Month: January 2007

bookmark_borderRosie and the Dump Trump

Posted on by PaulaO

Sounds like a good title for a children’s book, don’t it?

I was cruising the GLBT sites and of course visited AfterEllen.com. The site deals almost exclusively with the television, movie, and music world in terms of gays and lesbians.

They have a wonderful, well-written article about Trump and Rosie O’Donnell’s recent spat. Next to Robin Williams, Rosie is my hero. I admire her for her courage and her style. But I digress.

The story goes that a while back Rosie said something about Trump on The View. And Trump responded. And responded. And responded. Rosie, in typical Rosie fashion, is handling it with humor. For example, after Trump said something about being able to take Kelli away from Rosie, Rosie had her on the show the next day. I don’t remember the exact quote but it went something like this: So I can keep an eye on her so she won’t be lured away by a man with a comb-over.”

I thought that was funny.

Anyway, the article over at AfterEllen.com is great and funny and makes a good point at the end.

Where the hell are O’Donnell’s friends — specifically her lesbian and gay friends — when she needs them? Sure, Madonna has publicly supported her, but everyone else is hiding and should be ashamed for doing so. With friends like that …

C’mon! Let’s get it together and stop ignoring the homophobic elephant in Trump Tower. We all know what’s really irking Trump, and it has nothing to do with O’Donnell’s initial comments.

(snip)

What might have begun as an effort by Trump to defend his interest in pageants, his financial record and self-publicizing has evolved into an ugly spectacle that not only reveals Trump’s true colors, but also the public’s. Tragically, one reason Trump continues to target O’Donnell is because he can. He has an unspoken permission to belittle her, granted by her polarizing position in the public eye. Between O’Donnell’s brash persona, her lesbian pride and her affable though tell-it-like-is air, Trump’s got a 50/50 chance that the public will agree with every nasty word he says about her.

Want proof? Just listen to the silence.

link to full article

The only thing I dislike about AfterEllen.com is they don’t seem to cover books. I guess a star would have to write one to have them notice.

bookmark_borderBeta Readers Wanted

Posted on by PaulaO

I’m almost finished with Simple Sarah. I’m looking for someone(s) to go over this semi-rough draft and give feedback.

The feedback needs to be more than “it was great/awful”. I need to know how the characters were developed, where the plot sunk, how the ending was, etc etc.

I also need the feedback within 2 weeks of me sending the manuscript to you.

Any takers?

bookmark_borderCreeping Closer

Posted on by PaulaO

Today I came so close to the end, I could have said THE END. But I chose not to, just to tease Sophia.

Seriously, I hesitated because I didn’t like the way the ending was forming. It was too easy and wishy-washy. I even pulled out Kress’ book, Beginnings, Middles, and Ends.

I backed up to the beginning and have been making small edits as I go along, adding in a few scenes, dumping others. Kress says that the end is where the writer fulfills the promises. Well, I wasn’t sure what those promises were so, back up I went.

As of now, the final total is 93283, with 3443 new words today. I am close enough to my goal that it would be safe to say it is a done deal. But let’s not, hmm?

I’ve got two or three big scenes to add in, a bit of more stuff in the prologue to do, and I think that will be it.

bookmark_borderWordPress Upgrade

Posted on by PaulaO

I just upgraded the blog from WordPress 2.0.4 to 2.1. Not a single problem.

I withdraw that statement. My links in the sidebar are all f-ed up. WTF is that mess? Later. I’ll figure it out later.

BUT let me know if you come across any.

I’m also going through and seeing if there are any updates to my plug-ins (which takes for-ever) so there might be a few more hiccups.

bookmark_borderSick

Posted on by PaulaO

Yesterday, I, the night owl of all night owls, went to bed before 10 pm. Then I slept, with only one interruption, until 11 am today. And after only being awake perhaps two hours, I slept another two hours on the couch.

When I was a kid, I slept through all the childhood illnesses. When I had chickenpox, I slept for three days. Mom would make me go to the bathroom and sip broth, but I never woke up enough for me to remember it. The only way I knew I was sick was I’d wake up wearing my “sick” shirt. It was one of my dad’s undershirts that my mom had crocheted a blue collar on it. It was a huge shirt on little me (yes, I was little once). Since I had chronic tonsillitis, I wore that shirt a lot. When I went to college and HAD to stay awake, I was miserable!

Yesterday, Lorna took herself to the doc and while she was gone, I started getting sick. We think I had another bout of diverticulitis. Whoopie. The anti-hurling pill worked, though. (fenegren?) It can make me very drowsy so it added to my sleep time. I’ve only eaten some pudding, crackers, coke, and lots of water. Once things calm down, I’ll start eating again. The idea of food is really rather blechy to me still.

Add to it the rattle in my chest–leftover from an asthma attack a few days ago–and I don’t feel good. Luckily, Lorna is today now that she has meds again.

The other posts I wrote today? I slept between each one, sitting here in my chair. I finally gave up and that’s when I went to the couch. I was freezing so when Sam got up and lay on top of me, I didn’t mind. Jo wrapped herself around my feet.

Yesterday I only wrote 646 words and I’ve not looked to see if they are good words. Probably not since I don’t remember any of it. I hope to get some more done tonight. If not, tomorrow while Lorna is at work. She stayed home again today to let her body settle down.

bookmark_borderContests

Posted on by PaulaO

Got a list of contests held by the Writers Workshop in Asheville. From their site I found links to others. So instead of re-posting them all here (it’s a long list), I’ll provide links.

Writers Workshop contests – http://www.twwoa.org/contests.html
Appalachian Writers Association – http://www.king.edu/awa/awa_announcements.htm
North Carolina Writers Association – http://ncwriters.org/programs/competitions/
Hub City Writers Project – http://www.hubcity.org/submissions.shtml (Spartanburg, SC)

bookmark_borderAlmost Done

Posted on by PaulaO

Okay, Sophia, this is for you: Less than 10K to go.

Yesterday, despite Lorna being home (ie sick and cranky), I managed to write 4276 words on Simple Sarah. That brings the total up to 86762 with only (drum roll) 8238 until my goal of 95K.

I think I know where I will stop it now. I think. Even though the next book roughly starts where this one stops, I’m not going to continue into it. I’ll finish, set it aside for a week, and start editing it. I may back up and add in a few things while re-reading.

I know I keep saying it but, I really like this book. I like it better than the original version, although it seems as though I may be the only one. Some people wouldn’t be happy if you hung ’em with a brand new rope.

bookmark_borderMoving Along

Posted on by PaulaO

I’d hoped to get more done tonight. But I just can’t stay awake. I even fell asleep during one of my favorite games!

Today, I got 2449 new words which brought Simple Sarah up to 82486 words. I pushed beyond the scene and started building toward the finish. I’m still not sure where it will end, but I will know when I get closer as to which feels better.

Lorna is sick and will be home for the next two days. If she gets sicker, I’ll have to play nurse-maid to an uncooperative patient. Maybe I should get a medication for her that will knock her out and she’ll be nicer. Hmm.

bookmark_borderAnother Informal Review

Posted on by PaulaO

I heard from a co-worker of Lorna’s, Patty, who had read the book. She is straight (but not narrow) and thought it was a fantastic book. She cried at three points. She laughed at many others. She thinks that one of the characters is a wimp (and I agree). And there was a place where I didn’t describe a character enough and she (Patty) was thrown out of the book when the character “rolled” somewhere. Meaning, she didn’t know the character used a wheelchair.

Her comments were more detailed but I don’t want to spoil the book for you.