Tuesdays for me aren’t that good of a writing day usually. It’s hard to get into the swing of things when at best you’ve had four hours of sleep and enough caffeine in the morning to kill an elephant. If I get out over one hundred words, I am ecstatic. Usually, it’s caffeine, blog, mutter, novel, quit, Xbox – but today I thought I would do something different. Today, I worked on the novel first and my word count is now 32,493! Today I put down 1,560 – an increase by…well… yeah, a huge number (look, if I was good in math, I’d be a scientist, but I’m not – OK?). So now when I am normally showing those Covenant Elites who’s the boss, I am writing this blog. Hey – it seems to work and who knows, it might mean the beginning of a more productive time for me. Sure, I am way over deadline for this – I should be done with it by the end of September, not dragging to the end of the second act. Then again, I am not obsessing over the deadlines because:

1. I have enough deadlines, time limits and other things going on in my dreaded real job to worry about. I don’t need to add on to it.
   
2. The real stuff I need to worry about as far as this novel goes is making sure it is the best that it can be before the first round of edits start.
   
3. Why worry about deadlines now? That’s why I am self-publishing, right? To be the master of my domain, the captain of my ship, the housecat sitting in front of the TV so the human can see more of glorious me (some personal experience on that one)!
   

As for the novel itself – Tyro had a bit of ‘Serpent in the Garden‘ moment that I found to be unexpected. While Tyro is supposed to be the one that uses her wits more than her muscles, I don’t normally see her as being guile in this manner. I usually associate that in my mind with Aevar. However, it does fit with what Tyro has rattling around in her head and how she is accessing and using those memories. The good news is, by the end of this week I should have this chapter done and by the end of next week the second act should be finished and we can take a small breather to allow the characters some time to enjoy their escape. Not a whole lot mind you – this is something I am writing.

This Friday (in breathless anticipation) I am trying to decide which movie I want to see at night: Arang, Mama, or Grace. I am leaning towards Grace because there I did start it a while back and just never finished it. I might do that and double down on the popcorn (while I have a popcorn popper, I just like having a bowl of white cheddar popcorn… or better yet – kettle corn!) for that night.

Well, look at that – I still have some time to act as a plasma bolt catcher. Have a good day and I’ll try to duck slightly faster than the speed of light.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

I discovered this guy while tooling about the Internet. Yeah, I have a small weakness for nerdcore and other affiliated musical styles – everything can’t be just thrash and soundtracks. This weekend was pleasant; I got to watch American Mary in hopes of restarting the Friday Night Movie tradition. I will review it in the last part of this blog if you’re interested. I also watched a baseball game (Nattitude!) and did some laundry… a normal weekend.

The escape chapter has been started and there is an interesting development – one that I didn’t come up with in the outline – happening in the first part of the chapter. I am looking forward to working this out in my head. This is going to make Aevar a lot more dangerous in the long term… hey; I think I have the antagonist for the third book. Now I just need a plot to go along with it and I’ll be OK. I like the initial idea that kicks this chapter off: Tyro learning the concept of freedom from having the information from the Great Book being passed into her. The idea I had was that Aevar also had some of that knowledge passed into him as well, and he was carving bits of it into his resting bier, but changing the way the lettering looked so that it wasn’t apparent to anyone who would come in and take an interest to the carving. Tyro picked up on it because she has enough of the original script in her to help her see past Aevar’s code. What she is going to get, however isn’t going to be more sunshine, freedom and happy thoughts. What Aevar is scratching with his claw is what makes him Aevar… an ushabit dedicated to only fulfilling his Master’s will, especially if that will involving carving up people. Whether or not Tyro is going to have these new passages have some sort of influence on her, I am not entirely sure. This is one of the joys of being a hybrid writer. I know all the big details and I am thrilled when the characters take me a little off the beaten path.

Now, as to the movie American Mary. Well… it was there. It wasn’t the best horror film I’ve seen in a while, but it wasn’t the worst. I just felt that it was a plot in search of a theme – not denigrate any of the acting – that was superb, but the rest of the movie just seemed to be one scene after another with nothing really connecting it. I’d give it 5 out of 10. Now, the movies I am looking forward to seeing are: Elysium, Europa Report, Gravity and The Hollow Crown. I am a sucker for Sci-fi and English period pieces, so I can’t wait for these to come out – that and Sharlto Copely is a joy to watch. Since I get paid this week, I am going to catch one of these and give a review.

Well, I need to see if Tyro goes all axe-crazy or just plain crazy.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

I am starting to wake up now, thankfully. It’s Friday here, so I’m about 6 hours away from the weekend reprieve and hopefully I can keep the momentum going for the novel through Saturday where I can try to make up a little lost ground. I am now aiming for a finish to this in November and looking to a spring release. Just so long as I can keep the momentum going. Coffee will be the fuel for the new era.

Speaking of momentum… I have been trying to avoid a lot of the clichés in fantasy settings, and – wow, it’s making for an interesting story. Well, I am trying to avoid what I think are clichés. All I’m really doing is when I come to a point where I think I could go two ways, and then go the way that I wouldn’t take. So far, taking the lesser path has gotten me a new wrinkle on one of the secondary characters and has set up a great opportunity to look at the relationship between the protagonist and one of the more important secondary characters (Tyro and Ghislain). I’m hoping to get something close to a love story, but limit the physical aspects to a cuddle here and there, but nothing more than that (if you read the novel, you’ll see why). I am also still trying to work on the third book while writing the first one and finalizing the outline for the second one. I’m concerned that I only have an opening scene and a one word summary (your secret word for today: apotheosis. If you hear the secret word, you know what to do kids? That’s right! Scream really loud! Good luck in trying to maneuver someone into using that word.) while the second book is almost ready to go. I would like to be able to go from second book right into third – given the amount of time it takes me to write, this really shouldn’t be a problem… I’ll try to do the best I can, maybe I’ll just throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. If it works for pasta, it should for literature, right?

In a little over a month, Art Bell makes his return to radio and I cannot be happier. I am thinking about subscribing to the service to get him. I had been listening to old shows on the Internet, but the server got shut down. I found u7radio and tuned in when I could. Using my streaming radio player was problematic, because it would find the first server and not the third that had Art Bell’s show on it. Well, now that he’s returning to the airwaves… kinda… I am going to pony up the $20.00 a month to listen to him on Sirius. As a side benefit, I also get NFL games on the radio, so I can finally get a full season of my favorite team!

OK – the caffeine is kicking in, so it’s off to have Tyro pick the body of a dead man. Hey – it’s a living.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

Well, it looks like in spite of the week’s best efforts; I am going to survive it. I managed to get in last night, have some more peach cobbler and played some M:tG on X-Box:

Yes, I can be obnoxiously successful in something.

Tyro and her issues with Nysa are going to hopefully come to a head today. The thing of it is that while I want Tyro to be successful, but not too successful. I don’t want her to be a Mary Sue. She had her bright moment in the stick ball game in getting out of the library, so maybe it’s high time for her to stumble a bit – perhaps the whole Nysa getting fixed kerfluffle would be a good time for her to screw up… not a royal ‘you fool, what have you done!‘ screw up, but something that can show that she does have some flaws. So, I am going to work on that and Nysa’s dialog today. Yep, the babbling must flow.

I also need to get a new chair for this desk. The soreness is getting very painful and not just in my back, but in my neck as well. When I get paid, I’m going to splurge for a new chair (something with a high back) and I might even get a new desk, something smaller so that I can sit with my back to a wall (insert symbolism here) and maybe get some work done without getting distracted by the piles of paper on the desk and other things – bills for example. Yeah…I gotta pay those too.

I am sorry, but I am going to have to cut this short. My head is hurting on top of my back and neck, so I have to step away and get some aspirin. I should also get to the novel before I have to stop have lunch and leave for work. I promise the next one will be longer.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

… really, who’s reading this thing anyways? 😀

That’s right – 200 posts. If I have been religious about this, I should have reached this mile stone months ago, since I’m not here I am. I am amazed at how this has come along from my random ranting to ranting with a purpose.

Speaking of purpose…

The novel continues along, although I didn’t hit my mark yesterday – I will try to get to it today and maybe even go a little over. The growing tension between Aevar and Tyro continues, but I fear that it’s going to be a letdown when they do square off later in the book, but I will have to admit that it’s interesting to bring these two together. Anyways – I am going to try to get at least halfway through the chapter. So this will be a short posting since I have to get to work.

Now – on to the breaking rule to celebrate post 200.

Me – you can figure out who is who:

Hammer jokes always sound funnier in your head rather than aloud

Well – here’s to another 200!

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

Well, I managed to get back into the swing of work without costing people millions of dollars, so that crisis was averted. I have only one more vacation week planned: 10/28-11/5 and after that, I will need to have someone call me in as dead if I need a mental health day. How much is zombie powder on the black market? I’m asking for a friend, of course. I am also trying to get a head start for the one convention I am going to go to next year… and I might even expand it to two. One: there is NecromoniCon in Providence, RI – in the heart (that dark, pulsating thing keeping the time of madness with every flex of gibbering cardiac muscle) of Lovecraft Country. I am going to go there because I am a Lovecraft fan and it affords me the chance to walk the streets that one of my major influences took to when he had the notion. I will also consider this a part of the ‘get this guy more sociable‘ program I am putting myself through. Going to a place that is so far away from my house and anything else familiar will (theoretically) push me to interact with others. Also – I want to get an idea as to what’s expected of me when I start trying to sell my books at conventions. The other convention I want to go to next year, and this one is going to be fairly closer to home – GenCon. I’ve wanted to go to this since I started playing RPGs when I was nine. I can’t go this year (even if is a hop, skip and a jump from where I am – I have no cash to get passes), but I am going to go next year. Anyway – enough of that…

The novel continues along merrily. I began the Second Act yesterday and I am sometimes amazed at how little things just seem to spontaneously start with some characters. There is a minor character named Dasya (casting note: J. K. Simmons) who acts as the Master’s assistant and he appears, for the time being, to be giving Tyro some assistance. When I was working on his in my head Dasya was just there – a face in the crowd. Now he has a personality, lines and motivation – something I never gave much thought about until recently when he pushed Tyro against a wall and gave her what for. I don’t know if this is something that other writers have to deal with – I’m not complaining about it, mind you – but it would be interesting to see some other responses.

Someone posted a quiz on whether or not you are a professional writer. John Scalzi wrote a response to that quiz, which I am going to post a link here. I am also going to recommend his book Old Man’s War. I thought for giggles, I would partake of this quiz…

1. Is your home/work place messy because that time you’d put into cleaning it is better spent writing?
   

   
   
   
   

    

   I reek of Professionalism… and three day old socks. Next question.
   

    

2. Do you routinely turn down evenings out with friends because you need to be home writing instead?
   

   No. I plan my writing so that I can still go to work and socialize on the weekends. Besides, I am a bit of a homebody anyways – most of my socializing is done online.
   

    

3. Do you turn off the television in order to write?
   

   Yes, and I turn on music when I write.
   

    

4. Would you rather receive useful criticism than praise?
   

   Yes.
   

    

5. Do you plan vacations around writing opportunities (either research or networking potential)?
   

   No. I plan vacations around the idea that I am getting away from everything to relax. I do most of my networking online, and on the rare times when I am talking to people face to face, I focus on them, not on writing.
   

    

6. Would you rather be chatting about the business of writing with another writer than exchanging small talk with a good friend?
   

   Small talk with a friend. I can talk to writers all the time since I hang out with them mostly, but friends I only get to see once in a while. I am sensing a disturbing trend here…
   

    

7. Have you ever taken a day job that paid less money because it would give you more time/energy/material to write?
   

   No. I don’t choose between writing and work. I write in the morning and I go to work in the afternoon. While yes, I am now at ‘part-time’ status in my company, but that’s not for writing, but for reducing the risk of burn-out.
   

    

8. Are you willing to give up the nice home you know you could have if you devoted that time you spend writing to a more lucrative career?
   

   You obviously haven’t seen my house. I’m writing in an effort to get that nice home.
   

    

9. Have you done all these things for at least five years?
   

   I have been writing as a way of relieving boredom and dealing with issues since I was 7. Only 10 years ago did I start to consider this as a viable career. 2 years ago, I put out an anthology just to see if I could do it.
   

    

10. Are you willing to live knowing that you will likely never meet your ambitions, but you hold to those ambitions nonetheless?
    

    Fuck you.
    

     

     

This is not a quiz about being professional – being a professional means your time is compensated with money. This is a questionnaire that tells you if you have an

unhealthy obsession with writing. Don’t believe me? Substitute ‘writing’ with ‘video gaming’ or ‘drinking’ or any other perceived vice. Yeah – if you substituted ‘drinking’ and you answered yes to more than seven of these questions…you have a problem.

Well, speaking of professionalism, I should get back to the novel. I’m sorry that this blog entry ran a little long, but I wanted to get this quiz in there and tell the author of the aforementioned quiz that there are some very good counseling options available.

Y’all have a good day now.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy

… because the vacation is over. The very vacation I don’t think I got paid for. When I got paid last Friday, I noticed that my paycheck was a little less than what it should be. I’m going to have to talk to HR and more than likely find out that since I am now technically ‘part-time’ (working thirty hours a week) I no longer get the perks of paid vacation. If that’s the case, then I am going to speed up the process of getting out of that rat hole I call work. I am seriously considering going back to temping again just so that I can get some money while trying to get the novel finished – more on that later. Right now, I am getting back into the work morning routine: web
comics, Facebook and dread. However, I managed to get some pictures from Fandom Fest, so please enjoy them.

On to better news! The First Act is finished! Took me the majority of the vacation, but I didn’t want to spoil the stress-free days I had with stress of a different sort, but I pulled it together at the last minute (as all good writers do…) and finished the act strong: 23,121 words (out of a total budget of 85,500) and left it with a suitable cliff-hanger. I am also willing to make this offer. Those of you, who are curious what I have been writing thus far, feel free to e-mail me and I’ll send you a copy of the first act. All I would like is an initial impression – no editing yet. I have an editor to hire for such a thing. The second act is going to be the beginning of the rising action – escape. This is where the stakes are raised and hopefully the novel will become the white knuckler that I want it to be until the end. I also hope that the premise won’t seem too hackneyed. I had one image from the novel in my head when it was a scene for a role-playing game (I’ll let you know which one – the scene, not the game. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you should know what it is). I am still excited about this project. I might even finish it!

I didn’t get a chance to go to the movies during vacation, but I got a couple of films on iTunes and watched almost the whole season of Hannibal. Wow… that is a good show. Yeah – it’s a little gory at times, but if you can get past that it is a great study on a manipulative mentor (something I want to do with ‘The Pentateuch of Abel’) and for me, it sets up Silence of the Lambs better down the road. I can’t wait for the second season. I’ve also dusted off Fallout 3 and I am enjoying it completely – I was getting a little bored with Borderlands 2 and I thought I could stand a change of pace… and wow is it.

Well, I have a heroine to imperil, so I bid all of you adieu until next time.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy