Puzzles, gaps, and what’s happening

Posted: September 18th, 2015 under the writing life.
Tags:

Puzzles, first.  I never heard from Dragon*Con or whoever (if anyone) won my auction donations about the auction winners.   I was findable (at autograph session and panels) the day after the auction, and expected someone to walk up and show me the certificate and then I’d know who.   Didn’t happen.  The elevator crush was so bad on Monday, when I was leaving, that I did not have time to go over to con ops and ask them…I thought there’d be an email when I got home, but there wasn’t.   Did no one bid on the Tuckerizations?  Did my contribution somehow get lost in the pile of things in the boxes where guests were supposed to put them when checking in?   No clue.  No clue whom to contact.   If I had not come down with a juicy and miserable cold earlier this week, I might have been able to look back through my emails for a contact person, but I can’t sit up and stare at the computer screen that long–vision’s fuzzy too.

How the book is doing.   Not a whole lot of progress since coming home, but additional research has been done to fill in some gaps, and additional character work done on characters who were still not as “alive” as they should be.   It really is tricky when you have a lot of characters at the same “level” and that level is two or more down from protagonist(s).   Normally they would be scattered through the book, coming from different places, in different occupations, and not all interacting with the protag at the same time.   I am not satisfied yet that I have them solidly themselves, which for this book they need to be, though for most books they’re complex enough for their level.   The secondaries are now “done” although there are sections in the book where they need to be brought up to their full (annoying in one case) selves.

I have informed my agent and editors about the pending health stuff in the family (not in me personally) that may impinge on the existing contract, though I don’t expect it to delay this book, since it’s so far along (and that’s why I pushed it so hard that it will need more revision in the next month.)  In addition there are home repair things that must be done this month or next and other typical LifeStuff complications.   If I could go back to my 13 year old self, I would tell her to renounce and burn that poem she wrote in which she declared she did not want an easy life, an uncomplicated life, she wanted (no, I’ll spare you the adolescent self-dramatization.  It’s a wonder anyone let me live.)   For that matter, I’d tell my 5 year old self that it is unwise to say to one’s mother, who is trying to finesse a confrontation with the angry child, that “Maybe I WANT trouble!”   I got trouble.   There’s a theme here, maybe.

The picture of Ky is finished; I’ll post it when we’ve completed the handshake, handover, transfer of funds, and so on.  The artist is a teacher, and thus busy; it’s an international transfer and thus slightly complicated.

Meanwhile, it’s time for another aspirin and back to bed.

10 Comments »

  • Comment by Kaye M — September 18, 2015 @ 1:28 pm

    1

    Ancient Chinese saying: “May you live in interesting times–and may you receive what you desire.” Both more ominous in their fulfillment than they appear.


  • Comment by Wickersham's Conscience — September 18, 2015 @ 1:31 pm

    2

    Thanks for the update. Get well soon.


  • Comment by Daniel Glover — September 18, 2015 @ 5:44 pm

    3

    Sorry to hear about the life stuff. But that’s life. Glad to hear the Ky portrait is done and that I could provide my little bit of help in speeding its completion.

    Maybe someone from CON will be reading this post and get back to you on their own.


  • Comment by Nadine Barter Bowlus — September 18, 2015 @ 10:02 pm

    4

    Lemon tea and elixir of time. Take care. And yes, I really do mean, “time”.


  • Comment by Annabel Smyth — September 19, 2015 @ 2:55 pm

    5

    Thyme tea helps, too – great for sore throats!

    Get well soon, and I hope the other life stuff isn’t too awful.


  • Comment by Daniel Glover — October 6, 2015 @ 6:52 pm

    6

    Hope the writing life is going well and the extra life stuff has been manageable.


  • Comment by elizabeth — October 6, 2015 @ 10:50 pm

    7

    I was sicker than I thought and it has taken longer than I anticipated (or wanted.) Until last Friday my writing progress was a combination of nil and retrograde; now I’m back at work and making forward progress again, though it’s still not quite up to speed (only 1200 words yesterday but they were good words. Oxygen to the brain really does help. I’m now two weeks behind my own schedule on revisions, though, so pushing forward fast is necessary.


  • Comment by Iphinome — October 7, 2015 @ 10:23 pm

    8

    The Speed of Dark made amazon’s 100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime

    http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=12661600011


  • Comment by elizabeth — October 8, 2015 @ 8:40 am

    9

    I was surprised and am delighted. Thanks for mentioning it here.


  • Comment by Susan — October 8, 2015 @ 4:34 pm

    10

    It’s good to hear from you, Elizabeth. I was beginning to worry! Here’s to your continued good health, and success in catching up.


RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment