In the Void

At first I thought it should be classified as a rewrite request, but I've since discovered that the editors consider their suggested changes as 'editing', not a rewrite.

So, it's definite then....I've sold Iron Shoes to PaperGolem for publication in the next volume of Alembical, a market that publishes four novellas in each volume.

As novellas are notoriously hard to place, I'm really excited about this. The plot bunny had me doing all kinds of research about 1905 Saratoga Springs for this (which I talked about in my posts tagged "process") and I kept doubting the plot bunny's masterplan, but in the end, the bunny won. I'm really glad I wrote it now!

Since there are supposed to be 4 (ETA: According to the editor, four is not the magical number, but I'm certain that there shall be more than 1) novellas in the next volume of Alembical, the editors (including the wonderful klingonguy) still need more. klingonguy posted recently that he was having trouble getting submissions that the editors felt were worthy of inclusion (I asked him in comments if he wanted to look at my loooooong fantasy/romance, concerned that he would find it too romancy for their market, but he encouraged me to send it anyway.)

Therefore I'm urging those of you who have novellas tucked under your wings to let them fly! The editors were prompt and super nice, and I want really cool people to share this volume with me. (The last volume had Jay Lake, Bruce Taylor, Ray Vuckevich, and James Van Pelt, so the standards are high!)

ETA:: And special kudos go out to snickelish, displacedtexan, and melissajm who critted the super long mss for me and made numersou really helpful suggestions! Thanks!

1) The Campbell Eligibility Page is now UP at Writertopia, and I'm on it...along with a lot of other really good people. ;o)
I haven't, however, been able to access the profile, yet, so it only has the one story listed on the bibliography. I hope to get around to that soon. I also noted that there are a lot of peopleI know who are eligible who havent' put their names on the list.

2) Happy BD to mkhobson. May the next year not have the pains of the last.

3) Story in, story back out...the circle of life.

4) I found Blood Oranges (Moros) at one of the local grocery stores. They're very tart and small. I expect bigger ones later.

5) I've started reading The Lone Star Stories Reader, and the first story is "Wolf Night" by Martha Wells. I've read this one a few times before and I also put it in one of my Anthology Builder anthologies, but I still enjoy reading it, which is why I didn't skip over. Best line:
He had never had a woman hit anybody with an axe for him before, and it had quite turned his head.
Subtle and funny, very nice ;o)

6) Finished Iron Shoes at 36.5K. Will think about it for a while, and then start sending it out.

In the story I'm working on that happens to be set in Saratoga Springs, I have a horse named Blue Streak. He's the farm's prime two-year-old, their best bet for the Saratoga Special.

I've done a load of research for this already, but I was just on-line trying to find an aerial picture of the Oklahoma Track (I'm trying to figure out what color the roof of the grandstand is) and ran across the rather uncomfortable information that the local high school are the Saratoga Springs Blue Streaks....

Oops. Perhaps I should change that.

ETA: I should explain that my story is set in 1905. I haven't turned up the HS in my research because I doubt it existed then....Oh, and the horse dies.

I'm trying to have discipline in certain areas, although the miserable cold hasn't helped. So far so good, though.

Things I'm working on for the next month:

These aren't so much 'goals' as what I'm planning to work on...

Dreaming Death
I'm going through my mss scene by scene (planned at 1 chapter a day) and making certain that each scene has enough setting detail. This is a weak point for me that writing short stories has not helped much. I'm not naturally big on setting, and often in my own reading, I skim through setting sections.

The problem here stems from the fact that one of the POV characters is blind. That is not the real challenge, BTW--I've sold blind characters before. The challenge is that I tend to forget that in the scenes with the other POVs....and waste a chance to put in lovely visual details. That's what I'm looking out for. (Also, I found a typo in the first 32 pages. Eep! As many times as this mss has beeen combed, I should have caught every one.)

Ah, well. I'm hoping that in the next novel, I'll remember to write each scene with lots of setting. That way I don't have to do it later (it's almost always a 'second draft' thing for me).

Iron Shoes
I'm working on the re-write of Iron Shoes as well, one section at a time. I'm through section 1 (which had the most massive changes) and will start 2 today.

Devil in the Details
I'm hoping to have both of the above done by the end of the month so that I can start on Feb 2 on the rewrite of DitD. So right now, I'm thinking about DitD. Like with most finished rough drafts, I'm thinking about the story arcs and how to make them 'land' properly. One of the things that I had trouble with is that Kirien's original motivation is lost, replaced by another....which leaves something to be desired in the 'reader satisfaction' area.

Today while I was in the shower, I finally figured out the connection between the two motivations, which should allow me to restructure some of the plot details nicely. Woo Hoo!
(OK, it doesn't sound big, but it makes the difference between a weak plot and a solid one.)

Anything else?
No, not really. If the plot bunny throws something my way, I'll bite, but right now these should keep me busy.

Finished the first draft of Iron Shoes. Came in at just under 31K, and I'll probably zip it out to the brave people who actually said they wanted to read it in the morning. First draft, folks, remember that!

asakiyume had a lovely note earlier about snarkiness by Merriam-Webster (regarding principle/principal). In a separate incident, I got into a discussion regarding my own word rantiness. (Gee, you didn't realize I had word issues? Where have you been all this time?)

My big ones?
1)Further(furthest)/farther(farthest)
You can walk far, farther, or farthest. These are words for distance. You cannot walk fur, further, or furthest.
2) Enormity/enormousness
Enormity denotes terribleness. It is not a reference to SIZE. You use enormousness for that.
3) Continuous/Continual
Any Calculus teacher can tell you the difference between these. You almost never mean 'continuous.' Almost never. If you don't know the difference, it's easiest to stick with continual.
4) Prodigal/Returning
Wait, those two don't look alike! No, they don't. Nor do they mean the same thing.

Those are the ones that I'm most likely to jump on in a critique. Which are your bugaboo word mistakes?

And, as hinted, the Amish Friendship Bread recipe ( under the cut. )

Finished the first draft at 27.5K....a messy FD even for me. An extra draft will be needed before I let anyone read this. I'm still thinking it could be stretched to 90K if I wanted. It's at 27.5, and I haven't even worked in setting or description....oh dear...

This is almost always an issue for me.

I was cuddled up in bed this morning, post shower, and the plot bunny whispered in my ear, its sibilant voice (hissy because with those huge front teeth, you can't help but lisp) saying, "You can make this longer...novel length, even."

Yes, the bunny often says this to me. I offer it lettuce if it will just go away.

Pretty much anything can be stretched to novel length, you know.

I knew this one would be 25K when I started it because there's a lot packed into it. Could I make it 90K? Well, yeah....

More about process....if this doesn't interest you, look away!

I'm working fast and furious on this, and working hard to stuff everything in I need. (which is why I'm planning on adding another 4K).

Early this morning, I woke with several ideas...which kept going on, and I thought, Oh dear, I'd better write this down. So yes, there is a little notebook by the bed, and I scribbled down 6 pages of notes in the dark.

You'll probably note that they're not.....easy to read. I crossed the pages to make them easier to read later. Did I mention it was dark? Pre-dawn dark? Writing without being able to see is an act of faith.
( Notes cleaned up behind the cut )

Yes, today I took out the russian sage. 9-years-old russian sage with happy root systems that didn't want to leave. I had a reason for this, but now I'm too tired and sore to remember what that reason was...

I actually found some of the info I needed about the race I'm co-opting, including a convenient way to get rid of the horse that really did win. The poor bloke suffered a split pastern a few weeks after winning the race, effectively removing him from the rest of his two-year-old season. So, I move it up a few weeks, blame the bad guy, and therefore have an open field. Worked out quite nicely.

Don't care about horse races that happened over a century ago? Too bad, there's someone out there who would scream bloody murder....

Oddly, I can't find the 1905 race results in the NYT. I can find 1904 and 1906.

This is rather like that missing day of Baxter Black on NPR....the one radio broadcast of his that I wanted to download. (The one that talks about the responsibility ranchers feel toward their livestock, and how the wretched cold snap of 2001? was so terrible.) For some reason, a tape of that day wasn't put on file.....

Received in the mail:
Inspector Lynley, Season 6 Supposedly, this is the end of the series, but I hope not.
A Coldwater Creek catalog with beautiful things in it.