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Showing posts from August, 2015

Done... For now.

Well, I finished draft two of The Page & The Magician . The day after, I awoke excited and went to finding beta readers. I'm looking for swaps of some sort rather than buying a service. I only want to pay for the final edit and cover design outside of the actual production expense of printed copies and whatever eBook expenses await me. It feels great to have moved on to the next stage! I'm now slowly working on cleaning my place. While I was living in the world of my book, I kind of ignored the real world. Oops. I'm cleaning it at a casual pace and catching up on some movies. I read a friend's new YA story. It's set in Ottawa, Ontario and man is it intense! Check out A Test of Loyalty by Laurie Stewart. The weekend came to a close too early for my liking. I suppose I should work on another project once my cleaning is under control. Maybe the roller derby story as it's already around 50,000 words and just needs a plan. I can outline what I want to do and reo

Mixed Bag

I'm sorry for not posting on Sunday. I was hungover. You see, Saturday was the annual dojo BBQ. I enjoyed vodka and cutting mats with a sharp sword, also known as Tameshigiri. I did my favorite kata, So Giri . It's number eleven in the Zen Ken Ren set. It's kind of flashy and you can't do it for grading unless you're asked to. There's 5 cuts in it. I did much better than last year. I was annoyed when the sword got stuck in the "body", but my sensei said the depth was decent, so that's cool. I'm trying to tie up all the loose ends in my book. It's going out with a bang. I've stumbled onto some bits where I can't remember what I was thinking. Some kind of lizard creature. Yes, that's about the extent of what I left myself. Hopefully I find a note explaining to myself what that was about. My next homework for the superheroes course is due in September, but I should get it done sooner. It looks like my food sensitivities may be a sy

Heroes, Villains, and Computers

I've begun taking a course called, " The Rise of Superheroes and Their Impact on Pop Culture ." It's a free course put on by edX and Stan Lee often makes appearances. The first assignment has us taking three of our favourite superheroes and linking them to their mythological roots. As an example the teacher gave, Superman is basically a retelling of the story of Moses. As writers we know every story has been told before and that we need to put our own spin on whatever story we're telling. I'm thoroughly enjoying it. It was hard to choose my heroes as I didn't know many of them and I wanted to do female characters as they are more often overlooked. I spent the weekend watching superhero movies to help me choose. I've chosen Wonder Woman, Rogue, and Storm. After my X-Men marathon, I feel like Magneto is arguably one of the more reasonable villains. He acts in a way that makes sense considering the atrocities he has seen. I'm not saying his behaviour

Endings

There's a book I'm reading for work as part of my personal growth requirements. It's Nathaniel Branden's The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem . I find it well-written and it's the foremost work on self-esteem. As one might imagine, my self-esteem wasn't stellar after my divorce. Actually, it was pretty much non-existent. I spent a long time hearing how terrible I was at everything in life and how I shouldn't bother becoming a writer because I couldn't ever be as good as J.K. Rowling. Eventually I realized that was horseshit. I was skilled at managing projects. I could write well enough to convey information to different audiences. I had friends who cared about me despite not seeing them much over a period that lasted about a decade. It didn't help that my natural inclination is to want to help people. I have had to learn that I'm not responsible for the happiness of others. They are. And there's nothing wrong with helping others, so long as you are

Your Name, Your Choice

I don't have much of a ROW80 update. I seem to be struggling through all of my remaining chapters and have no idea when I will be finished my second draft. I'm not sure why they are harder than the preceding ones were. Perhaps I did my worst writing at the end when I was rushing to meet the NaNoWriMo word count. There is something on my mind though. I thought what I put on my book cover was up to me. There's a movement afoot to have women authors publish under their full names. While I agree with the sentiment that women shouldn't be afraid to publish under their full, real names if they want to, I also believe we should have a choice free from judgment and disrespect. Women fought long and hard for the ability to be taken seriously in the boardroom and today women can become CEOs. This is fantastic! What isn't fantastic is that women who choose to become housewives and mothers today are often made to feel like they are lesser . All of these movements mean nothing i

A decision is made

I've declined the offer of extra employment. On Monday I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I had weird dreams that night involving the organization I'd be working for and Iaido. I was very happy during the Iaido segment. When I awoke, I knew what the right thing was for me. Of course, I didn't base the decision solely on a dream. I had been weighing the pros and cons since it came about. As interesting as it is, I don't believe it's what I need in my life. The largest reason for my decline is its misalignment with my future goals. Like the snake who sheds its skin, I intend to make writing my main job one day and have a part time job of some kind to ensure I can eat. This opportunity would have me taking days off without pay from my full time job, so I likely wouldn't make more money. It is in Gatineau, so I'd have part of my taxes in another province and they'll be more complicated this year already. Also parking would be an issue likely. I'd mor

Got a few words down

Just a few. I couldn't make myself edit until today. I know all the Internet memes say keep writing every day no matter what. Instead of working on my novel, for a few days all I could do was journal. At least it was words being written somewhere. I'm still working on Chapter 19. I think I'm at the point where I again have to ask myself what the point of the chapter is. This is how I edit. What am I trying to say in this chapter? Have I accomplished that? Am I way off target? An opportunity is on the table with my day career. I have to decide if I want to take on more. It'll mean a hit to my writing and probably my other activities, but it could be an amazing experience. I have to discuss it with my boss. Perhaps that discussion will help me make the decision. If I don't take it, I'll register for guitar in the fall. I mainly spent the weekend playing Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 until I beat it and going through paperwork. My place is a mess given my fruitless s