rainbows, people.

Happy weekend, everybody!

Choosing optimism over anger

It seems that I go through bad phases of feelings. Pheelings, if you will. I would hesitate to call it depressed, because it's not, but it's still a low state of feelings.

If I get too stressed, the ole heart problem kicks in and my sense of optimism plummets. If I feel trapped, or unappreciated, this does not help. If I'm trying to wrap up a manuscript that took far longer than I anticipated it doing, *and* I had to start it completely over once, this also does not help.

What I didn't want to acknowledge to anybody, least of all myself, was that I was going through a Pheelings moment the last few months. Since maybe January? I would prefer not mentioning the Pheelings moments, you see, because everything is dark, and grey, and sad, and I have to 'fake it til I make it' out, if you know what I mean. So I kept faking, feeling my head slip under water every now and then, but recently, a lot more. To where I was gasping, a little.

And then my hubs, my dear dear hubs, pointed something out to me. Most of my pheelings moments start when I start obsessively worrying about things that I have NO control over. I should live more in the now, he said. Keep a journal, write out the things that bother me and don't think about them anymore. Search for your optimism, and try to make it more than fake it. He was right, of course.

So I've been trying. PoloGRRL has certainly given me a shot of adrenaline, but life for me is not angst and struggle. I have so many wonderful things: Hubs, the cats, best friends, an agent that is the bomb, fellow writers and my fantastic writing group, this blog & twitter, you wonderful people who read my blog...what right do I have to whinge? 

None at all. 

So I wrote, and I thought about something other every once in awhile, and I have to say, I'm feeling more and more glimmers of the optimism I haven't felt in such a long time, and it's *so* nice to have it back where I need it: in my head. It made no sense for me to continually turn to the dark side of my brain when I could focus a little more on the happy side. 

I do notice as well that I really am turning away from negative people, even if they are people I know and previously talked quite a bit to. Don't you hate it when that happens? My life is short, and sweet, and I need to concentrate as much on the positive as I can, because life is hard enough. 

I see this with an acquaintance I know, who chooses the dark rather than the light aspects of their life (no names, no genders) and is never. Never. Never. happy. And sounds like a broken record with the litany of wrongs done them. And drives everyone away from them because of it. It's sad to use this person as an example but it's the best sort of example I know. 

So. I'm happy. Today. To be here, to write alongside you, and to help you out as you help me out. May we all have a little extra sunshine in our life today. :) 

Show and Tell day

In honor of my new book, which I can't seem to stop obsessively writing, I wanted to look back in my own personal horse history. Heidi's making me envious of her present riding abilities (stop by her blog and wish her luck for her Riding Teacher's test!) so I had to get on mine. I've been a slacker. 

But thankfully, my new MS puts me right back in the middle of horse land, and I'm really happy about that. I thought I'd share some of the more memorable horses I've been around most recently. (Please forgive the fact that these pictures unfortunately include my face in them. I have some pathological thing about having my face on the internet, but this one time won't hurt anybody. I guess.)

First up: Did you know the Kentucky Horse Park has an equine management program? And you work with their mustangs in the park there, learning all sorts of stuff? You have an in with the barns around if you finished the degree, so of course I had to go do it. 

This is Smokey, a former wild and crazy mustang. He didn't like anybody until I discovered he was a sucker for sweet feed nibbles. From there on, there was no stopping us. He learned to nod, bow, shake his hoof and shake his head. He was a brilliant little thing. 

Next is back in Oklahoma, after I'd joined the polo team. This is Gitana, a TB off the track, who didn't really like the polo. I retrained her for cross-country, and her owner eventually sold her for eventing. Last I heard, she was doing great. 

This was my darling horse Africa (Lucy), who I finally managed to buy. She was also an off the track TB, but a monster (like 16.2 hands and still growing) and I adored her. We did dressage and when I left Oklahoma I sold her to a lady that wanted to get her approved through the Hanoverian society to breed. And she was.

And here is one of my favourite pics, another off the track TBer, but as chill as the day was long. Her name is Roulette, and she is, actually, in my book as one of the horses. Man she was a polo horse that was just TOP. TOP. I loved her. 

I do discover that most of the real exciting horse stuff I remember is related to the polo and that time. Also most of the horses I remember most fondly were also from that time. Guess it makes sense that I'd write a book about it.

(All the more reason, I guess, to be excited that I've found a real, live polo club in Berlin. I'm so there, bbs!)

So...

...it's official now.

We're moving to Berlin.

*pauses for cheering to stop*

Don't panic. This won't change the way I feel about you. :) It just means that for the next six months, I'll be coming at you with some live 'cop-a-feels' of rooms we're looking at here. For fun, right? To give you an idea.

I never realized what all went into a room search in another country before I got here. But man. It's a mess. And this time, we're going to use a moving company *REAL CHEERING HERE* which means I need to get my butt on a room search.

But here's one I find particularly pretty, and the hubs is going by to see it today...after his meetings in the city are done.

Isn't it PRETTEH? I like odd things about rooms, but in Berlin you have the opportunity to have (more than in many other cities in Germany):

• 'Altbau' : which means an old house, built before the 70's...so complete with high ceilings, mouldings, and beautiful floors
• Which deserve a mention all their own. What I'm finding is herringbone-patterened wood flooring, which makes me nuts. I love it.
• Old heating/'artistic' rooms: Rooms in Germany come (normally) unrenovated. Which means the person before just moved out. You're responsible for painting, etc etc etc and normally here you have to bring your own kitchen. Because they don't provide you one.

Otherwise, things are going great with the new MS. I'm averaging about 2k a day, which with the time I have is mad good. I have the feeling this book might be done before I even get the revisions for FS done, and really, I'm okay with it. Reactions are (so far) *overwhelmingly* positive. And I like that.

So back to the room search! And writing! And working! And exercising! *whew*

Goodbye, cruel world!

...

...

...Ha ha, had you going there, didn't I?

Actually, I'm doing better than I ever expected. The new MS (PoloGRRL) is writing itself. And after the toothpulling that was FS, it is such a *welcome* change, you know? This one I know the plot, I know what'll happen and who's in it, but still I'm having such a great time with it and still learning new things about the book...I adore it.

The reason for this post is my darling Possum Summer.

Some of you know I'm on sub with it, and things are going great. As great as they can in the present book publishing world, you know?

But I wasn't appreciating the stress that came with submitting. Wondering if you'd sell after a day. Or over a weekend. Everywhere you read you'll come across some writer that's sold after like 24 hours!! Or something like that.

I read a great post by a fellow writer, Maggie, that started me thinking. Basically the jist of her post was, why are you comparing yourself to other writers? That way is only pain, and only anger, and bewilderment. Exactly what you don't need in order to make a good writing career.
You need that positivity, that belief in yourself. And envy and despair doesn't do anything for anybody. Least of all yourself.

This kind of put into words a feeling I'd been having for awhile. I don't like to compare myself to people, you know? And when I read this, a little spark went off in my mind and I thought, 'Exactly. NO POINT.' I stopped worrying and this *really helped*. Really did.

I've also realized this past couple weeks that I can handle the sub process. If I don't check my email every minute, nobody dies. If I don't hear from my wonderful, most perfectest agent every day, the sky has not fallen.

So goodbye, my little PS. I love you, and didn't someone famous once say if you love something, set it free? I'm setting you free to make your sub journey, and focusing on the next ones coming up. Forester's Son needs revisions, PoloGRRL needs written (like this is going to be hard!). My feeble brain is overloaded with ideas, and it's going to be one of them published, even if it kills me. :)

Be well, me hearty!

*Turns to look towards PoloGRRL* I've also been thinking about the larger subject of positivity in writing, but that'll be a post for another day.

LOLCAT FREIDAYZ

When I was 12.

I had an algebra teacher when I was twelve that I adored. Not because of what he taught, but what he represented. Mr Sun* always had a sparkling smile for you, and in his big, raw-boned height (he was 6'2" at least) he had a way of leaning back to look at you like he was measuring you up.

I stunk at algebra but I scored at animals, which was Mr. Sun's other love. He loved birds. Chickens, he had a dozen breeds, quail, pheasants, geese, turkeys...the man was a whiz with animals.

We'd talked about his geese on and off for a long time before he showed up out at our farm on a Saturday morning with something cupped in his hands. My mom yelled for me outside (heck, I was always outside) and I came running in to have him dump what he held in his big, wrinkly hands into my berry-stained and scratched ones.

It was a goose egg. What's more, it was getting ready to hatch.

And sure enough, as he watched me, all tickled with his hands shoved down into his pockets (he was about 3/4 Native American, and really handsome in his old way) that egg hatched in my hands. A fuzyy, fluffy baby goose that looked at me with his shoe-button eyes and nibbled my hand, oh-so-gently.

And thus began the reign of Arthur The Goose.

He hated everybody - but me. He was a cannibal the first few weeks of his life, gobbling up scrambled eggs like there was no tomorrow. He'd chase my brother and twist a piece out if he ever came outside, and never got a chance with my sister, seeing as she was never outside.

We'd go exploring down in the river bottoms, just a girl and her goose, and he'd practice his swimming and his wing-beating and I'd try to catch fish with my bare hands or climb a low-hanging tree.

He loved the wild Canadian geese we'd get coming through the plains in fall, and he wanted so much to be counted a part of their group. He never gave up - always swimming up to them, eating with them, and trying with everything he had to be a wild one. Until one day he disappeared with the last group flying through, and I never saw him again.

Mr. Sun said (when I asked him in tears why Arthur would leave) 'He wanted to fly, child.'

Later on now, in life, I'm the same as Arthur was. Trying so hard to be the writer that works to the next step, always pressing for the next sentence, the next idea, the next book.

I want to fly, too...and I'm skimming the top of the lake, which is farther than I've ever got.

So I won't give up. I'll go forward with my beak out and wings flourished.

* Name changed to protect the innocent

If you wonder if a cat is for you...

...please watch the following public announcement brought to you by 'Cats Should Sleep In'

Hi everyone! As today is a good buddy of mine's release day, I wanted to feature her here on the blog, with a little of her worldbuilding thrown in for starters! 

Welcome to Aprilynne Pike, who's debut WINGS will debut...well...today! 

HI APRILYNNE!!! So, today is the day. Anything exciting planned for today, your Release Day?

Ironically, I am in Phoenix today. The city I will be living in in a month. That in and of itself is cause for celebration! Most of my schedule is dictated by my publisher today, however, I couldn't be happier with it! I going to have a nice breakfast that ignores my usual dietary restrictions *wink* and then me and a media escort will be driving around Phoenix signing stock. Which means that I get to go to TONS of stores and see MY book on their shelves!!! How freakin' awesome is that?!?!? Oh, also, I get to see my new house for the first time and go shoe shopping. Yay for release day!!!;)

 

Who's more excited, do you think, about the release? How does it feel?

Me. Definitely me. No one in the whole world is more excited than me.:D It feels quite surreal. I have seen my book on a couple of shelves over the last week and even got to sign stock at Borders the other day, but floor displays have a strict start and end date so I won't get to see my first one till today. I am REALLY looking forward to that! It also feels weird. For the last eighteen months I have been telling people when my book is going to come out . . . now I will always--for the rest of my life--get to tell people about a book that is already out!!
 

 

What did you do for promotions heading up to this monumental day? (PS, guys, she's on twitter!)

I have really worked on my online presence, but I have to tell you, it's as much for social reasons as promotional. I LOVE my online friends!! Probably the biggest thing I'm doing online is my DebsTour. The Debs at www.feastofawesome.com have all gotten together to blog tour each other. That means that throughout the year I will be spotlighting about 30 books on my blog and for the thirty or so days after today, I will be spotlighted on someone else's blog. It has been SO fun!! 

 

So, as a girl that's on sub to one that is fabulously successful, how did you get through it? Any tips?

Patience and flexibility. And more patience. Did I mention patience? Every lead debut looks like an overnight success. I mean, they wrote a book, a publisher bought it, put tons of promotion behind it and they all lived happily ever after, right??!?!?! Not really. I wrote three and a half books before I even started Wings. I had a failed agented novel, and had been with said agent for almost a year without even a single nibble. What you see on the shelves today represents YEARS of work and patience. It's worth it though! I would encourage any author who really wants it, to keep working. Keep trying. All you can do is make the next book better, tighter, smoother. And hopefully it will be the book that clicks. But if not . . . write another one. A better one. You can do it! (Seriously, if *I* can do it, YOU can do it!!;))

 

I heard you're moving! Congratulations! This won't change any pub dates, right? ;)

 

NO, NO, NO!!! Luckily, I cyber-commute, so I can work from anywhere without interrupting my schedule. I am in my second round of revisions on the sequel and it is right on schedule! I will be writing the third book in the next six months and it is firmly wedged in it's timeslot too. Don't worry about that!
 

I read somewhere that you started off with the mythology. How did you flesh that out in your second and third books? Do you haev a notebook?

I don't have a notebook. This probably sounds awful, but I keep it all in my head. Don't ask me to remember your name ten seconds after I meet you, but I can recite hours of facts about the WINGS world to you at the snap of a finger. This doesn't work for a lot of authors, but it does for me. I literally have whole scenes from books three and four written out in my head . . . and have for over a year! (I'm anxious to get them out and on paper, but I am a bit OCD about writing chronologically, so those scenes must wait.) 

It was actually a bit difficult to flesh out  my mythos in book two. The first sixty pages were almost completely world building when I turned in my draft of book two, and my editor asked for more, more, more! So in my first round of revisions I added forty MORE pages of world building and I really had to dig deep into my well of creativity to get all of the world building in there and still make it interesting (I hope!). So that really was one of the biggest challenges of book two. Book three?? Well, I'll tackle that this summer.:) 

 

How do you correlate changes in your mythology as you get farther in the books?

Is it weird of me to say that there really aren't changes? My mythos and story line have been very conrete since I first got under contract to do the series. The basics don't change. However, because there was so much world-building in book two, I did run into one problem. Without realizing it, *possible teeny spoilers* I was using the same word for germinating faeries, as newly "born" faeries. That created a lot of confusion for my editor. So when I realized what I was doing (Duh!) I had to assign a new word to one of those stages. In order to decide which, I had to re-read WINGS to make sure I had not ALSO double used the word in there, and which stage I had specifically mentioned before I could figure out how to rename them in book two. (Wow, that looks really convoluted . . . .) So yes, matching books one and two can be a challenge in terms of all the nitpicky details.

 

When is the follow up to Wings scheduled to be out?

Next May! Every May for the next three years!

Thanks, Aprilynne! Here's hoping Wings is everything all crazy good!

Thanks so much Jen!!!

You, yeah you...

Own your power!

Hm...what do you do?

Like most of you, I work. And I commute about four hours a day to get to said work. When I get home, I have to clean the house, work out for at least an hour a night, take care of the cats, and around all of this I write. 

I don't get out much. And today I realized that is a problem. 

I'm so focused on making my books the best they can be that it really slurps up all my time. And everything I do is targeted towards some aspect of them...which is nice, but doesn't really get me away from the whole writing thing, you know? Normally I don't mind, but I think that the progressively crazier and all-encompassing my life gets with this writing thing, the more important it will be to step away.

So I did something not me yesterday. I rode a bicycle with my honey, for an hour to the grandparents and back an hour, and it was great. I was out in nature, I was enjoying the sun, and the light, and the wind, and the smells...I didn't think about my book once. I get that way when I work out but this was easier, somehow...better. 

I need to be able to take some time away, and I'll do it more often now. 

What do you do to get away?

Editing...getting back to normal...

I'm giving myself nine weeks for revisions for FS...I laid out my overall plan for what would happen to the revisions in a prior post. But I think it's safe to say that I'll do the revisions as I did with P, but only a little different. 

With PS I had a clear overview of what needed to happen, and how to get there. I made the changes day by day, giving myself 1 day for every chapter, then a week to read it over/get beta feedback. 

With FS I think it's going to be more of a drop cookie method. I know where things need to change mostly, so I'll go through the electronic file and drop my cookies (better than throwing cookies, heh) where the cookies need to land within the MS. Then I'll go back through and do the tuning, then the fine tuning. I think this one is larger on revisions that PS was, and I blame that on the voice. I only really nailed it about halfway through. 

I also slacked off on my exercising. I need to pick that back up again rather heavily...there is no excuse when I'm in revisions and it's light outside until 9 pm. So no more whining, missy. I'm on it. 

But the nice thing was a new idea hit me, one full of sparkle and joy. I'm so happy about it. The working title? Polo Grrl. 

:))

And you? Where are you at in your process right now?

LOLCAT FREIDAYZ - Nood edishun