Writing Stats Monday #3
Well, This Is Embarrassing

Fantasy
Last week I was at 224,387 words.
This week I'm at 223,576 words.

Collaborative Sci-Fi
507 words

Photo Sunday
Denison

I looked back and I don't believe I ever posted pictures of the last time I visited my beloved undergraduate university. So here they are.

This is Gilpatrick House, formerly the Honor's House and I was sad to hear that it's not anymore. I spent a very happy semester here.

Nope, this isn't a postcard. The Denison campus is just that awesome that it's hard to take a bad picture.

The all girls dorm. Seriously. What? Why are you laughing?

My friend and fellow alum and Gilpatrick buddy Becky--clearly very creeped out by the face carved on the administration building.

Her brother Brian getting cozy with the face and I think that's the first time I noticed he was wearing a Denison shirt that day!

The grave of my favorite English professor and one of the people who made Denison great. He now rests there eternally.

Links Saturday
Birthday Without The Birthdayee

It just cracks me up that John and Hank had to celebrate they're father's birthday by themselves because he couldn't show up. Unfortunate for their dad, but you have to love the irony.

Book Friday (On Saturday)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Sorry for the late post. I should note that the old punishment rules still stand but I won't get punished because I noticed I didn't post, and made a post, before anyone else could call me on it. Now onto the review.

Summary

This book picks up immediately after the thrilling conclusion of The Girl Who Played With Fire. In this book The secrets of Lisbeth's turbulent life finally come to a head, revealing a conspiracy far deeper than anyone could have imagined.

Overview (No Spoilers)

It's difficult to talk much about this book without giving spoilers because, at the end of the second, I felt like all bets were off, and no character was safe. Since the book is all about the characters, there's not a lot I can say without hinting at the ending of the second book. However, while I can say that the second book remains my favorite, this one was also great and I am glad it is the third book. The pacing isn't as quick as its predecessor. There was a rather lot of exposition. But the characters are as stunningly rich as ever and I had to keep reading to see how their lives unfolded in this fantastic drama.

Book Club (Spoilers)

Because I know how frustrating it can be to see a spoiler to a book this good on accident, I'll put this text in white and you can highlight it to read:

So most importantly, I'm SO glad that the ending was resolved and not a cliff hanger like the second. I was so worried when, at the end, Lisbeth had to confront her half-brother and there were only 20 minutes left on the audio. I didn't want her to die, or worse, end on another cliff-hanger. But as Lisbeth always does, she surprised me by persevering against impossible odds. However, this all also took place long after I felt the book had a natural end, which was after the trial. And I was a little thrown by Lisbeth wandering around Gibraltar being and alcoholic and sleeping with random dudes. But considering Larsson will never be able to write another, I was more than happy to put up with a few false endings. At the same time, I found myself wondering how they might have edited the books if Larsson had lived.

I loved the involvement of the Hacker Republic and only wish there had been more of them. Perhaps he meant that for a later book. I thought the Berger subplot was unnecessary but I was happy to go with it because this was the last book and it was still fun to read, even if it was irrelevant to the story at large. Then Blomvkist was up to his old tricks, or should I say, old luck of just having women throw themselves at him. But I can't say I blame them. There is something undeniably sexy about his constant drive and purpose, combined with his dogged loyalty to ethics. At the same time there's a certain charming bumbling nature to him when it comes to romance. He doesn't stalk women like prey; they stalk him, and he's generally just stunned and grateful to be hunted. It's an uncomplicated guilelessness combined with the otherwise focused and brilliant mind that's so attractive and makes you forgive him his frequent transgressions. I knew he'd probably hook-up with Figuerola, so there was the predictably by this time, but I still loved his character after. Lisbeth's amusing frustration that often resembles hatred towards Kalle F%*)*& Blomvkist is understandable simply because he is so hard to hate and for Lisbeth, that by itself would be frustrating because she cannot simply dismiss him.

Info Thursdays
Introverted, Extroverted, Inverted?!

Today I read an article in the current issue of Psychology Today magazine about introversion and extroversion. I was frustrated to find that I could not wholly identify with either group from the definitions given by the article. For instance, introverts feel drained after working with a lot of people but sitting on desk at the library and answering reference questions was always one of my favorite activities. From the article's definition, that indicates extroversion. On the other hand, I hate large parties where I don't know anyone. I can socialize in those situations but it's something that I have to force. No distinction was drawn between informal and professional interactions being different in the article. Introverts were described as disliking both equally--although, they were happy to spend roughly the same amount of time with family and close friends as extroverts. But how can I happily deal with 100 strangers on desk in a work environment but feel overwhelmed by the same number of strangers in an unstructured environment?

The best I could understand from the article is I'm a shy extrovert. It seems like a contradiction of terms. Their definition of shy was also not particularly flattering, amounting to social awkwardness. I certainly hope that is not the case. It is simply that I feel uncomfortable in certain social situations, and therefore, don't enjoy in engaging in them. Still, I've often been told after such events that no one realized just how uncomfortable I was, so I have to guess, at least on those occasions, that I don't give the outward appearance of awkwardness.

In any event, I tried to get to the bottom of things by taking a an online Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test. But I was warned by the site that the results are unscientific without professional evaluation. So perhaps I simply took it wrong because my supposed type of ENFJ didn't end up sounding much like me. But, if you're curious, feel free to click the link and try it yourself: http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html

Wildcard Wednesday
A Poem

I don't usually write poems. It wouldn't be fair to say this is because I don't like poems. I am just old fashioned. I admire the classic poems of Frost, Dickinson, or Blake, and some of the French surrealists who either follow the rules with resounding epic beauty or break them and forge off on their own with the elegance of a new song. Poems are a writer's love letter to the musicality of words.

The problem is I'm poetically tone deaf.

I often feel that rhythm, meter, and poetic forms are better left untainted by me. That's okay because I've found my home in prose where I can still appreciate language in my own way. But I have been forced to write poems before and here is one result that wasn't a complete and utter loss in my opinion. It reminds me a little of Shel Silverstien's work. The poem's inspired by all the time I spent as a child finding pictures in the tile or wood floors of my house.

Linoleum Dreams

Fingers trace the strings of beads

surfacing from the linoleum dreams

pictures of daisies and bright butter folds

of coffee and hair bits and apricot holds

the attention of one little girl on this day

rapt sailing soldiers in the thickening haze

rat a tat tat where the dancing man’s found

of wavy brown lines and a-tipping his crown

to the silver-haired duchess encased in brocade

as her servants below her serve pink lemonade

outside the people who live in the pine

tap on the window in keeping their time

hair of green needles and fingers of thatch

move in a serenade rhythm to match

What

are you doing,

little girl dear of mine?

You need to be moving,

not wasting your time

Come with me and we’ll read

many tales that we’ve read

and then,

wash your hands

before going to bed.

Diary Tuesday
A Blog With Any Other Background Would Read As Sweet?

Some of you may have noticed the blog background and layout going through some changes. It may yet change again, or I may just leave it, like the last one, until several years pass. The dark, dotted background had been around since the inception of the blog and may have stayed that way if the template hadn't been so intractable to new features, such as YouTube's widescreen videos. So in order to give you all better service, I reluctantly updated to a new background. I don't like doing this because I like it too much. If that makes sense. Once I get the idea that I can change the look of something that defines me as much as my blog, I get obsessed with the perfect look. Although this one is quite pretty (my sister describes it as "very haiku"), I just don't feel like it's perfect yet. But it met more of the requirements than the short-lived dandelion background. My requirements on a background are as follows (more or less in order of importance):

1.) Readability and professionalism: Some of the backgrounds that are absolutely gorgeous unfortunately made the blog's title and / or quote nearly illegible, which no matter how pretty, always makes you look like an amateur. Something about the title did look better designed with the dandelions background. But the rest, while nice, was a bit clip-arty. My apologies if you did like it though, I hope you don't mind the new one.

2.) Nature themed: I did consider a few abstract designs just so it wouldn't be that different from the polka-dot background I held for so many years. I may yet go back to abstract. But if I'm going to decorate anything to represent me, it's either going to be covered in dragons (which unfortunately might be too busy) or nature. I suppose it's because I spend so much time indoors, staring at a screen. So I prefer that screen to reflect what I don't often see. One English teacher I once had envisioned me writing under a tree by a babbling brook. In reality, at the time, I wrote on an old computer in my dank, unfinished basement with a little figurine of E.T. dressed as a girl, staring out at me--my muse. In my heart, I guess I was under a tree by a babbling brook. The dandelions met the nature theme requirement but not the next.

3.) A real photo: Otherwise, it's very obvious I'm still staring at a screen.

4.) The color green: It's my favorite color and it's a good color. I snuck some in with the text and there's a tiny bit in the picture, but as much as I love fall leaves, I also love green. So it's a constant struggle for me.

5.) Makes me happy: This one makes me happier than the last one, and maybe I'll get used to it before I get around to changing it. But I look at it too much for it to be something I don't like. Which none of my backgrounds have been, but I don't think I've found exactly what I'm looking for quite yet.

4.) Distinctive: Neither the dandelions or this background fit this requirement but this one is marginally better than the dandelions because while those were one of the template defaults, you'd have to fiddle around with the dozens of background options to get this one, so instead of tens of thousands of blogs looking like mine, now perhaps only a few thousand do. Ultimately I'd prefer one of my own photos so that it would be nearly impossible to be copied, but I've yet to find a photo that perfectly fit.

Writing Stats Monday #2

Fantasy Novel

Last week I had it down to 225,766 words.
This week it's at 224,387 words.
That's a total of 1379 words trimmed. It was a lot more last time since I was just giving you the stats since the beginning of the project whereas this is just last week's work. Although, I wish I was going faster.

Children's Novel

Because I'm not working on enough projects (Ha,ha) I decided to start editing my children's novel. This one isn't too horribly long (roughly the same as the 77,508 word first Harry Potter and shorter than the 87,223 word first Percy Jackson). But the industry standard seems to be about a 45,000 word maximum. I'm not going to worry about getting this book as close to that word count but I think I can trim it down. In this case, trimming isn't the only goal of the editing because this is the first time I've edited this novel. But I'll keep track of it anyway.

This novel started at 77,557 words.
Currently it's at 75,543 words.
That's a total of 2,014 words trimmed.
As far as normal content editing, I'm on Chapter 3.

Collaborative Sci-Fi

Last week I had 6,209 words.
This week I have 6416 words.
This is a disappointing total of 207 words for the week. I can't really give the excuse of not being able to write without my sister because I only needed to consult her a little for this part. At this rate Chrissy could easily catch up with me so I better get cracking.

Twitter Novella

Still no stats but we're finishing up at the end of the month. Tune in for the conclusion of our zombie adventure! Will Elsie rescue Paul and his baby Zoe? Can Will find Rhodes before it's too late? Find out at: http://twitter.com/zombienovella/the-story

Photo Sunday
Walnut Bush?

My sister and I went bicycling today out on a trail by the river and we found this odd unidentifiable plant. At first we thought they were walnuts but most the trees with these things were squat and looked more like bushes which does not describe the walnut trees I remember. Anyone recognize it?

I cut it open the unidentified fruit or nut open with my key but it didn't help to reveal the mystery. It was rather soft for a nut but possibly wasn't ripe.

Here's also a blurry picture of a rattlesnake because my sister's smart phone doesn't have much of a zoom and there was no way we were getting closer.

Links Saturday
Space, The Final Frontier

So Hank's video here got me thinking about sentient alien life. Whether it's out there, whether it knows we're here, and if it knows we're here, why doesn't it say hi? Then I watched an old Star Trek episode about a sentient race that destroyed itself (one of the theories of what might inevitably happen to all intelligent life).

Then I saw the following videos that seem to indicate in their own hilarious ways that sentient alien life may not be that much different from our own.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Blog Break

Whilst I go out and live life so that I may have something to write about. Back on Saturday.

Info Thursdays
Penniless?

I originally called this research, but I like the sound of Info Thursdays, so there. Anyway, inspired by John Green's video and memories of a high-school friend of mine who was obsessed with the debate, I decided to look up the penny debate. My research is by no means exhaustive enough to answer all, or sadly, any of my questions. Actually, it only gave me more questions. But that's research for you. So I will tell you my questions, all of which are general questions or debate points and provide arguments I've found for both sides.

Will it make prices go up? This is the important and really divisive point, and I just can't get my mind around the argument that they won't. Probably because they don't provide the actual math for their argument. They usually just say "trust us, we've done studies." Whereas the math of paying an extra few cents for something over time meaning that you've paid more over time, makes perfect sense to me. So until someone comes up with the actual math to convince me otherwise, that is my sticking point.

Will the nation actually save money if we stop producing pennies? My other bone of contention is whether it would save the US money to stop producing pennies. No one argues that it costs more than a penny to make a penny. But it according to this argument, it costs significantly more to make a nickle. It claims "the Mint can make 5 pennies and still lose less money than making 1 nickel." It also claims that we would need more nickles if we got rid of pennies. To be honest, I'm not sure of this last assertion, but, if true, it would seem we're not actually saving. I've yet to see the opposing side address this other than some people (John Green being one) saying we should get rid of the nickle as well. They also talk about it costing us a lot of time to handle pennies. But what I want is numbers that I could understand and a reasonable method of having obtained these numbers.

If it really won't make prices go up or cost the nation more in nickle production, I'd be for it. But I would first need to be absolutely certain on both those counts. There is a sentimentality argument that we've always had the penny and it has Lincoln on it. This means nothing to me. I can't believe anyone who would want to have themselves taken seriously would ever give such an argument.

Sources:
http://www.retirethepenny.org/myths.html
http://coins.about.com/od/uscoins/i/penny_debate_2.htm
http://www.wfu.edu/wfunews/2006/2006.07.18.w.html
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Should+the+penny+be+retired%3F+It%27s+been+our+smallest-denomination+coin...-a0163393643

Wildcard Wednesday
Prose Practice

So this was a blog segment that was left on the cutting room floor so I thought I might do it for Wildcard Wednesday. This is just a brief practice of fiction writing. It's not meant to be a story, just a scene or description to get me thinking about writing. The following is inspired by the cat I saw messing with a vole outside my window.

* * * * *

Aaah! Teeth! I tried to scamper deeper into the bushes but ran into a brick wall. The cat with the bell on his collar watched hungrily, maybe jealously as the black furred monster clawed at the dirt and CHOMP!

I wriggled but that only made him dig in his teeth harder so I went limp. He carried me away holding his stubby black tail high. That tail always bothered me when I'd run away from him before. Had he lost it to a larger cat? I imagined him held in the jaw of a bestial feline exactly like he was holding me now and shivered.

The bell cat followed but my captor didn't believe in sharing. He did, however, believe in playing with his food. He dropped me from his mouth. I knew he was just messing with me but a vole's gotta try, right? I ran.

The cat's claws came at me from both sides as he batted me back and forth, his own personal cat toy. Then I saw my saviors in the form of two little human girls. The tallest sighed, "Mom's not going to be happy if he brings home another one." She chased my pursuer into the tall grass and began to poke him with a stick.

"Leave, him alone, meanie!" cried the shorter girl. I wondered if Meanie was the cat's name. It'd be fitting if it was. The distraction of the girls was all I needed. I darted back into my burrow as the cat glared after me.

Diary Tuesday:
Exercise and the Ghost of My Father Enjoys Pears

So I started using my apartment complex's exercise a few days ago and noticed that the residents here aren't much for cardio. When I went to college I couldn't compete with the girls who probably had serious body issues and the students who did regular sports. I usually felt like the most lackluster of those populating the fitness room. I would often arrive to see a person exercise, then exercise for an hour, and leave to see them still exercising.

However, when I started going to the exercise room here I was shocked to see several people devote only about ten minutes to the treadmill, if that, and then maybe a few minutes on the bike. Plus, I outlast everyone. True, some of them may select higher speeds on the treadmill, but the same was true for college and I rarely outlasted anyone. I'd like to think this means I've simply become a thing of steel. But since the time differential is undeniable, and the reason I started exercising is because I was beginning to feel like the exact opposite of steel, I doubt this.

While I was exercising today an older Asian man came in. He didn't outlast me but I thought he might for a while and it made me think of how active my own father was, who had also been one of those older Asian men who clearly grew up sleeping on tatami mats. I had originally been watching whatever struck my fancy on the fitness room TV but finally settled on the news. I knew nothing about this particular Asian man's preferences but I knew my father would have preferred the news. It was rather boring, they talked about a gas leak and I can't even recall what else. They also talked about a truck of pears overturning. Thrilling.

But a part of me heard my father's voice when I saw those pears on the street. "Ah! So many pear." It would have been the type of thing that would amuse him and he would comment on.

It's been more than a year now since my father passed away, but only a couple of months since I had one of my uncontrollable and unpredictable bouts of crying because of it. Usually in front of someone to increase embarrassment. It's not that people aren't lovely and understanding, but I just hate crying in front of them. Still, mostly I'm fine. Or at least, as close to fine as one can be about this. What really bothers me is how the simple mention of my father to someone who knows he's dead brings the conversation to an awkward halt. It's gotten to the point where I often don't even tell people he's passed away if I can avoid it simply so I can still talk about him. Because I loved talking about him and I still do.

Writing Stats Monday

Currently I'm actively working on three writing projects.

Project 1
I'm trying to trim as much off my monster fantasy novel as I can without actually rewriting. This involves a line by line analysis of extraneous words and any scenes that I can lift out without affecting the plot.

Before I started editing, it was 234,891 words.
Currently it's at 225,766 words.
That means I've trimmed 9,125 words. I have a lot more to go...Still, that means I was able to reach my first goal to get it shorter than The Sword of Shannara (226,755 words). The reason I chose that book was because it was the longest fantasy I knew of published by a debut author. Both versions of my final draft are also shorter than Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (257,154 words). But we both know that by book five Rowling could have written anything and made a billion dollars. Phoenix being a case in point. Okay, that's a bit unfair. Phoenix was the worst Potter book, but the worst Potter book is admittedly worth a lot more than the best by most people. Still, five really could have been better.

Also worth noting that I currently have 6 rejections from agents for this novel. Any real author would laugh at such a paltry pile, so I really want some more. I hope to at least have sent to 20 agents by the end of the year (although, it doesn't necessarily have to be for this novel). The reason for this is that someone recently inspired me to think about my goals five years down the line, and I think I'd like to have at least 100 rejections five years from now (or obviously something published, but that's less controllable). To do this I ought to average at least 20 rejections a year which certainly seems doable. I'm not going to ever give up on my fantasy, but I may have to shelve it for a while, which is why all the rejections might not be for it because there are only so many agents that look worth sending to. Then I'd rather start again with a different book for a while rather than send straight to publishers. For now, anyway.

Project 2
My sister and I are collaborating on a science fiction novel. A new experience for me since I've never collaborated on a novel.

For my part of this project I have written 6,209 words.
Overall the story so far is 9,863 words.
This means that my sister has written 3,654 words. Not that it's a competition or anything...But if it was, I'd be winning!

Project 3
Around the same time that I started collaborating with my sister, I also started collaborating with a high school friend of mine on writing a novella about a zombie apocalypse through tweets.

I don't really keep stats on this project, but if you're interested, you can read it here: http://twitter.com/zombienovella/the-story

Photo Sunday: The Ridges

Poking out of the trees on a slightly drizzly day in Athens, Ohio, the Ridges look like a rather innocuous building. The late nineteenth century architecture is even quite pretty. But what you wouldn't know from looking at the now cheery art museum that it is a former mental asylum. I took these pictures about five years ago while visiting my sister, who attended Ohio University. I don't know why I didn't also take pictures of the barred windows you can still see on the back of the building. But I had just bought my camera at the time, so perhaps it had run out of memory. In any event, these were some of the first pictures I took with my old Kodak camera, which I stopped using around three years ago when the hamster that lived inside it ceased to run.

Blog Revisioning

To avoid more posts like the previous one I have thought about ways to make this blog more focused on actual content. I still want to write every day. And I don't like imposing lengths on my writing because that doesn't necessarily make it better. But, from now on, if I am going to tell you about going grocery shopping, it will be to tell you why I think WinCo is a happy place for it is a palace of cheap nourishment, and I am but a supplicant at the doors of its temple of frozen foods. Or if I tell you about a sandwich, it will be to tell you that the taste of the bread transported me to a sun-baked terrace in Italy where grandma grows her own herbs and feeds the bodies and souls of weary travelers. Perhaps these are exaggerations, but I like to think not by much (I do really like WinCo and that bread was tasty). Plus, they're certainly better than what has gone before.

Step Two of improving the blog is to give each day a theme. For novel writing I prefer the open possibility of a blank screen and a world of content. But for a short blog post, I think it might serve me better to write to a prompt. So I will give each day of the week a specific prompt from today to a month from now (October 4th). If I hate it by the end I can go back to writing about anything, or I can change the prompts. We'll see. But, for now, the prompts will be as follows:

Sunday -- Photos: I will post a photo taken by me or featuring me with a caption or essay following.

Monday -- Writing Stats: I'll update you on what I've been doing in my writing, namely how much I've done (either editing or writing), goals, and any thoughts I have on writing.

Tuesday -- Diary: Personal anecdotes, what I did that that day, memories, dreams, thoughts, etc.

Wednesday -- Wildcard: Because I like the sound of Wildcard Wednesday and because I'l like to maintain some spontaneity, this day I can write anything provided it is segment worthy--each post must belong to either one of the other day's prompts or a recurring prompt that I intend to write on again. It cannot just be a post so my sister won't get candy. This I have promised.

Thursday -- Research: I'll do a little research on a topic of interest and write about it.

Friday -- Books and Film: Reviews and general thoughts on books and films that I've read or seen or simply interest me.

Saturday -- Links: I'll post a link or links to things I've found interesting on the internet with an explanation on why I like it or thought it was worth notice.

The weekend days (and possibly Wednesday) are admittedly designed to be a bit easier on me so I can keep up with the other days. But hopefully this will make them all better overall. And if there's a prompt you don't like, you don't have to read my blog on that day. If you don't like any of the prompts, let me know what you do like.

I would also like to note that I can still take days off in the cases where I'm going to actually live life instead of sitting in front of a computer screen (so that I can then sit in front of a screen later to write about it).

Since I'd like to start today, here's a link to the three best Twilight parodies I have seen thus far. One of my friends made a very correct assertion that Twilight, while not great in his estimation, was still better than most the parodies made of it. I hold this is because there is no need to parody Twilight because it's already a parody of itself.

All the same, I am of the opinion that if anyone can do a good Twilight parody, Raving Rabbids can. They are my favorite party games for the Wii even though I don't own any myself.





This second one made me howl with laughter when he twists the other guy's nipples:



This last one was the first ever Twilight parody that I saw, and I was impressed with how like the movie it was (proving once more that Twilight pretty much parodies itself:

Yay For Late Night Grocery Shopping!

And 24 hour stores.

Mistress of the Art of Death: Book Review

Summary

Dr. Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar does well enough as a female doctor in her native Salerno, but when the King of Sicily orders her to a wet and gray Cambridge, England, Adelia finds an entirely new world where she does not fit. In order to track a treacherous child-killer, Adelia most both blend in and set herself apart in a land where one misstep could get her burned as a witch. However, for the children of Cambridge, Adelia's success is a matter of life and death.



Overview (No spoilers)

Being a huge fan of the TV show Bones I was pleased to find many similarities between Adelia and the TV version of Dr. Temperance Brennan. Actually more similarities than there are between the book and TV versions of Brennan herself but I digress. The point is that Adelia is a sharp, intelligent, but in many ways, socially inept. She wears the mask of fearlessness and emotional distance but is often more human than those who scorn her.

I did also listen to this book on audio but the audio was neither bad nor spectacular, simply the type of well-done recording as to be unobtrusive to the experience of the book, but I have nothing specific to say about it.



Book Club (Spoilers)

Along with Adelia I thought the other characters really came to life. I was particularly fond of Simon of Naples and King Henry. Of course, this also meant I was rather distraught when Simon died but that was just how I knew how much I liked him. It wasn't even him alone as a character but the mix of characters that did so well. Franklin did a great job of creating a friendly chemistry among the three (Adelia, Simon, and Mansour) that the loss of one effected the balance and could not be replaced.

Henry's cunning character made me smile at the ending courtroom seen and I appreciated the suspense of not knowing what would happen to the nun, Victoria. However, I did guess that Sir Jocelyn was involved based on the fact that he was so nice, so he would be the one people would least suspect. However, if I had picked an accomplice for him, it would have been the Prioress, so I was wrong on that count.

Starving!

Okay, not really but pretty hungry and I'm going out to eat so not sure I'll be back in time to blog.