May I never query

It is official I am far too neurotic for this line of work. Nathan Bransford recently announced a contest on his blog where teh prize is a manuscript read blog.nathanbransford.com and all you have to do is post the first paragraph of a WIP.

Sounds easy right.... no way. I almost vomited hitting 'post' knowing that judgemnt would ensue and not just by Nathan but also by my unpublished peers.

When I finally produce a manuscript I don't immediately want to burn ... I mean trunk, querying may just cause me to have a stroke.

I abandoned it why

I was doing some writing tonight and got about 1000 words in between the baby shitting and demanding to be fed so I guess I can't really complain. It has been a slow few months between Christmas and loosing my computer to the flood but now that I have a shiny new laptop I ran out of excuses not to write. When I finished the chapter I was working on I found a draft of what I had completed of Sariel and realized i was over 18,000 words into it when I walked away.

Now I am sitting here trying to figure out why I abandoned it. I still like the premise and for a first draft the balls it sucked were relatively small. I am not sure I am going to go back to it right away but I am quite glad I managed to retrieve what I had dome of it.

If I can finish "forgotten" by the end of February I may go back to work on it before I start editing. Unlike "blender" wich was 30000 word of epic fail I think I may be able to salvage it

Huck Finn and teh N word

I am shocked

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New edition of 'Huckleberry Finn' to lose the 'n' word

by Keith Staskiewicz

Categories: Autobiography of Mark Twain, Censorship, Classic Novels, Controversy, Fiction

• Comments 1,273
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What is a word worth? According to Publishers Weekly, NewSouth Books’ upcoming edition of Mark Twain’s seminal novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn will remove all instances of the “n” word—I’ll give you a hint, it’s not nonesuch—present in the text and replace it with slave. The new book will also remove usage of the word Injun. The effort is spearheaded by Twain expert Alan Gribben, who says his PC-ified version is not an attempt to neuter the classic but rather to update it. “Race matters in these books,” Gribben told PW. “It’s a matter of how you express that in the 21st century.”

Unsurprisingly, there are already those who are yelling “Censorship!” as well as others with thesauruses yelling “Bowdlerization!” and “Comstockery!” Their position is understandable: Twain’s book has been one of the most often misunderstood novels of all time, continuously being accused of perpetuating the prejudiced attitudes it is criticizing, and it’s a little disheartening to see a cave-in to those who would ban a book simply because it requires context. On the other hand, if this puts the book into the hands of kids who would not otherwise be allowed to read it due to forces beyond their control (overprotective parents and the school boards they frighten), then maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to judge. It’s unfortunate, but is it really any more catastrophic than a TBS-friendly re-edit of The Godfather, you down-and-dirty melon farmer? The original product is changed for the benefit of those who, for one reason or another, are not mature enough to handle it, but as long as it doesn’t affect the original, is there a problem?

What do you think, Shelf-Lifers? Unnecessary censorship or necessary evil?

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I don't get it. Why woudl parents deprive themselves of an excellent teaching tool? If my kids ever read huck finn you can be Damn sure it will be the original and not this one

2010 reading list

I am late and probably going to forget a few books but ...........

City of Bone Cassandra Clark - January 1st

It was an OK book and an easy read. Definitely YA and it seems to write down to it's audience a bit though

The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy Douglas Adams - Jan 2

Funny and entertaining. Definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a quick amusing read.

Blind Alley Iris Johanson - Jan 4

The Clerics Quintet R A Salvatore - Jan 12

Salvatore usually makes me have a vested interest in all his character including the antagonists but somehow this series fell short in that regard. I just wanted them all to die, and not because they were bad and deserved it but because they bored me to tears. The Protags were interesting and amusing but beyond them I was very disappointed that he didn't live up to my admittedly high expectations. Maybe I should have read this BEFORE I read his really good stuff

False Memory Dean Koontz

Breathless Dean Koontz

Wizards First Rule Terry Goodkind

Outlander Diana Gabaldron

Been lazy

With both this blogging and writing. In the last few months I haven't accomplished much of anything (maybe 2000 words) on Sariel and about the same on another work in progress.

So for new years maybe I should resolve to do more writing. I am sure I can squeeze some in between the vomiting and peeing that inevitably comes with being 23 weeks preggo.

So my new years resolution in regards to writing is to update my progress at least weekly even if it is shameful, ESPECIALLY if it is shameful

These are a few of my favorite things

So Since I have nothing to say today it is time for more Smexopedia. Today is the letter D and on object of my obsession Vin Diesel.

Sexy man + hot bike = WIN

And because one pic is never enough

I need distractions

Last night was a slow night at the bar. I had three customers who had all been recently topped up withtheir alcoholic beverage of choice and I was pretty much standing around like a piece of furniture. With nothing else to do I found a pad of paper and sat down at the bar to work on Sariel.

I have been so utterly unproductive lately it shames me to speak of it. I have carved out time to write and spent 90% of it staring at a blank page. Late night I wrote more than I had in three weeks.

The funny thing is that as soon as I sat down to write somone invariably wanted something. I scribbled out about three pages between demands for more beer, cooking food, and cashing out lottry tickets and chatting. I was writing again though and that was all that really mattered to me. It occured to me that before the move I did most of my writing at work between customers or while caring for 3-6 children. Sometimes I even got it done while 6 or 7 grown men were sitting 4 feet away playing D&D.

It had never occured to me that I needed mayhem and distractions to write. I had only ever heard that people wanted peace and quiet. Guess I'm just a weirdo *shrug*.

From now on when I carve out time to write I will pack up and head to a bar of coffee shop I guess. As long as it works I don't care. I will save my quiet time for transcribing.