Hermes Makes A Comeback

Hermes is rewritten into the plot.  I guess I subconsciously love him too much.  His fate is not certain, though, so we'll just have to see whether I like the role he plays in the next few chapters.  There are several exciting new characters making cameos.  I suspect that my list of characters is still too long, and I will review them after I finish the first draft and cut any unnecessaries.  

Wrote 1,200 words tonight.  I'm looking to complete the chapter this weekend and maybe start a new one.  But ugh, psych midterm Monday, and history midterm Tuesday, plus political science essay about Plato and Hobbes does not equal a lot of writing time.  

Drop the Needle was so much fun!  I still have a few critiques to do myself, but I've been just blown away by the great chapter endings people have.  Really a lot of talent out there.  I've received some great feedback.  I will definitely try to incorporate it into my story.  I'm still on the fence about changing the voice.  I am going back and cutting out all the colloquials that stick out; this is a story set in Ancient Greece after all.  I want to keep the voice fresh and modern though.  I like the twist.  I'm kind of basing the idea off "A Great and Terrible Beauty" written by the very talented Libba Bray.  Her heroine is set in Victorian England, but has a modern, feminist feel to her.  It was difficult at first to get into, but I fell in love with it eventually.  If you haven't already, check out her books.  She's great!

But I can't claim that I'm a Libba Bray, so if my attempt falls flat...well, I'll have to change something.

Fruits of My Labor

2,000 words.  I practically killed myself in the process, but what's a little blood, sweat, and tears when you can finally stand back and say: I did it.  I cannot lie; I like Chapter 13 very much (what's there so far, anyway).  In fact, I like it so much that I'm putting up a short excerpt.  It's only 200ish words, so I figure it's safe to display it.  I may take it down later.  Whatever strikes me.

Anyway, I got into "Drop the Needle," so my submission will be up on Wednesday for critique.  I won't say which one it is.  I will post it here (all 250 words of it!) after the session is officially over.  The more I think about it, the less I like my submission, but eh.  It's better that I get criticisms for it so I can fix it up anyway.  The theme is chapter endings, and my particular selection is from the end of Chapter 5.

And here is my excerpt, as promised:

A slender figure slipped out from the bark of the tree, one delicate hand pressed over her giggling lips.  Her skin almost glowed, bone pale, and her hair streamed over her shoulders in ripples, twigs and flowers twined messily in the gold-brown strands.  “Me?” she said innocently, a devilish flash in her eye.

I was scared out of my wits.  Some ghostly, beautiful creature had just materialized out of a tree in front of me—never mind that I was a ghost myself.  This girl definitely wasn’t a ghost.  She pulsed with life.  She had a faint smell of Persephone.

The girl saw that I was lost for words.  “My name is Clytie,” she said musically.  “I’m a tree nymph.”

I stared at her in shock.  “A tree nymph,” I repeated in disbelief.  “How is a tree nymph living in the underworld?”

Clytie waved her hand flippantly at the forest around us.  “We are nymphs that died when our trees in the world of life above were cut down or otherwise killed.  Persephone let us live anew in her garden.  Now we guard her trees here.”

Tree nymphs.  So there were more.  Excellent.

“You are an intruder,” she said, but she was grinning, like she found it a great joke.

Spare Ends and Such

I adore Chapter 12.  It is officially my favorite chapter written so far.  I mean, I don't think you can lose when there's a battle with skeletons. Skeleton battles pretty much trump everything.

So, as I am in a fairly good place in my writing world, I will share the fun origin of my story.  I did not randomly wake up one day and decide to put this story to paper because it was so fantastic.  I came up with the idea two years ago rather out of the blue, but at that time, it was far less developed and doesn't really resemble what's going on paper right now.  Megara was still the main character, and the setting was the same, but that's it.  Also, at the time, one of the first things I came up with for this idea was the title.  It's a hideous thing.  Are you ready for it?  

"Til Death Do Us Part."  Cue laughter.  I am fully aware that it sounds like a cross between a shameless romance novel and a Lifetime movie.  And that is why my YA fantasy (not romance!) novel is unnamed right now.  It does have a temporary name, but I'll reveal that later.  It's not that exciting; don't hold your breath.  So, technically, my novel is the result of two years of informal plotting. The official plot didn't even materialize until last week, so there you go.

This upcoming week will be busy, busy, busy with schoolwork, and I think the novel will have to take a backseat.  Sad.  I'd wanted to get quite a bit done.

Tomorrow is the start of "Drop the Needle!"  I must get up early and try to submit before everybody else.  Can't wait.

Cry Me A River

Here is an article from Salon: http://dir.salon.com/story/books/feature/2004/03/22/midlist/

It is quite literally one of the most  horrifying things I've read coming from the literary world.  And not because of this author's supposed "sob" story, but because of her brazen ego and idiocy.  Let's see now: poor (cowardly and anonymous) author complains about how she doesn't make enough money in the writing industry, since all publishers care about are books that sell well.  As a midlister author, she has problems signing deals with houses and editors.  Do we sense something wrong here?  Take a deep breath; there are a lot.  

Firstly, this woman whines about poor deals, and her first book advance was $150,000.  My initial reaction was that she was either J.K. Rowling or a liar.  No right-minded, prestigious New York publishing house will offer an advance that large for the first novel of an unknown, unless you're God or a celebrity.  Actually, not even J.K. got that for her first.  Everybody who has done even the minimal amount of research knows that the average advance is only a few thousand at best.  I would die of happiness if I managed to get an offer for $5,000.  I would die of happiness if I got an offer at all.  And then, of course, her books don't get onto the NY Times Bestseller list (is this even a valid complaint?), so her next advance is drastically lower, which she proceeds to moan about.  Eventually, the number of books she sells drops off so low that her editor won't sign her new book contract, even though she insists that her editor still loves her, multiple times.

Here's a bit of the real world, honey.  Your editor Does Not Love You. Your editor only loves you if you roll in the dough.  If that doesn't happen, you and your editor may be practically soulmates, but he will drop you like a rock.  Your agent loves you.  Your editor Does Not. Also, of course publishing houses are out to find novels that sell well. This has not changed since the beginning of time.  Claims that the publishing industry used to "believe in new writers, and published their stuff even if it didn't sell well, because 'they' knew that eventually you'd get it right," is an outright LIE.  This is capitalism, folks, competition wins.  Publishing houses sell books that people want to read.  It only makes financial and logical sense.  

Finally, this semi-successful author was horrified when she found the earnings from her books couldn't pay the bills, so she took a "day job," and considered it a sign of failure.  You know which authors can live off their writing?  I can give you a list.

1.  J.K. Rowling, because she sold billions of books all over the world and got a movie franchise, plus merchandise galore.  She is a freak of nature.

2.  Stephen King, because he is an icon of American literature, and like J.K., is a freak of nature.

3.  Stephenie Meyer, because again, she found the commercial vein of YA, and metaphorically and literally, bit into it.  She also has unbelievable sheer dumb luck.

4.  Danielle Steele, because contrary to popular belief, a lot of people actually do read romance novels, and if you write well (like she does, evidently), you will sell millions of books.

5.  Rick Riordan, because his series has been on the NY Times Bestseller list for 50+ weeks now and is currently the #1 series in kid's lit.  Plus, he has a movie franchise and had many books before his PJO series, not to mention starred reviews and awards.

I guess you could say all these people are freaks of nature.  This doesn't happen to normal people.  Everybody else has a day job or some other source of income.  See?  I don't know why having another job is so shameful.

If you love writing for the sake of writing, as this author claims, why is a big advance even an issue?  She's supposedly sold at least 25,000 of each book she's written, sold past the initial print, right? Writers write because it makes them happy.  When it stops making you happy, it's time to stop writing.  This person's whining makes absolutely no sense to me, especially when I think of all the people (like myself) who would love to have her "mid-lister" success.  If her first advance was real, her agent must be God.  But I suspect this person isn't being wholly truthful.

Drop The Needle

Authoress (Miss Snark's First Victim) is hosting a 250 word critique fest next week.  I hope I get in.  I really need a critique.  But I'm quite excited.  Thank you, Authoress!

Last night I broke my cardinal rule of writing first drafts: Do Not Under Any Circumstances Read What Is Already On The Paper.  I went back and read the last half of Chapter 11.  I thought it was okay. Some parts were awesome, and some parts made me question my English skills.  This is why I don't do this sort of thing normally, because then I have an obsessive urge to edit it immediately, or I begin hating my writing.  The latter is bad, since I need motivation to finish.  So, I learned another lesson besides don't screw with MS Word.  Don't break the Cardinal Rule.  Obviously.  

Why Microsoft Word Is The Bane of My Existence

I would be really happy with my progress today if it weren't for one small little glitch.  MS Word deleted all of Chapter 7.  Yup.  One whole chapter, 3,400 words, poof!  See, I was typing Chapter 11, minding my own business, when Word decided to spaz out and get locked on caps (and no, it was not the caps lock button).  MS has done this before, and the only way to get out of it is to close out of the program.  Unfortunately, there was a chunk of new writing that I hadn't saved yet, but magically, the save button on Word was gone. I had to use the "save as" function, but I accidentally clicked on a different chapter (7), and clicked yes to overwriting it before I realized what I did.  I did everything I possibly could to try and retrieve my poor chapter.  Time machine, temp folders, history, I did everything. Alas, Chapter 7 is lost to oblivion.  Many authors suggest using the Scrivener program as it doesn't cause you to froth with rage (thank you, Ms. Larbalestier), but I am an idiot and didn't take that advice. This isn't the first time I've accidentally overwritten stuff either.

Now I have backups in my email, but the funny thing is, I did have backups for all the chapters up to 6.  I got lazy after that.  And which chapter did I overwrite?  7.  I get the message, God.  Thank you.  

The only upside to this is that I finished Chapter 11 today, and I am super pleased with it.  Meg is really evolving as a character, finally.  I feel like she's a real person now.  Another thing: if it weren't for Chapter 7 disappearing into cyberspace, I would have crossed the 30k threshold today.  As it is, I'm going to continue counting the words of the Forgotten Chapter, because it boosts my self esteem. Just like counting all the extra chapters I'm eventually going to condense.  Same idea.  Luckily, Chapter 7 was one I never liked too much and pretty expendable as far as chapters go.  It was going to get severely edited anyway.  If I had accidentally killed Chapter 5, for instance, I would probably cry for a week.

Again, I have to be glad that I have an MS Excel chart that tracks all of my chapters, their word counts and a brief summary of each (thank you, Ms. Larbalestier), otherwise I wouldn't even know what Chapter 7 was about.  Now, at least, I know what stuff is gone so I can contemplate patching it up later.  

I celebrate the breaking of the 30k barrier, curmudgeonly, but I celebrate it nonetheless.

The Last Olympian Cover (!!!)

Here it is at last:

http://rickriordan.blogspot.com  ---->  Sorry, apparently the picture is bandwidth restricted.

Isn't it BEAUTIFUL?  I totally called it.  It's black.  And that is Percy, wielding Riptide and riding Blackjack under Mount Olympus.  I'm not going to lie, it's a little too generic for my tastes, since The Battle of the Labyrinth was the first to actually show an important scene on the cover, I hoped TLO would go the same way.  But maybe it's better this way so I don't go crazy with predictions.  Yeah, I scanned the cover for a couple minutes trying to see if there were little hints in the clouds or something, but everything seems ordinary.  At any rate, I still think it's gorgeous.  There's also this splendid interview on Mr. Riordan's blog with Percy and Blackjack.  I would copy and paste, but it's a bit long, so go check it out.  

Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait.  I was fidgety through all of my classes because I just wanted to get home and see it!  Wait!  There's a piercing light behind Blackjack's head!  Maybe it's significant! Maybe it's...Zoe!  I don't know.  You know what I think?  I think there should be an aerial battle in this one.  I would assume that Zeus would let go of his prejudice for two seconds and not blast Percy out of the sky, since his nephew is kind of fighting on his side.  

I'm stopping myself before I burst open in excitement.  

Otherwise, The Project is going well.  Hera has appeared, and Meg will set off soon to kick some butt.  Something I recently realized: I don't know what Persephone or Hera look like.  I made it up.  I hope that's okay.  :-)

-*Edit*-

I've had a request to summarize my story and put up an excerpt, but right now, I'm wary about intellectual theft issues.  I'm checking up on that, and if there aren't any problems, I may eventually post Chapter 1.  Be excited.  It's a beast.

Mid-Story Crisis

Patience is a virtue that I do not possess.  Basically, last night a new character, dragging a huge complicated plot with her, stalked over and hit me in the head with a brick, demanding to be incorporated into the novel.  Whoopee.  Now, instead of being done in two months, the completion looks far away.  Sad, sad.  I know that this new plot/character is going to make the story infinitely better, I'm just impatient and want to get it all done!

Well, now I am standing at the base of a mountain again.  The last nine chapters need to be seriously revised and condensed.  Chapter 2 needs to be cut out completely, and Hermes needs to be relegated to a walk-in role only.  Unimportant.  Sorry, Hermes.  Cerberus is merely a mention, and Charon too.  Atalanta's role is going to be drastically scaled back, and her backstory is going to be told in one fell-swoop (without trying to make it an info-dump).  Theseus doesn't need a complicated backstory any more.  The new plot is going to make up much of the new novel.  But Megara is going to be that much cooler, so yay for that.

Ugh, work.

-*Edit*-

Later in the day: I SO wrote 2,000 words today.  Okay, that sounds a lot less impressive on paper than it did in my head.  But I took my laptop to the library and made myself write for an hour and a half, and then another half hour after I showered.  And I finished Chapter 10 (!!!).  How exciting is that?  Well, by Chapter 10, I really mean that after The Revision (horror), it'll be more like Chapter 5 or 6, but Chapter 10 sounds way better.  So I'm just going to refer to my chapters as they currently are, because they're inflated and on steroids.  The rehab will come later, in which they will be forced to come clean and live a healthy lifestyle.

That was the weirdest analogy ever.  Sorry.  But I am pretty excited. I am very happy with Chapter 10.  Chapter 11 is starting rocky, but I can deal with it.  Let the good part begin.  Soon.  I want to get this junk done so I can revise the lights out of it.  Bring it ON, Chapter 11. Bleh, I have two or three papers due in the next couple weeks, which I have no desire to write.  Let's be honest here.  After wringing my brains dry for an hour writing, more writing does not sound all that appealing.  And writing a paper about US history is not interesting compared to writing about a dead girl fight a goddess to get her life back.  All right.  That's all the plot I'm giving away for now. 

In Which I Am Selfish and Needy

I got a haircut today!  Wooooo.  I'm super happy about that because my hair was ridic long and driving me crazy.  My head feels way lighter now.

But mainly, today I went to Borders to check out "The Demigod Files" by Rick Riordan, because I am a psycho Percy Jackson fan.  Yes, I am eighteen.  Yes, I am in college.  Yes, I read children's lit.  Mock me if you must, but Greek mythology + awesome characters and plot = favorite.  Percy is currently rivaling (and beating) my love for Harry Potter.  He is just that cool.  As a result, I am dying for the fifth and last book in the series, "The Last Olympian."  Seriously, I'm having a terrible time waiting for it.  Mr. Riordan's mid-series minibook, "The Demigod Files" came out on Feb 10th and has a preview of TLO which comes out May 5th.  I went and checked it out.  I was not happy.  It wasn't because it was bad; it was fantastic as usual.

Unfortunately, I am one of those crazy people who look for romance in adventure books, which is why I was so crushed when my ship, Harry/Hermione, sunk in Harry Potter.  I have to say that I am a massive Percabeth shipper, and there is this tiny problem of Rachel Elizabeth Dare who is getting in the way of my happiness.  You see, Rachel is a girl who I Do Not Like, because she is right in the middle of my favorite characters getting together.  I think she's spunky and cool, just not as a love interest.  Well.  Chapter 1 of TLO is certainly not encouraging my Percabeth shipping tendencies.  Shame on you, Percy.  SHAME.

It seems like Mr. Riordan is just out to make me angry.  I kid, of course.  I never get mad at authors for writing something I don't like because it is their world, and their characters, and they can do whatever they want.  In any case, I love the author of PJO since he brought this wonderful series forth that pretty much makes my existence.  

This made me think.  Should I get mad at books that don't end precisely the way I want them to?  Should that give me reason to dislike them?  If I have such a clear idea of how I want things to end, then why should I even read other people's books?  Why do I even have such a vested interest in the romance part when it's clearly an action/adventure/fantasy?  Silly me.  Silly me and my attachment to characters.  

I would like to thank Rick Riordan heartily for being such a fabulous author.  Percy Jackson is better than Mr. Darcy.  Seriously.  Mr. Darcy never cared for Greek mythology.  Nor did he save the world approximately every 2.4 seconds.  Percy is so dreamyyyy. <3

Ahem.  Sorry about that.  It's my bad "Twilight" habits.

Adding to the Clamor

I know that everybody has already gone over the whole Stephen King vs. Stephenie Meyer feud.  But I just saw a published author say there was nothing wrong with what Mr. King said.  I have to disagree. Aside from the fact that his comments were downright rude for a civilized human being, I also don't think it's responsible or correct to say that Stephenie Meyer is a bad writer.  She isn't.  She isn't a literary genius, nor is her style the greatest.  But that woman sure can tell a story.  

I realize that Stephen King is a very talented author.  I've never read his stuff (not a fan of horror), but I can see for myself that he is iconic.  Surely, he knows a good writer when he sees one.  As far as I'm concerned, if an author can sell millions of copies of her books, she's good.  Something about her writing makes people want to read it.  That makes her good.  Most authors (including myself) would rather sell a bunch of books than be praised as a gifted writer.  The readers say it all.  Saying that Stephenie is a bad writer is insulting half of America's taste in books.  And I don't think that's a wise thing for an author to do.  With all due respect to Stephen King, he needs to back off.  He's not the intended audience for Twilight, and just because a book doesn't appeal to him, doesn't mean it isn't appealing.  

Let's check Stephenie's sales shall we?  I think that says it all.

Happiness is mine.  Chapter 9 is finally done.  

Beginnings Are Awkward

Today, I officially put "Something Ever After" on hold to concentrate on The Project (aka the novel that is thus far unnamed).  This was excessively hard for me, since the characters from my "Fairytale" story have been with me since 2006!  Can you believe that?  We're practically family.  Stupid Megara and her selfishness in keeping me all to herself.  What can I say?  Main characters are demanding, pushy people.  Anyway, the past month I've been in denial, insisting that I can do two projects at a time.  Lie.  Lying to myself massively. I absolutely hate it when other authors leave fanfiction to work on originals.  And now, like a hypocrite, I'm doing it too.

I'm doing the right thing.  I'll never get my original done if I don't set aside time for it, and between my classes and homework, there's just not a lot of time.  I do feel terribly guilty though.  Sorry to my readers. Sorry, sorry, sorry for leading you on and then tossing you off the train.  More on my ode to fanfiction later.

On the bright side, I got over the horrible writer's block that ruined my day yesterday.  Chapter nine is fitting, because it is the ninth level of hell to write.  I'm sure Meg has multiple personality disorder every few paragraphs.  Ah, that's what the rewrite's for!

This is super awkward.  I don't like starting.