Brain Dump

I ranted like some rabid dog on the other blog some days ago. In case the context might have been lost, the story was that life conspired to deny me the writing time I took off from work to get (i.e. my first paid vacation in years). And since I couldn’t get it because, frankly, there were other needs to be tended to, I went and turned into a brat and went all “scorched earth” on my time. Meaning that I utterly refused to be a good family member and make myself present to attend to others’ very real needs if I couldn’t attend to my writing. Needless to say I made other people’s lives, and my own, pretty hellish for a while.

I’m not proud of that.

Luckily, by the end of last weekend, I got over it, even as I managed (to the possible chagrin of others) to beg, borrow, and steal writing time away.

Stephen King said in On Writing:

Reading at meals is considered rude in polite society, but if you expect to succeed as a writer, rudeness should be the second-to-least of your concerns. The least of all should be polite society and what it expects.

Well, I managed to jot some things down, anyway. Oddly enough, though, I really don’t think a lot of my company seemed to mind. I made a little bit of progress on the 3rd, and hopefully salable, draft of “The one about the angel”

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
288 / 4,420
(6.5%)

I’ve also started drafts of things. Good beginnings of…something. Trouble is, see all those projects on the sidebar, there? Regardless of what I choose to work on, if I can’t get anything finished come Sunday’s critique group, I’m going to be sitting there twiddling my thumbs, and I’m damned if I’m going to do that.

She Talks to Angels

Christian angelic hierarchy – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: The Assumption of the Virgin by Francesco Botticini at the National Gallery London, shows three hierarchies and nine orders of angels, each with different characteristics

* First Hierarchy

o Seven chief Archangels (including Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael)
o Seraphim
o Cherubim
o Thrones or Ophanim

* Second Hierarchy

o Dominions or Dominations or Kyriotites
o Virtues or Dynameis
o Powers or Exousiai

* Third Hierarchy

o Principalities or Archai
o Archangels (all others)
o Angels

Tough Love

I reset the counter for “The one about the angel” as I’m about to start the third draft, now that I read the crit group Act III of the story. Lots of good suggestions were offered. Not just pointing out story problems, but offering alternate ideas, some of which I intend to implement once I work it out on one of my canary yellow legal pads.

I’m basically starting from scratch, which is exactly what I need to do. It’s just the thought of going through the same turf again doesn’t thrill me. But I’ve got to get this story off my plate and back out there. There’s really no reason not to, especially when I have little doubt that by the end of the story, it’s going to be that much closer to publication.

Taking a deep breath…aaaand, here we go…

Zokutou word meter
0 / 4,420
(0.0%)

Unintentional Eavesdropping

Nope. I was in Indianapolis six months. No one paid me a dime.

(repeat x3)

No, not a song lyric. Just the ramblings of a probable itinerant (judging solely by appearance, I admit) sitting one comfy chair over in the café I’m sitting in. I didn’t see a Bluetooth earpiece. And if I had, I don’t think I’d necessarily be less disturbed.

Nothing to See Here

Jaysus, I’d tell this person to give it up already, except that this person obviously didn’t find what he or she was looking for. Maybe this can serve as a warning for the next lazy-ass cheating bastard: Read the damn story yourself, you goldbricker! As if your prof couldn’t spot your plagarizing a mile away.

Good Reads

I know what I’ve said about commenting on short stories. But I’ve read a couple of things worth talking about at certain places. All of these stories are worthy of comment, but alas–so many stories, so little time.