On The Road Again

Up and running with the new computer. Unbelievable that it came today. I wasn't expecting it until Friday.

I'll have to think of a name for it.

So Dr. Compaq's been lobotomized, and its brain installed in the new kid. Thanks to my geek friend who allowed me to watch him work and ask a lot of stupid questions.

Urban Lexicon

Went to the bookstore a couple of weeks ago to buy one of those uber-expensive catalogs for writers like me on that vertical climb to publication. While I was there, I picked up two more little books entitled "urban dictionary", which, I think, pretty much speaks for itself. The books grew out of a website created by Aaron Peckham, at urbandictionary.com. The content is created by submissions of words/phrases and the definitions for same by people worldwide. In turn, the word/phrase/def are voted on by other users. If a word/phrase gets enough votes, it becomes official. So check it an' get yo' sef some mad street cred. Holla!

Anyway, you can imagine that there are lots of words/phrases having to do with blogs and bloggers. I, for example, am not a member of the "blogging class", since my blog has nothing to do with my personal opinions of a sociopolitical nature. Well, not overtly, anyway.

But I'll admit to sometimes writing a blog entry just for the sake of posting something, not because it's interesting or anything like that. The purpose of my blogging exercise is, according to legend, to build an audience for my fiction so I can say to a publisher "if you publish my book, they will read it and you will make (or at least not lose) money."

Posts of this nature are called "blogorrhea."

I believe this one qualifies. Damn skippy.

Uncrash!

Looks like Dr. Compaq isn't FUBAR after all.

But I gotta question. If you get a new computer, does like, Comcast or whomever have to come out and hook it up to the 'net? Guess I'd better call...wonder how long I'll be on hold this time.

Okay. New title. The Underground. Here's a summary of the story in one sentence:

A ruthless mage and a sadistic vampire’s ambitions to rule Seattle are threatened after the key to their plan, a rebellious werewolf, meets and then falls for a kick-butt, amnesiac space alien who might be a vicious serial killer.

Not too shabby, I think. A sprawling, damned near 400 page manuscript reduced to 39 words.

Know what? It's hard as hell to do. And I wrote the freakin' story!

Crash!

The title says it all. I think Dr. Compaq's really FUBAR this time.

This one is a spare I use for graphics. It's a Mac. You know, it's hard to believe MS and Apple haven't gotten this straight. The Word programs don't talk to one another. Sure, Mac can read PC, but the formatting is lost. And PC can't read Mac at all.

How annoying.

P.S. If Dr. Compaq isn't FUBAR, then I suppose I'll use it as a spare since I already ordered a new box online. So let's see, that's a spare Compaq, a spare Mac, a spare Dell...an embarrassment of computers.

A Tale Of Two Stories

So I've finished the first draft of Chapter 7, and it got me thinking. As I told you earlier, there are two "versions" of JC floating about, a space opera mostly in my head and another based on Earth that's being committed to paper, so to speak. I'd always thought of the entire story as a three-parter, but now I think it might be two. That means a number of issues that I'd originally thought would be resolved in the third book will most likely have to be resolved here. Like Kurt's love for Parker. I'd thought at one point it'd be consummated, and maybe it would have been in another galaxy, but it can't be done if they're still on Earth, because the timeline won't permit it. And the odd little relationship that developed between Kurt and Melera in the space-based version of JC will have to be dropped.

Oh yes, I know...just write the space opera using different identities to protect the guilty. It just feels odd, somehow.

Now for some real news. I'm going to be reading at the Capclave Con in Rockville, MD in October, and at Philcon (Philadelphia, PA of course) in November. Don't know what I'll read yet--it really depends on how much time I have. Either way, I'm going to have a ball.

See you there!

Taps

Chapter Whatever, in its current form, is being deep-sixed. You know, Melera and Parker's BDSM reunion. After thinking about it, it'd be more fun to have her surprise him by skipping through the Void and into his bedroom while he's in bed with Mandy (Parker's new freya). Melera is beside herself because she just found out that Beloc is on his way to Earth. Her only thought is to get Parker and herself the hell out, because the Dark only knows what Beloc's gonna do to this planet--not to mention its people--when he gets here. But as far as she's concerned, none of that is her problem. Or so she thinks.

Melera finally notices Mandy, but only after Parker points her out. Not realizing until then that Parker isn't alone, she hasn't bothered to disguise herself. And so Mandy learns the whole nine yards about Melera--she's an alien, there's a war on in her galaxy, this seriously bad dude is after her and Earth's about to fall into some really deep jakk.

That's when Mandy decides to betray Melera to Beloc and the Akkad. Parker's first loyalty might be to his alien lover, but Mandy's first loyalty is to the pack, and by extension, Earth. There might be no sure way to stop Beloc from coming here, but there's one sure way to get him to leave...

Round ???

Getting my new query letter ready...almost there.

Wish me luck.

Dragon*Con

All y'all at D*C--ya havin' fun yet?

Wish I was there...well, maybe next year. If you see Stormtrooper Elvis, tell 'im I said "howdy."

The Two Chapter Sixes

First it was Chapter 5. Then it was Chapter 6.

Now it's Chapter Whatever. Seriously...in my JC folder it just says Chapter.

My editor will not be happy with me.

So there's a new Chapter 6 that I just finished tonight. It's Garrett's POV. She's working with her mage mentor to figure out how (and if) the tryst spell's aftereffects can be reversed. Right now things are pretty bad for our three zot heroes, especially Kurt.

Tomorrow (or sometime this weekend) I'll start Chapter 7. Melera's POV, you know. She's finished the code, about to leave, and then decides she needs to go to Seattle and apologize to Parker for her behavior when she left Earth for the second time (after the revolution). I know, you wouldn't think kick-ass Melera would care about stuff like being polite, and normally she wouldn't. But on Xia'saan, such things are just not done. Yes indeedy. Xia'saan has very strict rules of social conduct, very formal. And breaking those rules have severe consequences.

Think of it this way. We have a planet full of warriors, right? If somebody gets dissed, somebody's gonna die. So we have to have these rules so we don't start killing each other again. As for the punishments (whippings, etc.--very BDSM), the reason for those is because like little boys, the only thing warriors understand is pain.

Waiting...

is a bitch. Please, please Ms. Editor, tell me what needs to be fixed!

P.S. I have not cut my nails. It's annoying as hell to type with them, but they're so pretty.

OK, so I'm a girl. Deal with it.