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I've felt drawn lately to return to LJ to ramble about things - I have become a Facebooker, yes (though honestly mostly a Redditor), but to actually put myself out there makes me not so comfortable. So I post a lot of dog and food things as a result. I've decided I need to just be here more often as it is a good place to at least sort of know who is reading my intimate ramblings. So onward with the update, which is in list form, because I am tired and sleepy and want to go to bed now.
And here is Buffy, the Cat Upstairs:.
- Starting off with Hodderscape. I submitted to the open submissions event in August, and as of today I have not been rejected. We were told that if we did not get rejected by the end of the year, it is because our work has gone on to a second reading. So yay, second reading! How long that second reading will last, we don't know, but I am using this time to get this ms done. Not sitting around on my laurels, waiting. No way.
- The reason this is so important and exciting is I submitted a YA fantasy, a new genre for me but one I have been reading extensively in for some time. It is my happy place, definitely, and I know now this is where I want to be. So no matter what, if I get a rejection now? I will still be mighty happy as getting this far means I do have something, my story has something about it that has garnered attention. That above all is what I needed most to know. If they pass now I will be sad, sure, but also I know exactly what I am doing next with this story - start the agent hunt.
- I am currently at 79,909 words, with a quarter to go. Long, yikes!! I fear the finished draft will be around 110,000, but that is really okay as I have LOTS of revisions to do. I am writing this one straight through because of the Hodderscape thing (and yes they were fine with unfinished ms's entered, but it sure would be bad to not have it done or close to by the time they email and say 'send it all!' ha ha). After I am finally done with the first draft I will be hitting revisions hard. I have a plan for that too that I am excited to try, based on what I learned from this amazing, amazing book:
- So right now, writing on the ms is everything. I work the day job hard, I write during lunch (by hand, every day - I'm on my fourth Moleskin notebook now), I come home, do home things, I write, then go to bed and start over again. Not a bad thing really. I see my kids a lot these days, my daughter joins me on weekends at B&N, and both she and my son are my #1 fans. :)
- I am also participating in
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getyourwordsout here on lj, a year-long writing community to, well, Get Your Words Out. Doing it last year was fun, I wrote a lot of articles, but I feel more into it this year. Not sure why. I hope to pick up some friends from there this year - like actually add to my friends list! Crazy thought! - I redid my writing space. Sitting on the couch wasn't working, and while I do love writing at B&N I need to write at home too. I now write at my dining room table, which I pushed against the wall. I love this table as it has a pull-out leaf I can put the keyboard on, and then I can put it away when I don't need it. Nice. Maddox would not hold still for a picture. Bad dog. I like sitting out here as then he can run in and out and I can keep an eye on him (escape artist). So I have my table, my computer, my plants (I have a lot of plants these days), my dogs, and a nice table to sit at, with music going, yeah. I have been doing most of my writing at B&N but that is only on weekends.
- I'm not sure what else to update. In many ways life is very calm (though my son is single again, and living with me for now, which is okay - I don't mind at all as he is a big help with the dogs. He brought his cat with him, yes a cat in a house of prey driven Siberians. We are very careful to keep her upstairs behind locked doors. Thankfully she is a very sweet quiet cat!). My daughter is doing fantastic with her job (like really fantastic), she has a great guy in her life now, and they are moving in to a very pretty brand new condo in Dallas next month. Work is good and busy, yeah.
- Just learned too that the publisher who published my Cardiff story, Amber Quill, is folding. I'll get my rights back on that story. It did terrible there. I maybe got 50 bucks total. It is weird to me because I love that story, I wrote part of it while I was in Cardiff for a couple of weeks, and I just don't know, I just don't know. Maybe, probably, shouldn't have left Loose-Id and published with them but as I am putting aside m/m for now (or forever) it doesn't matter. I don't think I will do anything with it. I just don't care, anymore.
- I guess this is getting too long so it means I should post some pictures now, yes? Here you go!
And here is Buffy, the Cat Upstairs:.
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(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 07:43 am (UTC)I'm so happy for you that you found your genre. I think with my tendency to dark fic, I might end up writing psychological horror. For now, it's scifi, and I really love that, too. Not so much space travel, more what might happen to earth in the future. I like the extrapolation. What do you like about writing YA?
I've been contemplating GYWO as a new way to post about the creative writing books. I'm not sure if I'm daring enough, or if I'll just restart doing this for myself in my journal. I'd like to get into more discussions about writing, but I'm not sure I could handle a lot of controversy from people who have studied creative writing. Fandom burned me a little, since there is always something that one can do wrong, and another person to point it out.
Yay for the makeup of your writing space at home! It looks lovely. This is what I have planned for 2016, too. I need a new dinning table for the living room, and I want one that is a rectangle (the current one is a square), so that I can leave my writing stuff lying around and still use the rest of the table for eating. That's my dream for the living room. But before I can tackle the living room, I have to address the office kitchen, which I want to redo as a storage area for food and office material as well as a tea kitchen. So right now I do my writing on the couch. Which is not ideal, and a bit silly, since I have the office next doors. But so far, the office is for the job. I need a different place for writing, one that is not the main computer (I do the writing on my laptop, and then backups on an external harddrive). First world problems, yes? :-)
And more kitty love! She's so precious. ♥ Love for Maddox, too! ♥
Also, yes to more posting and sharing thoughts on LJ. I miss that so much. To meaningful exchanges in 2016!
BTW, would you like to be friends on FB? Food and dogs sound great! :-D
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 03:57 pm (UTC)https://www.facebook.com/carolyn.gray.184007
SciFi is good though! I love SciFi. Psychological horror... yeah I could see you doing that as well. :) You are such a nice person but deep in your mind exists... Ha! Just kidding (a little!). :)
I think though here at least, any writerly discussions would be good, at least with this group. I wrote several articles for GYWO last year, hoping more would jump in to talk about stuff, but that didn't happen. Maybe this year! My favorite place actually at least for YA fiction and for fantasy is on Reddit. Really good groups of people there, very supportive and they have good moderators who smack bad behavior down. :)
And why YA? I am not sure why - I like writing younger people, I like a character having to deal with issues I saw my kids deal with (though I guess they are just plain ol' adults now!). I love how the books themselves look on that shelf at the bookstore - sounds silly maybe, but YA books are so PRETTY. That and that YA hasn't ever truly sprung into the emarket pulls at the old desire to be published the traditional way. I just want that. I've had ebooks, now I want this. :) So we shall see!
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 09:34 pm (UTC)I read your articles and the others as well, but I was just so overwhelmed by everything that I never commented. It's stupid, I know, but something about GYWO being so huge as a community tends to intimidate me. On the other hand, not enough people will hang around to discuss stuff at my journal. Maybe I should just be more daring.
I find your choice (any writer's choice) of genre so fascinating! I like writing people coming of age, dealing with issues, but I could never write YA. I read it sometimes, and the banter alone is something I could never writer believable. It's also too light for me, moodwise, even the books that deal with serious issues. But when I write those issues, I want to take them further. It confused me for some time: writing teenagers, but not writing for teenagers, how would that work out and who would read it? Then I remembered Stephen King and everything fell into place. Not every book about teenagers has to be for teenagers. :-)
I can relate to wanting your book in print. It's just so much nicer to sign. And it somehow feels more real, right, because one can touch it and really hold it. I really wish you success - I'd totally read your YA.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 10:27 pm (UTC)Oh my posts were fun - I enjoy doing them! I have flaked out a few times on Em due to time/mental issues but she forgave me so I will do more. Right now I'm working on my Revisions Plan using my favorite book ever I talk about all the time. :)
More later - am still at work doing billing UGH.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-07 09:54 am (UTC)What do you think of The Hunger Games? I was intrigued by the premise, but quite disappointed by the books. I didn't like Katniss and found her character too artificial. The whole love story was annoying, too. I have to stop, or I'll start ranting - lol.
I still have to check out that Revision book you've been talking about. I think have the tab open somewhere in my Firefox - you made a post about that book at the GYWO community, didn't you?
Billing - yikes! I hate billing and all the accounting stuff, even though it's the part where I actually earn the money. :-D But it's such a drag.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-07 03:46 pm (UTC)Billing is a necessary evil! I am getting it all out today, yay!
I enjoyed reading the books (primarily the 2nd one) but haven't seen the last two movies. I imagine I will eventually. I hated how the series ended, however. There was much I loved how she did, and much I scratched my head over. The way Katniss treated Peeta (weirdest name ever) just, no. I found the secondary characters much more interesting!
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-08 08:46 am (UTC)I liked the first book and found the second one extremely tailored in its hurt-comfort scenes. That public whipping was the most superfluous thing ever, it felt like some of the NC-17 scenes in fanfic to me. The third book was boring, since Katniss sat around most ofthe time, doing practically nothing. I only ever saw the first movie and it didn't do much for me. But I heard that the second movie was a lot better.
Don't get me started on how Katniss treated Peeta. That guy had "I'm a good person" practically tattooed on his forehead, and she kept doubting him again and again. That really made me doubt her sanity.
Yes, some of the secondary characters (for example the guy who designed all her clothes) were much more interesting.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 01:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 03:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 04:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 04:36 pm (UTC)2016 I am trying to be better about keeping up with cool people. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 04:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 04:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 06:14 pm (UTC)The writing space looks great. I go through "moods" in which I'm more productive in one space than in another. Currently my armchair with a tv tray is the place, but sometimes it's at my desk. I think is always depends on how cluttered/noisy a place is.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 06:19 pm (UTC)And oh yeah - I carry that book with me everywhere (so silly I know). I will definitely be using it for more posts!
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 06:36 pm (UTC)The Pace Tracker is a lot of fun, yes. I'm going to try to use it more this year to track my hours editing. I really want to start getting a baseline for how to include editing as part of a pledge. It might take me a few years to really figure that out, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 06:47 pm (UTC)X Files - I have never finished!
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-06 06:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-08 01:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-08 02:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-08 03:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2016-01-09 11:43 pm (UTC)