Category: Writing

Lush (green, electronic) life

So, some people celebrate a sale with champagne and dinner out (well, we did go to Stinky Feet Burger King play place). We celebrate with small, electronic devices:

This is the Eee PC. Very small. Very light. And yes, I did ask for the “lush green” version. I was thinking maybe the blush pink, but Kyra is coveting that one (when she’s older, when she’s older, although she already knows the difference between a play PC and a real one).

I kept the Linux operation system on it. You can load XP. But. Meh. More trouble than it’s worth. The Eee PC comes with OpenOffice and that’s all I need for writing.

So far, the only drawback is the tiny keyboard. It’s even smaller than a Mobile Pro keyboard. And my biggest complaint about that is instead of right shift key, I kept hitting the up arrow key. But I’m training my fingers to use it. Of course, I have bony thin fingers, and that may make a difference.

Overall, it’s working very well. And if Stinky Feet Burger King play place had WiFi, I could log on there, too.

So, what do you do now?

Sell a book, what’s next? Write another one. Well, we could. Or I could just go take a nap, which is what I did on Saturday afternoon.

I haven’t taken a nap in ages, but I seem to have some spring cold/flu/undefined ailment, so I though a nap might help. Of course, I’m not sure it’s really a nap if you have a five-year-old nursemaid in constant attendance, soothing your brow, patting your arm, and adding glittery lip gloss to your lips (I might be sick, but I’m still fashionable).

I wanted to thank everyone for all the kind congratulations yesterday, but even though I didn’t “nap,” I was still feeling under the weather. Ditto for today. Only no lip gloss, so I’m not nearly as fashionable.

But I am here to say thanks and thanks again. Darcy and I really appreciate it.

We interrupt this blog…

For an announcement from Publishers Marketplace:

Charity Tahmaseb and Darcy Vance’s debut THE GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO CHEERLEADING, the story of a self-confessed debating dork whose practical joke lands her a spot on the varsity cheerleading squad, where she realizes that if there’s one thing worse than blending into the lockers, it’s getting noticed!, to Jennifer Klonsky at Simon Pulse, by Mollie Glick at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency.

If anyone is interested, I’ll be glad to elaborate why it took nearly two weeks from hat tossing to being able to announce the sale. But. Later. I should be able to form coherent sentences later.

Editing the one inch picture frame

So, as many of you know, I lost my mind on Wednesday evening and had my kids toss my manuscript into the air. Not only did this provide them with loads of fun, but this way of editing?

I have much love for it.

Not that it’s 100% easy or anything. Injecting tension, sharpening prose, micro-editing. But the thing is: all you have is that one page. It’s the editing equivalent of Anne Lamott’s one inch picture frame for draft writing.

This isn’t the sort of editing I’d do for plot continuity, character arc, story flow, and so on. But it is one of those edits I need to do. The fact the pages are in no particular order means I start each page fresh. It’s just me, the page, and my trusty Uni-ball Vision Elite pink pen. (The kids agreed; this would be the pink edit. Purple’s up next.)

And sure, there are 345 pages in this current version of my manuscript. But hey, all I have to worry about is one at a time.

The strange things we do on a Wednesday evening

Andrew and Kyra first tried to catch a rabbit. Do you see a rabbit? Because I don’t.

rabbit1.jpg

Andrew was frustrated with Kyra’s lack of understanding of his (mostly confusing) hand and arm signals. Then we came inside and tossed my manuscript in the air. No. Really. We did.

Here’s proof:

paperchase.jpg

Even the dog helped:

paperchase3.jpg

Don’t you wish this was your manuscript?

paperchase2.jpg

There is actually a reason behind all the insanity. It’s an exercise from Donald Maass’ Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook. Tension on every page. The only way, according to Mr. Maass, to edit every page for tension is to do it out of order. I have no reason to doubt this. If nothing else, the kids had fun tossing the manuscript into the air.

A conversation that could only happen in our house

 So, last night, the Marvelous Miss B was writing a play based on a picture she drew. She was working to assign everyone roles, who would play the bunny, who would play the squirrel, who would play the chickadee, even who would play the audience.

She couldn’t get Andrew to commit to the role of squirrel and was getting frustrated. At which point, I said:

“Why don’t you storyboard a few more scenes for your play?”

Miss, B, totally unfazed. “Okay.”

So she did. And in case you’re interested in getting your acting career off the ground, we’re still looking for a few good chickadees.

Yawn, stretch, 100×100

 Oh, poor Miss B. She was down with the flu starting Friday. She was well enough to go back to school yesterday. However, thanks to some sleepless nights, I wasn’t in a place where I could string two words together, never mind a blog post.

She is also the sweetest little patient on record. Like there was ever any doubt. All please and thank you, and taking her medicine without compliant, and all Mama, just snuggle with me, that makes me feel better.

But I’m back! You missed me, no?

So, while sleep deprived, I decided to start (or try to start–we’ll see how it goes) a 100×100 challenge at a writing site I frequent. Now, I’ve had mixed feelings about this site; they’ve had their ups and downs. There are a handful of self-style experts handing out questionable advice (no, no, not me, never me).

But then I thought, in pure cheesy movie manner: if you build it, they will come.

So, I thought, well, what would I like to see happen at this site? What could I do to get it going?

On one of the email lists I’m on, they do a 100×100 challenge. That’s 100 words per day for 100 days. It’s a great way to build a writing habit. At the end of 100 days, if you’re consistent, you’ll have 10,000 words. That’s a decent start to a novel, or possibly two short stories, or even twenty pieces of 500-word flash fiction.

The idea is take small, consistent steps, kind of like exercise or any other lifestyle change. For myself, on the days I’m not working on MacKenna, I’ll be adding 100 words to a new short story I’m calling, for the moment, Speechless.

Hey, kids! Let’s put on a show

I am brainstorming the program for MacKenna’s synchronized swim show. Yes, I realize MacKenna is a fictional character, going to a fictional high school, in a fictional town, and her synchro team is, in fact, fictional.

I still think compiling a list of songs on the fictional program for the fictional show lends a certain amount of verisimilitude.

Theme: movie music. This can be the obvious, like songs from a musical, or soundtrack music, as long as it’s fairly short (no seven minute numbers please). So far I have:

  • Stars and Stripes Forever ~ Sophomore number (ties into a joke re: typo in the printed program)
  • All That Jazz ~ MacKenna and Constance’s duet
  • Greased Lightin’ ~ Junior number
  • Surrey with the Fringe on Top ~ Freshman number
  • Lady Marmalade ~ Becca’s solo

I need ten more songs to round out the show! All suggestions considered and much appreciated.