What's in a Name?

Couldn't go to sleep last night and was wondering what to blog about this morning. Then it hit me - names! I could talk about names!

But what's in a name, you ask? Loads! Especially for writers.

With a name you can give the reader a bunch of information without ever actually having said anything. Let's try 'Jorge Winchester' for instance. What does it tell you? On a guess, you might say that Jorge comes from a couple with Spanish heritage, probably on the mother's side, and a more English/American bent from the father's side possibly California. (We're talking about assumptions here, guys, subconscious items you can seed in your readers' minds, so you may not have come up with exactly the same. Yet the clash of two cultures is still evident.) So right away something's already been stated about Jorge without ever spelling it out. Of course as the reader continues to learn about Jorge more will come out and it will be seen if this might even be a point of conflict for the character.

(Laughing at myself right now. First name I picked was Jesus. Spanish speakers would have read it in the Spanish as I'd intended (hehsuus), everyone else would see it in English (Geesaus) as both are spelled the same but pronounced differently - doh! But something else to keep in mind as well when choosing names!)

If possible try to keep a list of the names you use as came up with them for a story or book. Reason for this is so you can make sure to make the names different enough from one another so as not to get the reader confused. The bigger the cast, the more important this becomes. You should try not to have characters with the same beginning letter for their names. If you have an Ash, Ann, Arthur, and Alice the characters will start running into each other especially if there's large gaps between their sections. Much easier for the reader if they were called Ash, Mary, Lance, and Deidre as they are all varied and unique. The chances for confusion then are greatly decreased.

In fantasy or science fiction names are a great way to differentiate between races and even social status in your worlds. But you also have to watch not to get the names too gangly or long, as you'll lose the reader that way too. If you find someone needs to have a long fancy name, make sure that while someone speaking to them might use the long form, when you refer to them in the narrative, you have a shortened version or nickname to refer to them by. This will help the readers immensely but also give you the benefit of using the name itself as a variable on the culture.

I have a character in one of my novels called Daltimonious, but when he's with friends or when referenced in the narrative, I used the shortened form of Dal, which is much easier to read and recognize. (Plus he hates the longer name anyway - a fact Rostocha is very well aware of and therefore loves to use it on him on occasion just to watch him cringe.)

Consistency is also key if you're making your own societies or races. The uniqueness will help segregate and again build things in the background for you that won't necessarily need to be explained, but will shine in their own context. A perfect example is the Spanish use of 'Don'. In reading a story if characters call out to older men as Don Diego and Don Rodrigo but call the boy only Simon, the subconscious will pick up on the implication that 'Don' is an honorific of some sort and possibly an address of respect. In English, 'Don' has the equivalent use of Mr.

Just more details to keep in mind as you go about your writing! Hope it was at least semi entertaining! See you!

Catch Up Ramblings

Yo, all!

Had back to back conventions so have not been able to do any blog posts. Work's been busy too! Darn it! So let's see what kind of damage I can do this morning, shall we? Heh heh

February 2-5, 2010 saw me at AggieCon. It was nice to be able to go on down there again. Run by alumn and also current students, it has been a staple at Texas A&M for many years. This was the first year it was held off campus, as most of the space that used to be available for the convention has had to be converted for other things. Been seeing many of the ConCom's peeps at other conventions in 2009 trying to see how others did things. For their first time in a totally new venue, I thought they did an awesome job! Congrats, guys!

What I did enjoy more than usual too were the room parties. Mostly put on by other conventions trying to attract pre-registration members, and groups doing World Con bids, they tend to be incredibly packed affairs. I'm not like the biggest party goer around (I tend to be more of a wallflower. I'm shy... I just am!) and when it's wall to wall people, hot, and noisy, it tends to put me off. But because of the new venue and possibly students needing to go to bed early (crazy, right?) they were much more lightly attended than normal and that was awesome! Made the parties quite relaxing! Even got to harass some peeps. Bwahahahahaha! (Oh and being on a panel with A Lee Martinez and Rosemary Clement-Moore when they're both real tired was a blast! Oh the blackmail material! YES! Bwahahahahahaha!) Ahem...

And while I have done readings at the Yard Dog Press Road Shows before, this was my first time actually taking a part in one of the small Who Done It Bubba Mysteries. I gave all my clues away as I didn't know how we'd know what round we were in, but was able to errr salvage the situation. Yeah! I said we had us a Government Conspiracy! Woot! Heh heh. Was a lot of fun.

Also had an added treat, as I was asked to introduce Martha Wells (Texas A&M Alumn) at her Q&A and reading session. Only mispronounced a thing or two. And didn't fall on my face, so it was mostly successful on my part? Eek!

Want to thank Rie Sheridan and Mel White for helping me and Kathy Sullivan with rides to and from the airport down there. The ride with 3 of us in Rie's small pickup was an adventure all on its own. Hee!

February 12-14, 2010 was spent at ConDFW! Since it's super local, I dragged my daughter along so she could ply her wares for Chibi Chains as I hocked books. Weirdly enough while people enjoyed looking at her colored chainmail jewelry, it was her Japanese chainmail blocks that were popular! Especially with teenage girls. The things are fun to play with!



Had a great time seeing peeps and talking up a storm. Also helped judge the costume contest for the first time ever! I even tortured those who showed up for my reading with a short story I've been kicking about and then asked them for comments to help improve it! Bwahahaha! (Bet they were not expecting that! Hee hee!) Ended up being too tired to do the party runs. Ugh.

What else? Oh, I'm going into Movie Theater withdrawal. Between the cons and all the OT hubby's had to put in at work, we've not made it to the movie theater in weeks! Eek! And there's stuff I wanna see out! Oh noes! Need to sneak in one or two somehow before I come up to the next convention. lol.

Have an awesome day, ya'll!

Fans Beware!

A couple of years ago, I did a post on fans and how we should never forget that authors, actors, artists, sports stars, etc are all people too and should be respected rather than treated as property. The blog post was called "The Dark Side of Fandom".

This time out I figured I would cover an offshoot issue from this. One that affects fans rather than the those we are fans of. And that's the issue that there are people out there more than willing to prey on fans by passing themselves off as the stars we look up to.

Honestly, my naivete sometimes runs into the incredulous, but occasionally I get a clue. I don't think I would ever actually believe a star I met online would ever want to meet me in person, but there are those who might. I'm on a list for my obsession "Supernatural" (though season 5 may quickly drop me back into just regular watcher status - 9 out of 12 episodes having crap for scripts is NOT good. Waaaahh - but I digress...) and through several conversations and items/information that have been posted, this area of inquiry came up.

In the last several years there have been people who've shown up on Facebook and MySpace claiming to be Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. They've massed a ton of followers, they've posted updates, and acted in everyway as if they're the real thing. Unfortunately, they weren't, but fans didn't know that, and there have been instances where these predators have tried to "meet" with some of those following them for mischief. Something that could be quite dangerous.

And while eventually these people get found out and closed down, more spring up. Jensen and Jared have stated before that they do not have or will ever have set ups in social networking sites. (With their schedules - not time!) Yet the trouble has become so prevalent that they've now been forced to do a quick video stating so to make sure fans become aware so they don't get preyed on!



It's just amazing to me that anyone out there would use someone else's name and fame to prey on others.

Some of the networking sites are even coming up with ways to try to safeguard us and the stars. Twitter now has a means for people to get a "seal of authenticity" put on their Twitter page so fans know they are the real article and not some poser. Not all stars are using this, as not all are used for preying on others, but it is definitely something to be aware of.

So be a fan! Follow the peeps you like, but be careful. Let's keep fandom, fans, and stars safe!

Marketing Experiment # XXX - 140 Character Quotes

Several months ago I got an idea for an online marketing experiment from something Rachel Caine (marvy urban fantasy and YA author) was doing using Twitter.

For her bit, she was linking a partial quote from the about to be released Morganville Vampires Book 7 called Fade Out and including a link to her LJ so readers could see the rest of the selected quote. (MV7 totally rocked, by the way!)

I decided I would try something similar, but with a Twitter twist. I would actually try to make the quotes fit into Twitter's 140 character limit as well as include a purchase url for Amazon or just the name of the book the quote came from depending on space. (Sometimes nothing as a couple of the buggers were too long!)

For each book, I went and hunted for 20 plus quotes from the beginning chapters. The plan was to Tweet quotes 3 times a day. Reason for doing it 3 times was because people aren't always on Twitter/Facebook at the same time the quote would be posted. The two different Twitter Utilities I use seem to only buffer about 100 Tweets, so assuming most others were about the same, I wanted to send enough of them out there to hopefully get included, but not so many I would seem to be spamming the netwaves.

I use two different utilities to check Tweets. At work I use TechHit's TwInbox. (TwInbox basically lets you create a folder for Tweets in Outlook and feeds Twitter into it. It also means I don't have to have any suspicious software on at work or an internet page up. :P) (I love that I can forward Tweets with interesting links via email automatically too to peeps I know who don't use Twitter. Somethings just have to be shared!) At home, I use TweetDeck. Tweetdeck lets me see feeds from Twitter, My Space, and Facebook, plus I can upload comments to all 3 at once.

So, armed with a week's worth of quotes for each of my four books - In the Service of Samurai, Vassal of El, Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles, and Willing Sacrifice - I set off on this mad marketing experiment!

Today is the last day of the fourth week. Since I included urls leading anyone who was interested to Amazon, I figured using my ranking #'s there for each book would let me know if anything happened at all.

I'm afraid to have to report that the impact of this experiment very well seems to be Zero~! But at least now I know. Of course there's always the possibility that the full impact, if any, is not yet visible. It's the biggest problem with trying any type of marketing for books as there are time when the effects are felt long after you've stopped pursuing that particular strategy.

In some ways too, I was probably preaching to the choir - most of those following me have probably already read some of my work. To get others on Twitter to see it I needed to use hashmarks like #ya #fantasy, but I don't think I thought of using those until well into week two at least. Doh. (hindsight is 20/20)

Now to think of something else to try!

ABC's Marketing Genius

Since marketing is a part of the duties of an author, I like to keep my eyes open for what other people are doing even in other venues.

This particular marketing tactic of using multi outlets is something ABC has done before. In 2004, when Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital came out, they got with Hyperion books and put out a tie-in book called The Journals of Eleanor Druse: My Investigation of the Kingdom Hospital Incident. It was a great way for fans of the mini series to get a little more juice out of it, to give the experience another level and get more information.

Well, the same type of multi media experience for fans is being repeated again with ABC's new show Castle, staring Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic, but in some ways it is at a whole new level.

Castle is about a mystery writer named Richard Castle who through his huge stack of contacts gets permission to follow after Lieutenant Kate Beckett as she goes about her work in solving murders in New York City. Castle is an incorrigible free spirit to Beckett's very strict no nonsense personality, but does add a different point of view and knowledge base, so the team dynamic actually works (all to Beckett's chagrin) and more crimes are getting solved than would have without him. Meanwhile, Castle is using Beckett as the inspiration for new set of books.

So comes to life the character of Nikki Heat, who he will be using in his new series, the first of which will be entitled, Heat Wave.

In the show, we see Castle start and finish the book, as well as actually get it published. It has a cover, it has a dedication to Beckett, they talk of passages in the book. And here is where the beautiful part comes in - Hyperion actually printed a 'real' book called Heat Wave written by Richard Castle for viewers to buy!

The front and back cover is the same. The back cover has a picture of Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle for the author. And then, to sweeten the deal, they went a few paces further, which so totally makes the fantasy weave in with the show and bring the audience in.

The dedication of the 'real' book is the same as the one talked about on the show. There are actually passages in the book that are of things Castle learned during several of the cases in the episodes, or even things he brought to the table to help the police. (The discussion on all the varied names for a 'perp' for instance. Castle's acquaintance with an art thief he'd befriended on research for another book. Other little things like this.)

Better yet was the mention on the show (as Beckett is trying to read the new book - as she is a fan of Castle's - though this is something she would like him not to remember and is sneaking around to read the thing) of the 'hot' scene on page 103. Which in the 'real' book, is exactly where the romance heats up.

As a fan of the show, these ins and outs just tickled the heck out of me and shot my enjoyment of the series and the book by multiples. In New York they even did book signings with Nathan Fillion playing his character to sign books!

(As for the book itself, it's pretty good! On a personal level I wished they had not made it so close to the show (a reporter has tacked himself on to Heat's team to get the inside scoop on crime solving), but the mystery itself and all the awesome tie-in bits made it a total treat.)

This is a wonderful example of how to grab and give a treat to your fan base. That's some marketing ABC. Kudos to you!

Nostalgia Food

Monday I read at post over at www.terribleminds.com (Yeah it was Chuck Wendig again) talking about needing to eat a good breakfast to get those creative juices flowing. For me, it actually threw me back thinking about breakfasts I used to have back in the day. That night, due to an odd set of circumstances that are not important here, I ended up on my own that night, so scrambling in the kitchen I set out to see if I had what I needed and took a trip into nostalgia land.

Come with me on a little journey...

Sometimes it is the simplest things that will stick with us and will poke at the old memory centers. Simple input that will transport us far and wide to places we've not been to in years. So it was with me Monday night as I partook breakfast for dinner.

This breakfast I only had occasionally and normally at Mamacita's house (my grandmother on my mother's side). My grandmother could burn water - yes, there's an art to that, and she had the skills - but there were a few things she could actually cook. And those that she did, she did well. My favorite of hers was her Asopao (chicken and rice stew), but that's for another day.

The first part of this breakfast was Puerto Rican coffee. We don't drink coffee made of water on the island, no sir. Our coffee is made with milk! (Once you grow up on PR style coffee, American coffee just tastes like bitter awful water. Eek!) Put a cup of milk in a pan and slowly heat it until the fatty part separates to the top. Skim off the fat and pour the hot milk into a coffee cup, add a pinch of instant coffee and sugar to taste and voila!

This is where Mamacita's genius came in. She would take pieces of cheddar cheese and drop them into the coffee. In the hot milk, they would get soft and melty. Make some toast, add butter. Take your prepared bounty to the table and sit.

The scent of coffee wraps around you like a comfortable sweater. Picking up a piece of toast, you dunk it in the coffee were it soaks up the smooth taste and mixes with the butter. Take a bite.

Bliss.

Follow this with a sip of the coffee itself. Mmmm.

Even better, take your spoon and fish in the bottom of the cup for a nice, melting piece of cheddar. Entice your taste buds into a mad frenzy with all these flavors mixed in together. YUM.

Comfort, warmth, and memories...

Heaven...

Try to think of something simple that transports you somewhere else. Share it. Indulge in it. Relive the past...

Difference of Heart and Mind

Yes, I know! Been neglecting the blogging. Argh! Time just constantly seems to be running away from me. Will be trying to make a more concerted effort to post more regularly, but no promises. :P (Need a blood infusion from Chuck Wendig at http://www.terribleminds.com He blogs every DAY! Dude!)

Anyway, back to the subject at hand - mind over matter, heart over mind, logic over illogic.

I've been having to see a number of specialists in the last few months as I've been trying to narrow down some overall health issues. Nothing life threatening just inconvenient. It's been like a mystery hunt, striking off possibilities one by one. (Was amazed at the difference in life it makes to be Vitamin D deficient! Holy moly!) Truly amazing how sometimes the simple things can totally create major havok! Eek!

So after some chest x-rays, then a cat scan, then some ultrasounds, it was decided I had some nodules growing from my thyroid nodes. Saw the thyroid specialist (Side item -- both times I went to see specialists for the first time in Nov/Dec it snowed in Texas! At no other time but on those days, and down to the hour before the appointments! Oooo!), who after doing his own lookie-see with his ultrasound rig at the office said he'd need to get samples of my little darlings to get tested for the Big C. (My Christmas Eve present. Hah!)

Okay...have to come back a week later. Going to insert long needles into my throat to get a sample of the little darlings. No biggie. They've done it hundreds if not thousands of times... Get a local anesthetic I will apply myself. Nothing to worry about...

Tick tock tick tock.

So I do some research. (Had done some even before I saw him the first time.) Nothing to worry about. Simple procedure. But...I've never had it done to ME before...

It's amazing how something you know is routine takes a whole other aspect in the panic of the heart/feelings when it needs to be done to you. It's a whole other ballgame than when it happens to the other guy.

The night before I'm bouncing off the walls and working like mad not to think about it. Heck, I can feel my pressure rising just thinking about it now and I've already had it done and it was NO BIG DEAL! (Could it be an age thing? A heightened sense of mortality? huh.)

Was originally going to go to work then go to the appointment, but a rescheduling request from the doc put it in the AM so I just decided I would skip work that day (also was going to meet some peeps I'd not seen in years for lunch so that just put it over the edge and I took the day off. Nice too as I then was able to spend 3 hours yakking at a Chili's. Had a blast!)

Ah, watch me digress. You naughty author you. Or is that just the fear talking? Anyway, I drove myself to my doom after applying the anesthetic cream to my throat and wrapping it in Saran wrap. (Hey, doctor's instructions! Not my idea, no way! I know I have no fashion sense, but Saran wrap as a clothing accessory? Get real.) (I did make the joke at the doc's office though, could not help myself. I looked so stylish! NOT. :P)

Bouncing like a nutjob inside my own skull, outwardly appearing mostly calm and sedate. Of course, I warned the nurse upfront I was nervous when I got taken to the patient room and she went to do the usual blood pressure test. 160 over 80. Not a surprise to me! She tells me how they do 20 or more of these a week, already did one that morning. I know she's trying to help me relax a little, but she does not understand... I know all this. I just makes NO difference! lol. (Mostly I feel like an idiot for the irrational fear, but still can't do a thing about it. Should have seen me on the first visit to the acupuncturist. Hah!)

I'll give the doc this, he definitely knew how to make the ordeal as easy for himself and the patient as possible. He made sure I closed my eyes before he did anything so you would never see the needle. The pillow beneath your shoulder to shoot your neck up to make an better working surface helps keep you from seeing too much too. I got one side of the neck better with the anesthetic than the other, but it was never more painful than having blood drawn, though I must say the sensation of him slipping it deeper once he got it in was funky. They also took ultrasound pics during the procedure as he was using that to see where he was going. Three stabs per globule. He hit a minor blood vessel on the last one which he explained would leave a bruise on my neck. No biggie to me (though I think he was unhappy at himself). I've had six inch long bruises from bad blood drawings once or twice. A half inch is nothing.

Out of there in a half hour. Minimum of fuss or muss. Yet I know if I had to do it again, I would most likely be freaking out deep inside just as bad as the first time. Familiarity would breed contempt, but I don't think I want to go through it that many times to get there! lol.

It's just amazing to me how even knowing better, I could not stop the fear from having a party. Bastard! (But I will probably use this in a story somewhere! No experience is wasted to a writer - none. Bwahahahahahaha!)

The Writing is the Thing - But Where has it Gone? TV Commentary

I've been wanting to rant, err, write about this for a while but held back due to that old adage "If you can't say something nice..." Yet I realized that sometimes, the only way to fix something or have others become aware of it is to say something, even if it is not nice.

First off though, I'd like to say this - writing for TV is HARD! Not something to be taken on on a whim. I've no experience doing it myself, but have heard from enough from those who do to understand it can be a thankless and often frustrating job. Mandates are handed down by suits who care nothing for plot, integrity, or the vision. So it could be that this issue I'm about to present might not even be their doing but the influence of things they can't control. I don't know. But whichever it is, I feel the need to point it out in the hopes that someone can perhaps shine a light on those responsible and maybe fix it...

Hope springs eternal!

I watch a lot of TV. I didn't use to as about 5 to 10 years ago there wasn't all that much to watch. But there's been a lot of stuff to interest me lately. Yet there have been some shows that I loved at first that going into second or later seasons, things change, almost abruptly sometimes, and it's no longer the show I liked.

It is TV, so there's always a level of suspension of disbelief. And that's fine, I can handle it. What I can't handle is when suddenly characters behave in ways they never have before for mere plot convenience, when stated facts for the universe are suddenly ignored, but worse, when the audience suddenly is treated like they are too stupid to understand things (especially if its a SF or Fantasy show) and believe they can get away with whatever...

"Avatar the Last Airbender" was a gorgeous, beautifully written, intelligent show about a boy suddenly having to carry the burden of needing to save the world. He had helpers and tragic enemies and I was enjoying the heck out of it. Episodes 2.10 and 2.11 ruined the show for me. Built as Big Production Can't Be Missed episodes, they were actually slaps in the face. Here are these kids trying to save the world, but suddenly it's okay to steal from a non-human who took them in an cared for them and destroy the objects he's been set to guard for hundreds of years. And there wasn't one qualm of guilt on any of them. Worse, Apa gets stolen, and though there's no proof the bison has been hurt, and this not being the first time his friend has been taken or has disappeared, Ang goes into a maddened murderous RAGE! Excuse me? Bison disappears every three episodes people! Maddened Rage? When Zuko doesn't learn his lesson for the umpteenth time and realizes how he is being used, that was it for me. See ya!

"Battlestar Galactica" I was desperate to like. Had loved the show back in the 70's even saw the movie at the theater with the giant sursurround speakers making the whole place vibrate! Richard Hatch had been trying to bring the sucker back forever. Two hour movie had to hold back the horror as the imagination of those involved obviously didn't go far (20th Century Earth with some plastic to the ties - please!) probably budgetary. Nuclear weapons, no really? And sorry, the battlestar would have been destroyed in that major battle. Look up info on nukes and radiation people! The science was abysmal! And aside from pretending to sort of keep some of the names and traditions from the original, it wasn't. But it had some social plots of interest and a funky take on Cylons, so I have it a whirl. They lost me when suddenly Apollo started being the changing character of plot convenience. BLEAH. See ya! Wouldn't want to be ya!

More recently my trouble has been with "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" cartoons. First season was a lot of fun! Second season has taken a turn that has been pissing me off pretty much every episode. And there was no need for it! It's as if the writers/suits took a drug to make them forget what the Force is capable of aside from holding a lightsaber and moving things with their minds. Worse, is things like episode 2.7 stating FACTS about zombie activating worms used by the queen, then in 2.8 using said worms in ways totally contradictory to FACTS given in 2.7!!! What the???? They've been doing this type of thing all through season 2! I have no idea what's happened over there. Come on guys!!!!

Ah, but here's the one that really hurts. Here's the one that makes me ache and despair. (Yes, I am a drama queen. Get over it. :P) I've been obsessed with "Supernatural" since not long into season 2. "Supernatural" is actually my first obsession EVER. For four years they've been giving me yummy goodness, every department of this show so on board it screams from the screen. Yes, not all the episodes have been perfect. They've had a misfire or two a season, but even those had things to make me not care and 90% plus were awesome more than making up for it. I don't expect perfection, no matter what I sound like. I know things happen. Then we hit season 5...

8 out of 10 episodes so far this season have been abysmal in the writing department. I've no idea what's happened, but I hope they get a clue soon, despite 30% of people in a survey saying it is the BEST season ever. (Are we watching the same show????) It's like every cheesy TV trick ever used is now making it into all the season 5 episodes. Monsters not being taken care of and conveniently forgotten about as if things were resolved (Poker Witch 5.7, 3rd Killer Ghost Boy 5.9). Ridiculous amounts of time being glossed over by how the events are shown (ghost boys attack Sam and Dean minutes (like 5 if they're lucky ep 5.9) after fanboys go off to dig graves - digging graves (which they needed to do 3 and only did 2) take more than five minutes to unearth!!!!

Episode 5.2 Sam kills a couple of teenagers having been led to believe they are demon possessed yet the demon knife did not do its usual loud and bright light show and Sam never noticed! Please people, he's been killing demons with this things for 2 plus years! I think he'd notice that it didn't do the usual! Even if he did not understand why not, and was being tempted by what he thought was demon blood, he should have noticed!

Episode 5.5 This one REALLY made me angry. Suits - we're NOT stupid!!!! First victim we see die and they show all the a typical signs of a ghost having done the murder. Boys never even use the EMF reader on the car. And though they themselves did not see the cold temps and other ghost signs, kept assuming it was ghosts. These guys are experts, they don't assume! Worse, it turns out it is not a ghost but a god. Uhm sorry ya'll but the gods don't have the same signs as ghosts! And if one did, it should remain consistent, which it didn't!!!! Then lets have people be unconscious and remain standing up for filming convenience, why don't we. Hello????

Would point out more but it's just too depressing...

What's truly sad is that all the other aspects of the show have been spot on. Direction, props, sets, the awesome acting. Yet it's like the writers are burned out, being sabotaged, or who knows what. And there are plenty of other shows out there that have remained consistently good overall throughout their runs! So it can be done!

Please guys, this is probably the last season, the one where all the things you've been building up for four years are finally culminating. Don't blow this! *cry* Don't let my first obsession ever be in vein! (And you know it's bad cause I do not want them renewed for a season 6.)

Okay, I'm done. Sending good karma SPN's way hoping second half is back on track. Don't make me beg ya'll!

The Life of a Work In Progress

I'd decided to log my progress on my latest WIP called Jewel of the Gods. While this manuscript did not evolve in the most straightforward manner, I still thought it might still be fun to share how it evolved over time.

There will be several spots where the starting number won't match the previous sessions end number - that's normally somewhere where I deleted notes I'd added at the end of the book I no longer needed.

There's also a huge gap in there or two where "Supernatural" took over my life. The muse went totally nuts and she had to be followed. Will try to add how much I wrote during those times as while the WIP may not have gotten attention, the writing of things never stopped.

Date                Start      End       Words      Days Since
??                                        8,165
3/22/2007      8,165      8,670      505
3/26/2007      8,670      8,950      280      4
3/27/2007      8,950      9,283      333      1
3/29/2007      9,283      9,860      577      2
3/30/2007      9,860      9,865      5      1
4/2/2007      9,865      10,217      352      3
4/10/2007      10,217      10,435      218      8
4/19/2007      10,435      11,125      690      9
4/20/2007      11,125      11,400      275      1
5/9/2007      11,400      12,182      782      19
5/11/2007      12,182      12,642      460      2
5/18/2007      12,642      13,294      652      7
5/21/2007      13,294      13,815      521      3

Then Supernatural took over my life!

(June 2007 - "Sacrifice of the Heart" SPN fanfic - 26,167 Words) This is when they got posted
(July 2007 - "Appeasement" anthology submission - 4,600 words)
(July 2007 - "Jess" SPN - 32,376 Words)
(Sept 2007 - "Our Separate Ways" SPN - 24,400 words)
(Sept 2007 - "Serving the Public" - anothology submission - 5,000 words)
(Nov 2007 - "Broken Idols" SPN - 7,638 words)
(Dec 2007 - "Of Grief and Guilt SPN - 23,828 words)

Hah! You thought I was kidding didn't you? Totally took over! That's over 100K words in 6 months! I was SMOKING! Booyah! Go, Muse, Go!

12/27/2007      13,815      21,052      7,237      220
Multiple sessions forgot to list them! :(
12/28/2007      21,052      22,152      1,100      1

(June 2008 - "It's Not Working" - SPN - 2,234 words)
(Aug 2008 - "Heart of the City" - SPN - 48,344 words)
(Re edit of novel "Price of Mercy" already accepted by Zumaya Publications)

8/27/2008      22,152      23,012      860      243
8/28/2008      23,012      23,435      423      1
9/2/2008      23,435      23,815      380      5
9/20/2008      23,815      25,570      1,755      18

(Nov 2008 - "Weight of Failure" SPN - 28,297 words)
(Dec 2008 - "Snow" SPN - 6,032 words)
(Jan 2009 - "Dark Secrets" SPN - 35,524 words)
(March 2009 - "Winchester Interrupted" SPN - 31,235 words)
(March 2009 - reworked future WIP beginning Inner Demons into 1st Person)
(July 2009 - "Switch" SPN AU - 63,767 words)

9/1/2009      25,570      65,243      39,673      346
(Another chunk of Multiple sessions I forgot to list. Ack! Life was errr turbulent in late 2008 into 2009. Bleah!)

(Aug/Sept - Blog Week postings for Novel.net - 6,834 words)

9/2/2009      65,243      66,288      1,045      1
9/3/2009      66,288      67,501      1,213      1
9/4/2009      67,501      68,233      732      1
9/9/2009      68,265      68,917      652      5
9/10/2009      68,917      70,103      1,186      1
9/11/2009      70,103      70,410      307      1
9/21/2009      70,410      70,850      440      10
9/22/2009      70,850      71,182      332      1
9/23/2009      71,182      71,448      266      1
9/24/2009      71,448      71,740      292      1
9/25/2009      71,740      72,456      716      1
9/29/2009      72,456      73,295      839      4
10/1/2009      73,295      74,058      763      2
10/2/2009      74,058      74,841      783      1
10/5/2009      74,841      75,197      356      3
10/6/2009      75,197      76,216      1,019      1
10/7/2009      76,177      76,839      662      1
10/8/2009      76,839      77,653      814      1
10/9/2009      77,653      78,496      843      1
10/12/2009      78,496      80,003      1,507      3
10/13/2009      80,003      81,278      1,275      1
10/19/2009      81,278      81,725      447       6
10/20/2009      81,733      82,127      394      1
10/21/2009      82,127      82,949      822      1
10/22/2009      82,949      83,519      570       1
10/23/2009      83,519      84,268      749      1
10/26/2009      84,268      84,796      528      3
10/27/2009      84,796      85,599      803      1
10/30/2009      85,599      86,628      1,029      3
11/2/2009      86,628      88,339      1,711      3
11/3/2009      88,339      88,588      249      1
11/4/2009      88,588      89,092      504      1
11/5/2009      89,092      89,591      499      1
11/6/2009      89,591      90,420      829      1
11/9/2009      90,420      91,239      819      3
11/13/2009      91,239      92,295      1,056      4
11/16/2009      92,295      92,983      688      3
11/17/2009      92,912      93,180      268      1
11/18/2009      93,180      93,458      278      1
11/19/2009      93,391      93,883      492      1
11/20/2009      93,883      95,456      1,573      1
11/23/2009      95,456      95,831      375      3
11/24/2009      95,831      96,181      350      1
11/25/2009      96,181      96,635      454      1
11/30/2009      96,635      97,209      574      5

So let's summarize this mess.
SPN madness - 329,842 words! (Holy Molly! Yeah, 3 books worth in 2 years - Muse went INSANE I tell you! And she would NOT be denied!)
Other - 16,434
Re-edits and edits - who knows!
Jewel of the Gods WIP - 97K - Almost 3 years. Way, way, way longer than I meant it to. lol.

So there you have it! One author's road to a finished WIP. Bwahahahaha!

FridayFlash - The Tree

Miaka sensed immediately that something in her kingdom had changed.

There was a new scent filtering through the house -- one that spoke of nature and outside. It sent a tingle through her furry frame, awakening primal instincts. She scurried to the corner of the hall, curious, watching her larger housemates struggle with this brown thing with green needles and that marvelous scent. They set it into a red bracket in the corner of the big room then cut away the net around it, which allowed the thing to spread out, small brown arms full of green reaching out, beckoning to her.

Boxes were brought in from the garage and set on the floor. These smelled of dust, glass, and metal.

She slinked around them and the tall outside thing, sniffing, cataloging, her small dark eyes bright.

Round, shiny items were taken out of the boxes and hanged off the arms of the tall mysterious thing. The sunlight glittered off their colorful bodies, making her dizzy and filling her with strange excitement.

Her housemates talked and worked, moving her out of the way when she got too close.

Eventually all the activity died down. Those who fed and played with her stood before the towering thing and stared with seeming pleasure.

The boxes were closed up and hidden beneath the couch or taken back to where they came from.

Miaka stared at it, too, and realized that this thing, it was for her. Must be hers. The tantalizing scents wafting from it told her so. She climbed the couch with a blur of speed then stood poised on the back studying what called to her soul. Yes, this was hers to do as she saw fit!

So moving over the top of the couch, she calculated angles and trajectories then she rushed at it, leaping through the air to land in the embracing branches.

“The ferret!”

The thing jingled and jangled as she dove deeper into the interior. Reaching the central core, she went upwards, her blood singing. She became as tall as her housemates. Taller! She was the owner of all she surveyed!

Her lofty perch began to sway.

“Miaka! Miaka, no!”

CRASH.

“Oh my God!”

She rolled as the thing bounced and ran off under a chair amidst the sudden yelling and running around by the others. Peeking out, she saw there was no need to worry. Her housemates were setting up her toy upright again.

Soon she would reign supreme once more.

#FridayFlash - Salvation

It started as a low rumble that built and built, reverberating off the walls of downtown.

Smiles peaked out at the increasing sound from dirty, scarred faces, their owners looking out toward the street from boxes and alleys, others through the open soup kitchen window that always burped out the friendly scent of baking bread.

They’d all heard the rumors. And it looked like they were about to find out if they were for real.

Corner dealers looked up like startled foxes and rushed to finish their transactions before slinking out of sight just in case. Streetwalkers stared with hope in the rumble’s direction, making sure their pimps couldn’t see their expressions.

The hum of engines roared as those approaching finally turned the corner, formed up in a double line. A Hesketh Vampire led the pack, followed by Kawasaki Ninjas, some Indian Chiefs, and even Hogs. The smell of exhaust filled the air. Glass rattled with the noise of their passing. Reflective sunglasses shone under the bright sun, even as black habits flowed behind them in the wind, their underskirts hitched up so they could ride.

As they came to a red light, the Mother Superior reached back to caress her bat sized cross in anticipation, her sawed off shotgun poking up above the seat from the other side of the machine. Both were within easy reach and ready for battle, just like she liked them.

The Mother Superior cracked her knuckles. After all the training, after all the sacrifice, the Church had finally deemed them ready. Souls would now be saved. She and her sisters were up to the task. Using whatever means necessary.

The Virgin Vixens – dispensing tough love in the name of God.

Prepare to be saved.

Writing on the Waves!

Trying to help a fellow author promote a most unique writing workshop! Writing while cruising in the Caribbean!

Lynn Flewellin is an internationally acclaimed Fantasy author. And she will be holding a multi part writing course aboard the Freedom of the Seas with Royal Caribbean International.

7 night cruise with stops at Bahamas, St. Thomas, and St. Martin with 3 days of seminars packed between locations.

Seminar Day 1:

10:00-11:00 am: Meet Lynn and Explore Her Worlds

11:00-noon: "I Love/Hate That Guy! Creating Memorable Characters" with writing prompts

4:00-5:30 pm Salon- a gathering to read aloud, listen, and discuss each other's writing. Don't be shy! You can read from stories or books you've been working on or new material inspired by the day's writing prompts, or just come and support your fellow writers.

Seminar Day 2:

10:00-11:00 am: Creating a Sense of Place:

Everything has to happen somewhere.
Crafting detailed, believable settings" with writing prompts.

11:00-noon: "The Plot—and Theme— Thicken: You don't have much of a story if they don't!"

4:00-5:30 pm Salon

Seminar Day 3:

10:00-11:00 am: "Editing: Forget "book doctors." How you do the work to make your book the best it can be."

11:00-noon: "Through the Hoops: Finishing, Polishing, Packaging, and Approaching an Agent or Publisher"
4:00-5:30 pm Final Salon

Workshop participation Age 18 and up.
16-17 with parental permission.

Special pricing for the cruise as well. So if you've been looking for a vacation and have also wanted to learn about writing and the business, this cruise might be for you!

#FridayFlash - Prey

Her hunger tore at her guts, once more demanding its due. She ignored it, already on the prowl, seeking for the means to satisfy it.

So far the darkness had revealed nothing.

Honed senses scanned for the merest hint of prey. Deftly, she skirted the trees and other vegetation, searching, always searching.

Her pangs growing ever more acute, she finally spotted a bit of light glinting through the foliage. Like a moth drawn to a flame, she changed course, dizzy with the possibilities.

As she cleared the last of the trees, she found her endeavors hadn’t been in vain. A large clearing opened up before her showing the top of a small hill with a house, the calling light coming from its open doorway.

Sticking to the shadows, she drifted closer.

Excitement ignited inside her as she noticed a flesh being sitting on a raggedy chair on the sagging porch, staring out into the night while smoking a pipe.

Food at last!

With darting movements she made her way up the hill.

Nearing the house from the side, she peeked into the porch, studying her quarry, making sure her presence had gone unnoticed.

The balding prey puffed on his pipe oblivious.

A stray strand of wind wafted the scent of cooling sweat and pipe smoke toward her. Beneath it, barely noticeable, was the intoxicating perfume of blood. She moved a little closer, her hunger rising to a fevered pitch.

All senses on the alert for signs that her victim suspected her presence, she drifted closer still. Staring at her target, she could easily envision the life giving fluid pumping through the veins and arteries. If she’d been able to, she would have licked trembling lips in utter anticipation.

Barely stirring the air around her, she snuck up behind her victim, mesmerized by the pulsing beat of blood beneath the skin at his neck.

She moved closer and closer, her hunger and the call of the blood driving her on. Yet she purposely stretched the moment, moving forward ever so slowly, letting her anticipation increase.

As she touched the warm skin with the lightest of caresses, she felt a tingle rise through her.

No longer able to contain herself, she plunged deep into the succulent flesh. Gushing blood filled her hungering body, covering her with shivers of utter ecstasy. This was what it was about -- this was why she existed.

Trapped in the moment she didn’t notice the large presence rising over her. Too late, she felt the movement above her and tried to disengage from the pierced flesh. Pressure crushed her where she stood and sent waves of excruciating pain through her fragile being until mercifully, she could feel nothing at all.

The hunter had become the prey.


“Damn bloodsucker!”

Joe pulled his hand away from his neck, staring with disgust at the bloody smear on his callused palm. He stood up from the rocking chair, hastily wiping his hand on his coveralls.

“Myrtle, where’s that blasted can of OFF again?”

FlashForward Book and TV Series

Thanks to Tor Books I won a copy of the novel FlashForward through a contest on Twitter. I’ve also been watching the series on TV (actually on the ABC site as Thursday nights have way too much on at the same time! I’m a week behind everyone else to boot! Hopefully nothing happened this past week that was too important. Heh heh).

I thought it might be fun to discuss the book and also do a comparison to the TV show.

The novel is by Robert J Sawyer and has won the Aurora Award for Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy.

I’m not entirely sure how to categorize the novel. It is definitely science fiction, but seems to tread the line into Hard SF, though the emotional and social aspects might not make it seem that way.

On a personal level, I had a lot of fun with this book because it was like an evening of discussions in an old gaming group. The book ends up covering two of the most discussed and still debated topics in science in the past and still today.

But before I get to that, let’s do a quick “what is it about?” bit. The FlashForward novel deals with an ‘event’ where everyone in the world loses consciousness for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. When they came back to themselves and the pieces start getting put together, people realize that they viewed events 20 years in the future. The book follows the fallout from the FlashForward, and how these visions have impacted several key individuals who believe they might just be the cause of the event in the first place.

So two main topics discussed by individuals, which also throw in actual current scientific theories, are:

1)How time works – is it static, can the future be changed, are all moments in time ‘now’, freewill vs. predestination. (People can go hours and hours on this one! Been there, done that! Lol)

2)And the power of the observer. Does the consciousness of a scientist doing an experiment actually affect the experiment’s result? (Another big topic button in the gaming group! Lol.) This also leads to discussions on humanity and its consciousness as a whole and what effect it might have on our universe.

Much brain fodder to chew on.

There’s also the emotional questions that tie back to these two issues as our principals have seen futures they both do not like. I loved that Mr. Sawyer brings in stories from the Old World into it, tales and fables of the ancient Greeks, as they felt and dealt with some of the issues brought up by this event. And of course all the repercussions of people/countries knowing what has been seen in this future and how they decide to deal or not deal with what was seen.

Mr. Sawyer takes us through all of that. As a writer, I was especially thrilled to see where he saw the future of bookstores going. Hopefully some of them will take the hint and push in that direction. Heh heh. I think it would be cool and we’re headed in that way anyway.

I also learned some stuff, too. Somehow I had missed hearing about Brown Holes before. So I found the topic totally fascinating. And in a total clash of coincidence, I had a friend tell me about Felicia Day’s “Behind The Scenes: When Galaxies Collide” and had just watched it Thursday morning right before I got to the part of the book that mentioned the phenomenon as well. (Video is a lot of fun by the way, and quite educational to boot! Go Felicia!)

The book was definitely an interesting read on many levels and I enthusiastically give it a 4 out of 5 stars!

Now for fun, let’s do a comparison to the TV series.

****POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!!!!! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED*****

In the book, the ‘event’ occurs on 4/21/09 and gives (those who get one) a FlashForward glimpse of the year 2030 lasting for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. The TV series has the ‘event’ happen in 2009 for six months later showing them a glimpse of 4/29/10.

A neat split about the visions between the two versions is that in Mr. Sawyer’s book, those catching a glimpse had no context of what their future selves were feeling, while in the TV version, those who piggy backed into their futures knew the emotional states of their other selves thus getting additional clues from their feelings at those times. Both sets had no control over their future bodies, and only saw and heard whatever their other selves were paying attention to or where around at the time.

The principals of the book are located in Geneva at CERN, a scientific center housing a Large Hadron Collider. The TV series has our principals centered in LA.
Interestingly, Lloyd Simcoe, a main character in the book and physicist, who also is inadvertently responsible for the ‘event’, is played in the series again as a catalyst, but seemingly a knowing one. In the book the FlashForward occurred due to a number of circumstances coming together in a focal point, which produced the event – a miraculous happenstance not foreseen by anyone. But in the TV series, it is an actual feat that has been done on purpose! And not for the first time!
With the new twist, Agent Mark Benford is introduced, so we have a spear for the action adventure we expect from our TV offerings. His wife’s FlashForward actually very much resembles the one had by Simcoe in the book. (Or so it seems!) Shoe on the other foot type of thing. So it tickled me a lot because in the TV show Simcoe is the one having the affair there as well.

Another cute twist sits with Agent Demetri Noh. In the TV show he becomes the duplicate for Lloyd Simcoe’s scientific partner Theo Procopides. Theo, like, Demetri, also had no FlashForward vision and also comes to find out that he was murdered, with three gun shots to the chest. Unlike the FBI agent, he has no idea why anyone would ever want to murder him. Theo has a brother, Dimitri, who takes matters into his own hands to force others to find out if the future is changeable or not, so could be possible Agent Noh’s first name might be another indirect plug at the book with Demetri/Dimitri. (That or I’m just reaching!)

Agent Benford has a young daughter, and Simcoe’s fiancé had one at the time of the event as well. Except Michiko’s daughter was one of the casualties of the event, while Benford’s daughter lives.

Mosaic exists in both places for the same purpose, but one was created and maintained by the CERN folks and the other by the FBI.

I’m very much looking to see how the show explains the event to compare against how Mr. Sawyer set his up.

Reading the book has definitely enhanced the TV show for me. Giving me more angles to look at things and comparing how the TV writers and the SF author do different takes on the same concept. Should be a blast to see how it all continues to develop! Looking forward to it!

Aion MMO

I've been playing MMO's for about 6 or 7 years now. Got my start on Star Wars Galaxies way back in the day. Have done many beta's and spent plenty of time online. The newest the family is trying is called Aion. It was developed in Korea and has now been opened to the states.

Totally gorgeous game. And has been proving a lot of fun so far. Well, as I tend to do when I go anywhere with a camera, I play tourist and takes tons of photos. Most MMO's let you do the same with screen prints. So I've taken a few over the last few weeks and thought I would share.

I'll put one or two up in the blog, but the full Album (only a few pics, I promise!) is on Flikr.



This is my main - Tarrah. Gladiator by profession. Also an armor smith.










A peek at Sanctum, one of the cities in the game.














One of the many cool vistas I've seen so far in the game.














It's amazing the gorgeous vistas here. Some of the creatures too are way neat to look at.

Will leave you with my hunky alt, Jarren.


If you play the game, come by and say 'howdy'! I am in the Blades of Ariel guild in the Ariel server.

Good gaming ya'll!

#FridayFlash - Harbinger

(My second contribution to #FridayFlash! Amazing how many times I went and edited something this short. lol. Probably still missed something as usual. Heh. Enjoy!)

When my gaze came across the man-sized raven I thought my heart would stop. It walked through the death shrouded streets as if the Grim Reaper could not touch it. A wide brimmed black hat adorned its head, the ensemble filled out with black cloak, black leggings, a touch of white at the cuffs and a ruffle around his neck. Its glassy, oversized eyes stared at everything around it, its long beak as dark as night. There were no wings that I could see. But it didn’t need them. It walked the streets easily, like everyone else, except for all the sick and dying.

The year 1665 had brought with it the Great Plague. Death danced amongst us. It dispensed its evil vapors to invade the unwary and add them to its ranks. It ripped families asunder without rhyme or reason. Its mark upon those chosen distinct and unassailable -- black blossoms at the neck, armpits, or groin. Raging fevers and headaches served as teasers of worse to come. Torturous pain twisted through the guts so those afflicted couldn’t forget their coming fate. Then, eventually, mercifully, the End.

And here was a raven, walking among us, its mere presence foretelling more would fall.

I watched it move from house to house. Those that still held life and hadn’t been boarded up to try to hold in the contagion or the ones belonging to those who’d fled the city hoping for fresher air. Its beak was closed tight though there were plenty of bodies it could have chosen to eat from. They were stacked on the cobbled streets waiting to be picked up for burial, the men burdened with the task coming later and later each day as the numbers needed to be disposed of rose.

The smell of rotting flesh, waste, fear and sweat rolled and coiled along the buildings clogging my nostrils, yet it didn’t bother me. There’d been too much of it for too long for me to truly notice it anymore.

My parents were gone, my sisters dead. Rank and privilege had meant nothing in the end. Perhaps this time the messenger had come for me. Or, if I was careful, I could follow it to its master. Perchance it’d show me mercy and take me swiftly rather than leave me to die in agony alone.

The raven’s circuitous route eventually took it to a small cottage beside a church. Once the door was closed I hurried forward to peek inside through a partially shaded window.

The wide brimmed hat came off revealing a head of white curling hair. A strap, previously hidden beneath it, was unbuckled. As I watched, the raven removed its beak and became a man. I recognize him. It was the local priest. His name tickled the edge of my memory, but I couldn’t quite recall it. I did remember it’d been said he was a doctor as well.

I watched him remove moss and herbs from within what I now knew to be a mask. He put them away in a sealed tin, adding bits of this and that before closing it. Then he made notes on an already handwriting filled paper.

A cure? Had he perhaps found a cure? Mayhap the priest had found a way to clear the air to stave off infection. Surely a man of the cloth wouldn’t be like the many who walked the streets claiming they’d been successful, dispensing their supposed wisdom for a fee. Hope rose in my breast, though since the cold had meant little to me this day, I had a feeling it might already be too late for me. Yet to think there might be a way to save those still here, to save brave London from Death’s siege! It made me optimistic that spring might yet come after all.

But as I continued to watch him busily scrawling away, I realized the hope was futile. Whatever method he was trying didn’t work. For there, on his neck, was a red circle which grew darker as I stared.

The priest was doomed.

The man-like raven had been a harbinger, but the message it carried this day hadn’t been for me.

Gloria Oliver

Unveiling the Fantastic

www.gloriaoliver.com

Vassal of El Book Trailer

I'm working on these slow but sure! Finally got the second of the four/five book trailers I need to work up. Ugh! Hopefully it's not too lame. You'd be surprised at just how long it takes to find images to fit fantasy novels! Oi!

Enjoy!

Saturday of EVIL!

Evil! eVil! evIl! eviL!
Dum dum DUM!!!

(Okay, yeah, I know it's a little early for so much melodrama, but I figured what the hey!) :P

Was an outright ugly weird day yesterday. I'd caught hubby's virus on Friday and have been running mad fever since then. Kinda scary when the Tylenol doesn't even make it hesitate. Reason I went home from work!

So Saturday I still have my fever hanging around. But have a huge To Do List as I normally do on Saturdays - crit for writers' group, edit for hubby's boss' latest chapter on his mystery novel (doing the guy a favor), burn promo CD's for FenCon next week, check out widgets for possibly adding to the website, check the new Html/Xhtml/CSS book we bought to learn new trick, do marketing, and catch up one email. Oh and still need to make another book trailer video. Argh! Full plate as you can see.

Hacking away at what I could only to figure out I can't stand being in the office room/library as the pressure from all the rain and whatever bug I have keep giving me a pounding headache. All's good in the living room though. So I sit and catch up one some Hojo Tsukasa and some other items I've let fall behind on the reading front and even take a crack at the html book to check it out.

Keep taking meds as as soon as the stuff runs out I feel it all come back. Sucker wants to stay! Dang.

Try to work on the computer again as my hands are itching to try some of the exercises in the book. Still get a pounding headache just sitting there for 5 minutes. Grrrr.

Finally get the brilliant idea of moving the files I need to crit/edit to the laptop! Heck will move the exercise pages there too! If I can hold out maybe I can play with that as well.

Finally, some productivity! Booyah! Ah, but if I'd only know. The EVIL was about to pounce...

Couple of hours and finished the crit. One down! Went on to the edit for 2.5 hours. Smelled a weird burning smell, so moved the laptop bag out from underneath it, just in case, but figure it is most probably cat hair that's swung up into the lamp. (Don't ask - cat hair seems to get into EVERYTHING when it's in the mood! :P) Been saving as I went along as I usually do. Sigh with satisfaction as I finished and hit the button...

Weird messages pop up on the screen. Can't communicate with network drive. Like, what network drive? This sucker isn't in a network! Cannot write to file w5689 or some such. Wait a minute! That's not the name of my file!

Word goes belly up. My worry quotient skyrockets! Reopen Word. Click for the file to open. Can't find the file. What????

Time to open Explorer. Do multiple searches, the last for any files changed on 9/12. Nothing with the name on either drive. There is one recovered.txt file. Open it, loads and loads of ??? on the pages. Occasional words, enough to let me know this is Jerry's file. OH MY LORD! 99.8% Garbage.

No temp files nowhere. Getting desperate. Call for hubby, who's home, hoping for some miracle insight.

Walk through everything I've already tried. Make sure I didn't save it to the removable drive. No, nothing. It's gone. 2.5 hours of work down the toilet.

But, weirdly enough, I actually handle it well! Much to my shock, to be honest. Was sure I was going to start bawling or pitch the laptop or something. Had to be the fever. Who knew those things could keep you calm! lol.

Beaten and defeated, but keeping it together...sent Jerry a Good News/Bad News email and then crashed.

Oh the humanity! Not looking forward to having to recreate all those edits again. But did give me something for this post! Bwahahahahaha. Still need to get the promo stuff done. We'll see.

So that was my Saturday of EVIL. :P

#FridayFlash - Achievement

(I heard about a cool Twitter experiment/experience called #FridayFlash where authors put out samples of their writing by giving away free flash fiction once a week. Don't know if I can do it that often, but I have a flash story or two I thought I could share. So here's this week's contribution - Achievement. Enjoy!)

(Also if you want, join me at Twitter @GloriaOliver or come see what else I have at the website www.gloriaolivercom)


It was finished.

After years of toil, of making sure every part was perfect and whole – his opus was complete.

A moment of indiscretion had led Taltus to his doom but also to his supreme achievement. Here, in this five by five cell, the greatest written masterpiece of his generation had been born and refined to perfection.

Yet no one would hear or read it. It would die in this dismal place with him.

He stared at the blank walls surrounding him, fighting welling despair. Yet as he stared, their very essence changed in his mind, sparking hope.

The walls would be his parchment. Blood his ink.

His story would be told.

The Power of Fans!

Marketing being a constant looming concern over my head for years now, I've slowly come to notice something weird - fans don't seem aware of their POWER over authors/musicians/actors/TV/Movies!

That's right...POWER. You all (we all - since I am a fan as well as an author) have POWER! Mighty POWER! Bwahahahahahaha.

What am I talking about? Glad you asked!

As consumers we generate an opinion on the products we read/hear/watch/consume. Most people though, don't necessarily share these opinions with others. These are the folks allowing their power to go unspent, trickled away into the ether...

With the advent of webpages, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon and more, everyone has a voice. A voice unlike any they've held before. With the right tags, searches, what have you, other fans/consumers can come across your opinions on whatever subject you choose to talk about in an instant for years and years to come.

Word of mouth, now through the information superhighway, can zoom at speeds never imagined. You loved that book or movie? You can tell the world! And as pieces of that world run across your Tweet, review, newspage, or post, you've made a difference. You've used your power! If you included a link to said object in your insight, the clout and effect rise higher as people will tend to click to check something out, especially if it sounds intriguing. And once they've clicked so is increased the chance they might be hooked!

(So totally evil, isn't it? Power corrupts!)

Loved the book of a local author who's book you just bought at the last convention you saw them at? Hated it? Let the world know! Exercise your strength and conviction to sway others to buy it or suggest they ignore it (though sometimes bad press is actually the way to get people to buy - don't ask me, can't explain - we humans just love train wrecks).

If you truly hate something, though, the way to cause the most damage is not to tell anyone about it - good or bad. Unfortunately the same applies to things you like. So exercise your POWER. If you think the cheesecake from the bakery across the street is the Best Thing Ever - tell people! Link to their website! Let others discover this loveliness for themselves!

Electronic word of mouth will work on anything. You can infect others. Been doing it a lot myself with the TV show Supernatural (You must watch it! You must watch it!). Other TV shows worth viewing that have me eager for more every week are: Defying Gravity (OMG actual real science not fake BS like some other supposed SF show!), Castle, Bones, Dollhouse, The Mentalist, Burn Notice. (I watch too much TV!)

Also have been trying to push authors I totally enjoy as I read their stuff. Rachel Caine, Carole Nelson Douglas, Tanya Huff, Terry Pratchett, Martha Wells, A Lee Martinez, Shanna Swendson, and the latest addition Rosemary Clement-Moore.

Background music is a side love so here's some for Christopher Lennertz, Jay Gruska, John Williams, Danny Elfman!

(What's truly sad is I am sure I left off some awesome people in all these categories and will be kicking myself later!)

So see, every little squeak and link helps, folks! So support you fave shows/authors/movies/actors/food! You can do it! Use your POWER oh mighty ones. Let us know what you like. And we will love you for it!

Power to the People!