Look, in the Blogosphere! It's Me!

If you're trying to find my newer writing posts, I'm habitating over at Livejournal now.

WISCON!

Very excited. WisCon is almost here--one of my favorite things all year. A time to go hang out with a bunch of SF/F authors, reconnect with old friends, meet people I've only known online, and just immerse myself in the world of writing four days in a row.

I've got one panel this year, on Sunday morning--and I'm moderating, so I'm gonna need some serious caffeine:

Panel: Cliche or Trope? (The Craft & Business of Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy)
8:30-9:45 am in room Senate A

Stranded orphans become great wizards. Evil sorcerers try to destroy the world. Wizards with pointy hats, androgynous elves with longbows ... a large portion of fantasy's bad reputation is tied to its worn-out cliches. At what point does 'done' become 'overdone'? Where can you expect your readers to draw the line? Can good storytelling reclaim a cliche, or are some story elements so exhausted that they cannot be revived?

M: Sean M. Murphy
M.K. Hobson
Gregory Frost
Theodora Goss

Here's to a fantastic weekend for all! See you in WisConsin!

When Work Won't Quit

I'm out of town for the weekend, 180 miles or so northerly of my daily digs. Trying to relax, enjoy the opening notes of this annual operetta named Spring.

And this morning, at the breakfast table, my cell phone went off about fifteen times because a pipe had burst at work and we have thousands of dollars worth of damage. The requisite calls were made, and the situation is being handled as adequately as possible, but needless to say, my day is shot. What was supposed to be a nice, relaxing day here and then hiking in a state park has turned into long-distance triage and emergency management.

Oy.

WisCon, and Life

The single best thing about Spring, beyond the rythym of the seasons and the sense of everything coming back to life, is that at the end of May, I am guaranteed a great con weekend with good people and a little down time where I can focus on writing. I'm particularly looking forward to this year, because last year I wasn't able to go, and there are a couple of people who are going to be there that I'm really looking forward to meeting and hanging out with. Two weeks to go!

The Life/News angle is what's kept me away. Been hunkered down a bit dealing with things, but I'm popping my head up here to say yes, I'm still here, still alive! I've just landed a major promotion and raise at work--I'm now going to be the executive director at the synagogue, with a comensurate raise in my salary. Which is great--and really rewarding, after the last four years--except that it seems like it could potentially take more time away from writing. I'll have to negotiate that, though. No one said it was going to be easy.

There are a few stories I've got to get working on--I'd like to have something with me for WisCon that I can give to a few people there to review.

See you soon!

OOT

Not that I've been ridiculously active on this blog over the last month, but I thought I should drop a line for any of y'all looking for me here that I. Am. Out. Of. Town.

For the next week, anyway. Back on the 2nd.

Keep it happenin.

Anyone for a little more Xocolatl granuja?

This entry has moved over to my new food-writing blog, Consume with Desire. Enjoy!

The Beginning of Words

Why is it so god damned hard to get writing? What is the impetus that slows the flow of neurons from thought to hand? Where the hell is the inertia, and how do you circumvent it, overcome it?

It's been a long month and a half since I wrote. Anything. Well, anything save a blog post or two. Even that's pathetic.

I've been meandering through the stories I've got open, mentally, unable to make myself sit down and work. Part of that is lack of discipline, and part of it is being off kilter.

Kilter is something I'm rarely on, it seems. Not sure I'd know how to balance were I to find myself on it. Perhaps it's like surfing--you've either got it or you don't. (That may not be accurate for surfing, or for kilter, but it sounds good.)

Anyway, I've been trying to figure out what's wrong with my stories. The ideas are good, but I think the execution is lacking--they aren't dynamic enough. They don't create emotional investment on the part of the reader. I just had an editor return a (long) short story and say that it read "like the first chapter of a good novel", but that it just didn't feel like a complete short story. He enjoyed it, but it wasn't complete for him.

I've also found myself ruminating on the murder mystery, possibly because this is the time of year we go to Kauai, but also because I just like the setting of the story. In order for that story to work, though, I've got to have a really dynamic protagonist with a great voice. More and more, I'm thinking this has to be a first person story, and let her cut loose. Let her swear, be cynical, be crazy in lust, be tired and bored and lonely, and let us here her being those things in her own voice. Then, when the various details come up, let her spin them her own way, and let us catcall if necessary, and let us be swayed by her thoughts. So, with that in mind, I've just written the first line of the novel again:

"Fuck off, cat," I said. I flicked beach sand at the stray that had been meowing after my sushi for the last ten minutes and turned over in the morning sun, adjusting my bikini top.

Hopefully, momentum will out.