Sporadic Blogging Here

I'm barely getting traffic on this blog, so it won't be updated terribly often from here on out. The cut and paste function works great from Wordpress to LiveJournal, but not so great here.

So... you can find me at

http://relliott4.wordpress.com/

and

http://relliott4.livejournal.com/

Discovered TV Online

So, things at the pay job are slow again. I work as a subcontractor, so I only work when they have it. This is both good and bad.

It works for me because it frees up writing days. Bad thing is, I’m a creature of habit and I work better on a decent writing schedule. I’m one of those writers who likes to go in at a certain time each day and slip into a natural rhythm. I can still work when I only have snatches of time and I do. A writer writes. Plain and simple.

But I like it better the other way.

I had today off. Wrote 2000 words. Since I spent the entire day in this office, that turnout isn’t so great, but I did have a period of struggle with one of the characters. He wants a voice. He’s pretty damned hard headed, too.Plus, I’ve been struggling with some personal issues of my own. So, that’s not so bad a word count.

So after reaching the 2000 words, I took a break and downloaded a few episodes of Torchwood off Itunes. And… then I downloaded a few more. LOL! Some of it is great, some kind of cheesy. I really disliked one episode with a Borg type chick. But I’m enjoying it for the most part, so I went ahead and just bought the entire first season. Then I saw season 2 is on there as well. I’ve heard it’s better than the first. But I may wait on that one because I hit a confusing point.

I uh, had it going on one computer, so I started writing again on the laptop and think I missed something. All of the sudden two characters are having an affair when I never even saw the first kiss they talked about.

And to think I actually went onto Itunes to get Farscape episodes. The DVD price on Amazon is simply ridiculous when you can get every episode off Itunes for 39 bucks.
I think maybe it was better when I didn’t know I could get TV shows on Itunes for less than 2 bucks a pop. Sheesh.

Will Internet Change Experience?

As a reader, I began to pick up books to escape into worlds other than mine. I would climb into a story and be a part of it for page after page.

I’m curious about something. With the Internet today, a reader can find a book, fall in love, then find the author online. They can–in some cases–follow that author’s blog and learn all about the “behind the scenes” creation of a work. The difficulties and successes.

Does anyone wonder if that knowledge eventually takes away from the fantasy of the actual reading of the next book?

As a writer and frequent blog poster myself, I’ve always felt that keeping things interesting and sharing the hows and whys would keep readers coming back, but I’m curious about the next generation of readers. Will they be able to get lost in fiction or will they know too much of its creation?

Thoughts?

A Funny

I’m super busy right now and will be updating with more detail later in the week, but in the meantime, this cracked me up! I swiped it from Tale Chasing, a great blog about writers and readers of urban fantasy. Check it out.

Sexy Farscape Jammies

No sleep for Rinda again. Stupid storms. There was a tornado (or a scare–was too groggy to figure out which) just to the north–so once again, I stayed up most of the night. That *$%* LOUD alarm goes off around the fifth time and I was so tired, I jumped up to stand on the bed and look around. In a fighting stance.



Wonder if my battle-to-the-death-awakening had something to do with my night shirt.

You see, it has this guy.

























And this guy…















They are drawn as naked cartoons holding a sign that covers most of their bodies. Says, “Farscape, different from the waist down.” They both have these huge, dumb-ass grins on their faces.

I LOVE THIS SHIRT! (Was a gift from Kathryn Moad. We both miss the show so much! ;) )

My hubby isn’t as fond of it. heh

But last night, I paired it with the loudest pair of Washington Redskin flannel pajama bottoms. I was sleepy–didn’t care about matching.

It did occur to me once that maybe if we did get a tornado, I wouldn’t want that outfit to be the one I wander the neighborhood in…

Productive Weekend!

I finally got a new laptop! I’m pretty happy with it so far. The only downside is the touchpad seems to get kind of hot which is hard on the wrist after a while of typing. And it gets smudgy since it has this cool fusion finish. But other than that, I like it. I’m hoping that buying a lapdesk with built in cooling fans will help with the wrist heat.

I went with a Toshiba Satellite A305-S6825. I had a hard time picking between the HP, Dell and Toshiba. There was a cool looking HP I was leaning more toward but once I snagged a sales guy who actually knew something, I learned the version of Vista on it created havoc with software. This laptop has Vista, but no problems so far. It has 3GB of ram and a 250 hard drive as well as an Intel Duo Processor, plus the screen is bigger than the HP I was eyeing. I’m a happy writer today.

So happy, I’ve already cleared four thousand words of the side project!!!! Man, this book is just falling into place and I’m really excited about it. (And since it uses a lot of similar mythology to BOAA, I’ve managed to get research in on that book while working on this one!)

Today’s work is four thousand roughdraft/outline pages, so once filled in will translate into about four or five chapters. Since the length of YA novels can be around 60,000 words, I could have this puppy roughed out in less than a month if I could hold this rate.

I soooo look forward to writing full time again. I’d forgotten how good it feels to accomplish so much in one day.

Of course, nothing else is getting done. I probably should get up and clean or something.

Nah.

Plot Haze

I posted earlier in the week about bringing my current working story to the front of my mind.

It’s still there. I got an unexpected week off the pay job and I’ve been devoting A LOT of time to getting this book together. Yesterday, I printed research and went through it with a highlighter–notebook at my side–I MISS MY LAPTOP– as always, I found more and more ways to tie things together through research.

I LOVE THIS PART!

When the characters and plot, vague and a bit shapeless before, take on solid mass and emotions. When the hair on the back of your neck stands up when you hit something seriously cool. When you realize you instinctively knew something big at a deeper level and had already laid out the basic structure just right.

For instance names. Usually the names of characters pop up and take root instantly. My heroine’s name is pretty cool, but when I was researching the hero, I found that he had ties to the very meaning of her name.

This part of the writing process is soooo important because once I have all the players and setting in place, the story just flies and I look forward to every moment spent on it. I’m walking around in a daze, getting to know these people and their world, starting to love them already.

The only bad thing about this process is my inability to pull out of the fog easily. I burn stuff if I cook, walk into the occasional wall… yesterday, I watered the pot of weeds next to my pot of tomato plant…

And my kids have learned that they can sneak up on me because I don’t hear them until they’re right in my face. So, I’ve been jumpy, distracted and feeling this burning knot of excitement low in my gut.

It’s there because I snagged a good idea. I know it.

Story Beginnings and Visual Aides

I figured out over the weekend that the visual images I’d picked out for the characters in my current WIP weren’t the right ones. They just didn’t fit the two people taking shape in my mind. So, I found new ones and sure enough, that broke the block.

Still waiting on Dweller and BOAA status. Funny thing is, I know this story will go well. I know where it’s going, how it’s going to go… so once I get a green light (translate to a sale ;) )I’ll be able to jump in and get it done. I think a lot of my hesitation stems from possible changes to Dweller an editor might want.

So, in addition to working on that one, I’ve been putting together another series. A few months ago, I told you all about a YA idea and I’ve decided to go with it. I’ve been thinking about writing one of these for years. In fact, I have a synopsis and a couple of chapters of a YA fantasy book I put together about three years ago. I’m around teenagers all the time and listen to them discuss books. This particular series came to the light recently while I was sitting with three seventeen year-old girls and listening to what they loved about several books.

So, over this past hectic weekend, I brought a story idea to the front of my mind, found better representations for visual aides, tacked them to my cork board and explored the idea. It’s taking excellent shape.

I also… threw my mother a sixtieth birthday dinner, watched my husband and two others cut up a monster tree that had fallen across my parents’ deck, cooked and drove my kids all over the place in a car that has decided it doesn’t like air conditioning. Being in a hot little car in over ninety degree weather while driving over thirty minutes one way… then going back. Then doing it again THE NEXT DAY… that heat breaks you down.

However, throughout everything, this story was busy building itself into something solid. I’m pretty excited to jump in finally.

Reader Fav Photo Game!

My readers are having such fun with this picture. Have to say, I’ve needed the amusement. The wait on Dweller… while exciting, is still… well… a wait. I’m the type who loves to jump right into everything, which is great for finishing books. Not so great when you’re looking forward to finding out who might like your work.




So, first Heather sent a black and white copy. Then Sharon Dodd sent a copy with the background food gone. You can see both these images on my Flikr link .




Now Kelli McBride has joined the fun. You simply MUST visit her blog for all the versions of the new Rinda author photo.




But this one is my favorite! ROFLMAO!!!! I’m so tempted to make it THE PHOTO! And there is a Johnny Depp one… Go here.








Oh, and a new writer friend of mine from OKRWA got some WONDERFUL news yesterday! Go send Kevin Adkisson some congrats–he got the call from agent, Meredith Bernstein yesterday! I’ve heard this book is darkly delicious. WTG Kevin!

Excited About This Book!!!

I don’t know what I did to get Kim Harrison’s widget to work on my Wordpress site, but I’ve had no luck with any of the others from Harper. Grr.

But I’ve been looking forward to this book. Big Time!!! Since the cool widget will NOT work on WordPress, here’s a direct link.

This is the third installment in Joanna Archer’s Las Vegas world. I urge you to start from the beginning if you haven’t. I can’t wait to get my hands on my own copy this week!