Paksworld

A fancy way of saying that the manuscript just made 100,000+ words a few minutes ago, and thus made it to that mark by midnight of July 31.  Almost didn’t, but did.

In August, I need to throw at least another 20,000 words into the cauldron, stir vigorously, and start pulling out the things that don’t belong, adding the things that go in last or (confession time) were just forgotten,  and so on.  And so on.   Serious driving for daily words will continue until the 120,000 point–after that it’s revision, revision, revision,  which often means the word count goes up and down like a yo-yo.

What can I tell you?   I like how the story’s shaping.   It needs a lot of revision, but the skeleton’s basically sound (barring some places where the arm bone isn’t connected to the backbone, and the foot bones are three feet away from the ankle bone and so on.)   I think it will be  a good Vatta story.  The main characters have come back to life and feel real though one or two still have a big of haze at the edges.  (Not Ky.  Not Rafe.  Not Stella.)

On Thursday at 11:30 am, I will be the author guest at Coffee with the Author,  an event sponsored by Holy Grounds, the coffee/book/gift shop at St. David’s Episcopal Church downtown.   There’s a half hour interview/Q&A/etc.  with Jennifer Stayton of KUT keeping the program on track and on time.   Afterwards, lunch downtown sounds like a good idea–including at St. David’s.

This should be fun; I’m really looking forward to it, and hope for good weather so we can enjoy the outdoor terrace–but if it rains there’s plenty of inside space too.

For those in the area but unfamiliar with the venue, St. David’s is between San Jacinto and Trinity, between 7th and 8th–it, and its parking garage, take up the whole block.   The entrance to the church is across the street from the Omni Hotel.   There’s parking available in the garage (you can sign in at the main desk to get a parking voucher) or you can take a bus.

The bookstore will have copies of The Speed of Dark and Oath of Fealty if you don’t have them already and I will be bringing, for show & tell, the proof copy of Deeds of Honor, the print-on-demand paperback of my first indie-published eBook.

If you’re in the area, and can come, I’d love to see you there.

The concert on January 26 was amazing.   Everyone had worked so hard and so well getting ready for it, and the weather (which had been icky all week–that kind of “weeping” cold winter rain)  cleared off so it was a perfectly clear, sunny afternoon, not too hot or too cold.    The musicians were *wonderful*–not just talented musicians but genuinely nice people, lovely people.   And though I’d been just a little scared of bringing a chamber music string quartet to this community…it was a hit.  Everybody liked it (well, maybe the 10 yo boy was tired of it by the long second half, but not the rest).   I could feel the electricity from audience to musicians and back.   Everything I’d worried about (how will the acoustics be in that space?  What about having only one restroom?  What if not enough people come?  What if, what if, what if (a novelist can imagine complications and disasters VERY easily)  didn’t happen and better things did.

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A reminder for those interested that I’ll be doing the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer Chat with Bryan Thomas Schmidt this evening.    On Twitter, follow the hashtag #sffwrtcht  starting at 9 pm Eastern Time (US), 8 pm Central, 7 pm Mountain, 6 pm Pacific,  and for all others, 0100 UTC and you can do the calculations.   If it IS starting at  0100 where you are, I hope you’re not following, unless you’re usually up in the middle of your night.

I hope it will be fun for all.  Bryan sent me a bunch of questions to have answers ready for,  so I could fit them into 140 characters.    I think he understands long-form writers.

I have been informed that I’m not posting often enough.   I thought (hoped) that posting to comments, answering questions there, etc., would keep the natives from expressing restlessness, but that didn’t work.    So…well…I can’t say anything more about the Other Story that’s with an editor.    I can’t say anything about the story for which I haven’t decided on a market.  I can’t say anything about the ideas churning in my mind for another CHICKS anthology.  So what can I say? Read the rest of this entry »

Because LiveJournal tells me I have plenty of space to upload pictures, but the upload function appears glitched this afternoon…I’m uploading pictures here.  Apologies.   As you know, I’ve been making socks for myself.   The latest pair, of a lovely variegated blue with some purple, gave me a problem I’ve never had before, and have now solved, and I really wanted to show it off.

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My hosting site just announced a major refurbishment (changing out servers, etc.) to begin this Friday night, March 1,  at 10 pm, and expected to last at least 4-6 hours, maybe longer.   So if you find the Paksworld site and this blog down on Friday night, do not worry.   Try it again Saturday morning and if it’s still down…be patient.  I don’t expect it will be unless gremlins attack, but we should all be sufficiently tech savvy to know that hooking new things up quite often is a gremlin magnet.

Meanwhile, back to work.    Someone has survived a fire in a warehouse; someone has had a disagreement with an adviser; someone’s expecting a baby; someone’s up to their chest in rapidly rising water and it’s raining cats, dogs, horses, and dragons.

OK, I’m back.   Awake, aware, capable of independent movement and thought.   The thoughts are whirling a bit right now (happy at being out of their cage, I expect.)    Now…where were we?   Oh, yes.  Post trip report on book, etc.

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Income is welcome whenever it arrives, but when it arrives the day after the first round of entering figures in the computer–which is in the first quarter by IRS calculation–then the estimated tax part (which–since I write for a living, and the income is wildly variable from quarter to quarter as well as unpredictable–is surprisingly tricky to figure)  it’s all to be done over again.   And at least one printer in the house decides every year that printing tax documents is something it would rather not do.   This year’s printer ploy was announcing it was out of paper when it wasn’t.    However: taxes are now signed, sealed into envelopes, ready to mail tomorrow.  Whew.

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It’s been a busy couple of days.   Dragon*Con is always exciting, but also (for me, anyway) exhausting.   Crowded and loud (it’s the loud that bothers me more than the crowded; I should wear earplugs, probably.)  Costumes–amazing and wonderful.  I saw someone in a steampunked wheelchair…lots of people in steampunk costumes, most of them brilliantly detailed.   Aliens (some simple but cute; others wonderfully imaginative and beautifully made.

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