|
|
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
| |
11:07 am - Another goal down
|
#4 on the list I posted earlier; revised some pitches and sent them off to the developers this morning. Time to get cracking on the query letter and the novel revisions!
current mood:  busy
current music: John Adams soundtrack
|
|
(4 comments | comment on this)
|
| Sunday, July 20th, 2008
| |
8:41 pm - Writing goal and an aside
|
I revised the Barkeep story today and promptly mailed it off to the next market on my list. Cross that goal off the list! On to the next one.
Also finished watching the last two episodes of the outstanding HBO series, "John Adams." Very good series. Makes me want to move the book to the top of my reading stack, but I must resist, for I have far too much to do. :) Definitely check the series out when you get a chance.
current mood:  artistic
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Thursday, July 17th, 2008
| |
6:28 pm - Writerly things
|
I mentioned in my previous post that Shore Leave reminded me that the good writers, the ones out there getting published and getting work and getting their name and works Out There, are writers who are disciplined enough to do the work, get it out there, and keep moving forward.
So, in the effort to get my gears back into...uh, gear, I spent the last couple days getting my act together and putting some short-term goals together.
I now have several goals to accomplish.
1. Revise the pitch for a seekrit project and mail it out to the editor.
I revised the pitch on Tuesday and mailed it to the editor Wednesday. Done.
2. Revise my novelette "The Barkeep and the Gunslinger Horus" and send it to a new market on my radar.
3. Revise my query letter for my original urban fantasy Horus Reborn and send it to the next market/editor on my list.
4. Revise pitches for another seekrit project and mail them out to the editor.
2, 3, and 4 will be done by Sunday, with delivery to editors on Monday or at the latest Tuesday (if my first reader feels things need to change).
5. Revise Horus Reborn by August 3. I started revising this earlier in the year and got five chapters in. Due time I got the rest of it done.
6. Write and mail a new short story every other week, starting with the first story to be mailed 7/31, with new stories to follow on 8/14, 8/28, 9/11 and 9/25.
On 9/25, I'll revisit the schedule. If it looks like I can do more than that, I'll ramp up the schedule; otherwise I'll stick to the every other week schedule.
More goals to follow, but that's a good start, I think.
current mood:  determined
current music: "300" Soundtrack
|
|
(4 comments | comment on this)
|
| Monday, July 14th, 2008
| |
12:41 am - Home from Shore Leave 30
|
Had a great time again this year! Had a chance to chat with old friends and made some new friends. Missed chatting up a few folks, but it was good to put faces to online names and the big old world got a little bit smaller.
The Friday night Pocket Books panel was interesting, and it previewed a ton of new titles coming out over the next 14-18 months or so. Highlight for me, of course, was the (presumably) final cover for the Mirror Universe anthology, Shards and Shadows, which you can take a gander at right here:
http://images.wikia.com/memoryalpha/en/images/7/73/Shards.jpg
Pretty nifty. On the one hand, the 13 names on the cover look a teensy bit cluttered, but on the other hand, my name is sharing some cover real estate with 12 really damn good writers, so I'm proud and humble and a little freaked out that I'm sharing the book with them. Can't wait for this one to finally come out.
In other SL news, three books were given special release at the con, the two Myriad Universe "what if" Trek anthologies, and the latest TNG novel, "Greater than the Sum." More titles to add to my tottering 'to read' stack.
Sat in on a couple excellent NASA panels, a couple good Trek fic panels, and spent nearly not enough time with fellow writers and fans. The panels schedule felt a bit wonky this year, so this was the first Shore Leave I've been to where I had almost nothing to do on Sunday. So, my wife and I left the con after the SCE panel and got home within an hour and a half. Then came home and crashed for a few hours.
I also had a chance to chat with an editor or two, and got some good insights and a couple tentative nods on various and sundry, so I'll be spending the next week or two working up some pitches and assorted work.
All in all, a great convention. My biggest takeaway was sitting in a writing panel and realizing, then accepting that the one big element to being a pro writer that I'm not on the ball with is being sufficiently disciplined. So that will change starting tomorrow. :)
Thanks to all the Shore Leave staff and the staff of the Hunt Valley Marriott for putting on a great con. See ya next year.
current mood:  awake
|
|
(10 comments | comment on this)
|
| |
12:35 am - Tales from the Seven Dogs Society
|
|
| Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
| |
11:58 am - Shore Leave 30 schedule
|
So the (almost final) schedule is up at www.shore-leave.com for this weekend's convention. I'm committed for the following:
Friday: 10:00pm till whenever - Meet the Pros
I'll sign books if anyone's got copies of SNW VII, 09, 10, or the Cup of Comfort for Horse Lovers. Also the great fiction reference Voyages of Imagination. Unfortunately, the Star Trek: Mirror Universe anthology Shards and Shadows won't be out till December or January, and my Aletheia novella won't be out till August. I'll have some freebie takeaways for that stuff, though, so stop by my table and say howdy.
Saturday: 2:00pm to 3:00pm - Strange New Worlds Post Mortem
We'll be pouring a 40 on the curb for the dearly departed SNW anthology series, and probably the authors will talk smack for an hour. And I'll be giving away a large SNW 08 cover flat since I have no use for it and it's taking up space. :)
Other than that, I have no commitments. The joys and curse of not having a lot published yet. There are some very cool NASA panels on Saturday I'll check out, and of course the usual shenanigans in the bar in the evenings. Should be a fun weekend. See ya there!
current mood:  chipper
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Friday, July 4th, 2008
| |
12:29 am - From the Earth to the Moon
|
Been on a bit of a space exploration kick lately, and just finished watching the generally excellent HBO miniseries, "From the Earth to the Moon." Brilliant in most cases, a little scattershot in others. Overall a worthy viewing experience.
Though, I finished watching the last episode tonight and I had a thought punch me in the gut and made me kind of melancholy. I believe, sadly, that the 30 men who went around the Moon will all have passed away before another human sets foot on either the Moon or another planet. To think that the space program was able to go from nonexistent to the Moon in, what, less than 15 years, and now it's been almost 40 years since the first moon landing.
Best I start exploring this in fiction somewhere. :)
current mood:  tired
|
|
(4 comments | comment on this)
|
| Saturday, June 28th, 2008
| |
11:19 pm - "Stardust" and a writerly comment
|
Don't know how we missed it when it was out in theaters last year, but my wife and I picked up the movie "Stardust" off Netflix and watched it tonight. Great fantasy adventure/fairy tale/love story. Had a ton of fun watching it.
Best part for me was the special feature on the making of the movie, and Neil Gaiman basically discussing how the whole story was built largely off two simple events pulled from things he encountered in daily life--a hole in a stone fence in Cork, Ireland, and a falling star viewed in the desert of Arizona.
Taking random events from my life and finding a way to skew them into a story is something I've tried harder to do over the last few years of writing, and I'm really encouraged to be reminded that I'm not the only one. :)
So, yeah, you writer types out there. Keep your eyes open wherever your life may take you and remember to write stuff down, even the random stuff. Who knows when you might be able to take a couple of those random events, pop them together, and make magic out of them.
current mood: happy
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Thursday, June 12th, 2008
| |
7:49 pm - Barack Obama needs some new telephone workers in VA
|
I mean, really...
I get a phone call today from the Obama contingent, asking for donations to the cause. Unfortunately, the kid on the other end of the phone couldn't pronounce my name (how hard is Jim Johnson, really?), stumbled through the telephone script, and worst of all, pronounced the candidate's name wrong!
I'm pretty confident it's not "Bare Rock Obama."
Sheesh. I thanked him for his time and hanged up. Someone with half an ounce of polish in their delivery might have gotten me to open my wallet.
Anyway. If anyone from the camp is reading, learn up your staff!
current mood:  annoyed
|
|
(2 comments | comment on this)
|
| Saturday, June 7th, 2008
| |
9:53 am - Happy birthday!
|
|
| Thursday, June 5th, 2008
| |
12:18 pm - Hope I haven't balanced out yet
|
My good karma storage continues to come back to me for some reason. Got invited to a fun poker tourney last night with some friends in the theater group, and I ended up winning the little tournament and pocketing a cool $110. My producer for Twelfth Night came in second and took home $50. (I beat her in the final hand to win the top prize.) So I guess it was a good night for Twelfth Night staff or something. :)
I'd regale you with some cool poker story with all the lingo and such, but this was my first tourney and I couldn't tell you the difference between the nuts or the river or whatever. I just play the cards I'm handed.
(And now I hear every poker shark out there licking their lips...)
And, to continue the good string of luck, I woke up this morning to find three separate emails from various and sundry asking me to pitch writing-related stuff in the near future.
Busy me. :P
current mood: creative
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
| |
4:31 pm - Unlimited...pooooweeeerrrr!
|
Went to the board meeting for my local theater group last night for an interview and got the news today that I was selected to direct Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" in Fall 2009 for them.
I'm excited! This will by my full stage directorial debut, though I've directed a couple little one-acts and scenes and stuff.
And I won't let the power go rushing to my head just yet. I still have 15 months or so. :D
Muahahahaha! Ahem.
current mood: predatory
|
|
(10 comments | comment on this)
|
| Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
| |
12:22 am - Irons in da fire
|
|
| Saturday, May 31st, 2008
| |
8:44 pm - LTGV Update
|
Got comments back from my first reader and they were nicely minimal. Writing from an outline seems to work much better for me than sitting at the keyboard and just making shit up on the fly.
The changes have been made and the story's off in the email to the developer and editor, so for now, it's out of my hands.
With my EVE RPG stuff also sitting on the EVE developer's desk, I find myself free and clear of work for the first time in what feels like four months.
...
After checking, it's actually been three full months. What to do with the time? Guess I better dig out my works in progress and idea cards and get cracking on some short stories and pitches and stuff. No excuse to be idle!
current mood: creative
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Thursday, May 29th, 2008
| |
5:59 pm - LTGV Update
|
Got a solid hour and a half writing in today, and the draft of the manuscript is done. Done! Woot! Came in just under the target goal, but I expect the edit and subsequent revision may be able to fill that out. The contract called for a 20k minimum and a 30k maximum, so I think I'm right there in that comfortable middle ground.
It's printed off and sitting on my desk. I didn't appreciate just how many pages were in this thing. I didn't really notice while typing on the Neo, and I didn't really appreciate the growing page count while pasting into MS Word.
It's 134 pages in standard manuscript format, which is pretty darn cool. Now to give it to my wife/first reader and go get myself a snack to celebrate. I think a shot of amaretto and a cookie is in order. Huzzah!
Today's total and goal:
Project total and goal:
current mood: accomplished
current music: Shards of Eberron soundtrack
|
|
(3 comments | comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
| |
11:17 pm - LTGV Update
|
Spent most of the day at work, and got pretty worn out, but managed to do a preliminary edit on what I've written so far, and added some new content. I'm getting close, and I can see the end in sight. Two solid hours of work tomorrow and it'll be done.
Today's total and goal:
Project total and goal:
current mood: tired
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| |
10:49 pm - Letter meme
|
Noticed on ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) altariel's journal, and I'm feeling creative.
Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real places, names and/or objects, but nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person you got this from has the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question. And Have Fun With It!!!
1) 4 LETTER WORD: Junk
2) BOY NAME: Jeffrey
3) GIRL NAME: Josephine
4) OCCUPATION: Judge
5) A COLOR: Jade (the only one I could think of)
6) SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Jacket
7) BEVERAGE: JOLT Cola
8) FOOD: Jambalaya
9) SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Jell-o
10) A PLACE: Jerusalem
11) REASON FOR BEING LATE: Jell-o
12) SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: "Jerk!"
current mood:  devious
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
| |
11:24 pm - LTGV update
|
Got another good day of writing in, though not as good as yesterday. I think I wore myself out yesterday. Today was sort of meh overall. Happy with my production, though. I should be able to finish the thing tomorrow...
Today's total and goal:
Project total and goal:
current mood: tired
|
|
(2 comments | comment on this)
|
| Monday, May 26th, 2008
| |
7:01 pm - LTGV Update
|
Got a lot done today in three one-hour bursts. Treated today as sort of a mini-writing retreat. Very productive. I may have one more hour left in me today. If not, tomorrow will be a repeat of today, and I might just get the draft done by Tuesday night...
Today's total and goal (bit ridiculous, really, but for completion's sake):
Project total and goal:
current mood: accomplished
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| |
2:37 pm - LTGV update
|
Been a busy few days, though I got a little writing done on Friday. Got the very sad news yesterday morning that my grandmother passed away, unexpectedly. After spending the day with family and getting a few thing sorted out, I have today free to get back to Aletheia.
The update from before the weekend:
I've already written 2500 words today, but I have more to do so I'll post the day's work in one post later tonight. And I have tomorrow off too, so things are looking up.
current mood: busy
current music: Loreena McKennitt iPod shuffle
|
|
(2 comments | comment on this)
|
|
|
|
|
energetic
blah
