Month: August 2007

bookmark_borderPlot Hole Patch

Posted on by PaulaO

Okay, I got it fixed. Phew!

Easier than I thought, really. Isn’t is always? You worry and fret over something you think is big and it turns out to be some little thing?

Taking part of the scene outside worked well. There were some other parts that had to be changed but overall, it went smoothly. The scene works well, too.

The book takes an odd turn soon and I’m not sure whether that turn is needed or not. I think I will drop it all and use another idea I had. There’s been hints to it before, and I’ve not seen a way to work it in until now. This new direction is just what the book needs, I think.

I want to get this book, BG3 done quickly, make it pretty and send it off to the publisher. Then I want to work on the first of the Simple Sarah books and send that one off as well. Won’t that be cool? To have two books bought in one year? The same year my first book was released? I can do this, yes.

No goals this time. I’m just doing it. I don’t seem to do well with goals. Just like the current US gov’t administration, I fight deadlines. But at least with me, it is word counts, not body counts.

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Listening to: Joan Jett & The Blackhearts – Black Leather
via FoxyTunes

bookmark_borderBig Gaping Plot Hole

Posted on by PaulaO

And I do mean big.

In the beginning, one character is packing up the belongings of someone who’d died. Another character is packing up to move from her own house to a tiny little house she is going to rent.

The second character’s boxing up stuff is something I added in. Thought it would be cool to have them both packing boxes yet for different reasons.

Problem is…later, there is this really awesome scene. And to take it from the house with its basement to the tiny little house, it just doesn’t happen as well as I’d like.

So do I change the really awesome scene to fit in with the different house? Or do I go back and change the beginning and all the parts afterwards that mention the move and where she lives now? Hmm?

I could move part of it outdoors. Oh, now that would be different….let me give that a try. Thanks for the help!

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Listening to: Bonnie Raitt – (Goin’) Wild For You Baby
via FoxyTunes

bookmark_borderDang, It’s Hot!

Posted on by PaulaO

From WeatherUnderground:

Statement as of 4:54 PM EDT on August 08, 2007

… Record high temperature set at Greenville-Spartanburg…

The high temperature so far this afternoon at the Greenville-Spartanburg international Airport has been 104 degrees. This temperature was last reached at 335 PM. This is a new record high temperature for this date. The previous record high for August 8 was 98 degrees which was set in 1951.

Statement as of 5:14 PM EDT on August 8, 2007

… Record high temperature reached at Charlotte…

At 502 PM… the high temperature at the Charlotte-Douglas international Airport reached 102 degrees. This breaks the previous record of 101 degrees set in 1951. The last time the temperature reached 101 degrees or higher was August 18th 1988. The record monthly high is 103 degrees and the all-time record high is 104 degrees. Weather records for Charlotte date back to 1879.

(text in statements bolded for emphasis by me)

When Lorna came home at around 5, it was right at 90F here at the house. All of my fishtanks are at around 82F, not good!

bookmark_borderInt’l Blog Against Racism Week

Posted on by PaulaO

Racism –
Noun: racism
1. The prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races
2. Discriminatory or abusive behaviour towards members of another race

[WordWeb.info]

No one race is superior to another. Intrinsically or other wise-ically. We are all the same. Some have more skin pigment, some have less. Some have different eyelids, some have curlier hair. It is what makes us unique. I am of an allegedly superior race. I am Caucasian with blonde hair and blue eyes. But none of those characteristics makes me better or worse than others who do not. I like the believe I am “colorblind” but I know I am not. We try to not be, we who are learned, but I wonder if we ever can reach that goal completely.

I’ve kissed a black man. I’ve had sex with a woman of Asian descent (half Japanese, half Irish). I’ve considered adopting a child of a different race knowing the vast majority of families want white babies.

I get angry at young men, white or black, who wear their pants down around their knees (nobody gives a shit what type of boxers they wear!!). I don’t “get” rap nor hip hop music. I’ve tried, but I just don’t like it.

If a young rap singing boxer showing male were to need my help, I’d not hesitate. After all, other than taste in music and clothing, we are the same.

Linkage:
Sandra Barrett’s post
Icons from Oyce

bookmark_borderSlow Progress

Posted on by PaulaO

But at least it is progress.

I am working on BG3, tentatively titled Butch Girls and Stereotypes. Tentative is the key word here.

Actually, this is what the title will look like on the cover, if I have any say in the matter.

At any rate, I am closing in on 60K with a 90K goal. I’d like to go over that top mark to leave room for editing. We’ll see.

I am also editing “Simple Sarah”, book one of the Trilogy, and tentatively called The Blessed. Editing it is easy since the beta readers (mucho thankso to D and R!!) did such a great job of reading, editing, and commenting. I’m only about half-way with that and adding a lot as I go.

So I am working. I am trying to be a professional. I am still working on the Twelve Step program. I take 15 minutes each day and do filing in an attempt to clean up my work area (aka The Living Room). Lorna helped some yesterday but today was too busy reading. She’s been reading Jaqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Chosen. She read Kushiel’s Dart last week and is in love with the writer.

bookmark_borderTools

Posted on by PaulaO

I use several bits of software as I write.

I use OpenOffice.org as my word processor. It is open source and free.

I use Notepad2, a free text editing program that makes M$ Notepad look like rock and chisel.

And I use WordWeb Pro as my dictionary/thesaurus. And dude, this program is the best! I use it quite often. There is a free version but to really take advantage of all it can offer, I suggest the Pro version. The biggest change from 4.8 (which I had) to the 5.1 (which I just upgraded to) is the web browser look-ups.

With my purchase, came a Wikipedia plug-in. This means that when I look up a word, it not only checks the dictionaries on your computer, but also Wikipedia, Wiktionary, and WordWeb Online.

Another new thing is its ability to connect to other dictionary programs you may already have, such as Encarta or Webster. This would be great for those more high-brow words.

So, yeah, WordWeb Pro is expensive ($49 package or $73 separate) if you get all the bells and whistles in terms of word lists (language, geographical, and “additional“). If you just want the program, that’s $29. I sprung for the entire thing to see how much I actually used any of the lists.

bookmark_border42

Posted on by PaulaO

That’s a magical number, you know.

According to Douglas Adams in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it is the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.

It is the jersey number worn by Jackie Robinson. It is also the number worn by Pat Tillman when he played football at the Arizona State University.

It is also:

# the number of generations (names) in the Gospel of Matthew’s version of the Genealogy of Jesus.
# The number of months the Beast will hold dominion over the Earth (Revelation 13:5).
# In January 2005, Asteroid 2001 DA42 was given the name Asteroid Douglasadams, named for the author Douglas Adams that popularized the number 42 and died in 2001. With even his initials in the provisional designation, Brian G. Marsden, the director of the Minor Planet Center and the secretary for the naming committee, said, “This was sort of made for him, wasn’t it?”

from Wikipedia

So, yeah, it is a magical number and worthy of mentioning today, of all days, and for the next 365 days or so.

‘Cause today, August 2nd, was my 42nd birthday.

bookmark_borderEditing and Writing

Posted on by PaulaO

I am busy editing SS based on the notes from my wonderful beta readers.

And today I am going to jump feet first back in to BG3 and finish it, dammit.

I got bins to start the filing and am managing to keep the desk relatively free of clutter. Each evening or morning, I clean it off from the accumulated crap. Mt. Dew bottle(s), styrofoam from a box, a new box of pens, paper towel roll, empty bag of corn chips…you get the idea. Lorna and I went to Office Depot last yesterday to spend that rewards card I had. We got the bins, the pens, and a few other things. We wandered through the office furniture section. Big mistake. I wish we had the room to have a real desk. Or at least a prettier one. Mine is made from 2×4, brackets (Simpson Strong Ties rock!) and half-inch plywood.

I miss having a true portable computer. My Dell laptop is 4 yrs old this week, bless its heart. I had hoped to have a new one by now but you know how it goes.