Happy Friday, everyone. The weather is disgusting here in D.C. Cold and dreary. However, it won’t be getting me down. I have plans, my friend. Plans. Today, I’m going out to lunch with my… um, future cousin-in-law? Yeah, that’s it. I’m really looking forward to it. We’re going to this darling little restaurant that I’ve been dying to try out ever since I moved into town.
And then, tomorrow is my anniversary. It’s actually my last anniversary, because starting next year, they are changing the date of daylight savings time. So we will be celebrating our anniversary on a different date from now on.
If the blog posts are a bit thin on the ground in the coming weeks, don’t be alarmed. It’s just that I’ve got a lot of things on my plate right now. I’m several thousand words into SSG3 (currently untitled, and honestly, the only ones springing to mind right now are joke titles), but I’m going to be taking a break on that next week for a last, whirlwind round of line edits on SSG2. And then, NaNoWriMo. Yes, I’m going to be trying my hand at that again, despite the fact that it was a desperate failure last time. (I’m more of a tortoise than a hare when it comes to writing.) Who else is doing it?
It’s very odd to me to be writing scenes from SSG3, because several of these bits are scenes I’ve been thinking about writing since well before I finished SSG — so it’s been over a year and a half now that I’ve been waiting to write this. And the incredible thing to me is that they still fit the characters and the situation. It’s been 500 pages of other stuff, and Amy & Co. were still marching, inexorably, to this point. Contrast that with SSG2, in which I had a plot mapped out way in advance, but there was only one scene which I absolutely knew that I must have in the book, that I had imagined out beforehand, and when I finally got to writing that scene, I was very worried that it no longer “fit” the story I’d written. (Luckily, I only needed a few modifications, and I think they’ve made it even stronger.)
Also, SSG3 is currently on spec, which is the first time I’ve done that in 18 months. Yesterday, the aforementioned future cousin-in-law and I were discussing the life of the freelancer. It’s so different from having a job. You get a contract, you work to fulfill it, and then there’s that moment of freefall before you get your next contract. I guess it’s that thrill that keeps you hungry.
October 27th, 2006 at 11:07 am
Oh my gosh, I was talking about that the other day. I’m dreading starting the 3rd werecat book, because once I turn that one in, I’ll be unemployed again. Scary, because I’m not at all sure I can make another sale. I’m too paranoid to take anything for granted.
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October 27th, 2006 at 11:36 am
Yep – I turned in my last contracted book September 15, and now every time I open the file of my new proposal, I get a major anxiety knot in my stomach. Not only am I not under contract, I’m attempting a slight genre shift, which adds more stress.
But very cool on SSG3 – I love when the scenes pop into your head, and they actually work! And I think this year’s NaNoWriMo will go much better for you – weren’t you in the middle of writing SSG AND working full time last year? Oh God, is that weird that I remember more details about your life than I do about my own??
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October 27th, 2006 at 1:07 pm
Amazing that you’re already on to SSG3, Diana. How exciting!
Not to worry–no one is going to let Amy go unclaimed. You will have your next contract.
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October 27th, 2006 at 3:12 pm
Annie said…
I’m kind of sad that they’re pushing back the end of DST to November. I enjoy having that extra hour of Halloween debauchery on that weekend. Guess I’ll have to really do it up right this weekend.
Happy Anniversary! And good luck with NaNoWriMo… I know several who are doing it this year and I think you all are nuts
10/27/2006 12:31 PM
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October 27th, 2006 at 3:12 pm
Marley Gibson said…
My anniversary is tomorrow, as well. Happy anniversary!
No NaNoWriMo for me, mainly because I’ll be on vacation for 10 days of the month. But I will be writing.
= )
10/27/2006 2:50 PM
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October 27th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
Oops, sorry about the double-posting. I think it’s fixed now, and I’ve copied over the missing messages.
Rachel, I knew this topic would appeal to you. Writing on spec is interesting to me, especially given a series. there are all sorts of factors going into it — it really depends on how much the ones out now sell.
Jami, I am a little nervous about how much you remember. LOL. Actually, I was working full time, but I wasn’t working on SSG2 for NaNo. It was on another book entirely, one that pretty much stalled out and will have to be restarted from scratch if I;m ever going anywhere with it. (It’s also a genre shift, so I”m in a ismilar boat.)
Annie, I know what you mean about the partying. Also, it feels weird to me that I’m switching my anniversary to November. I’m not sure how I feel about that. But the partying must come first!
Happy anniversary, Marley!!!
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October 27th, 2006 at 7:50 pm
I’m doing Nano, too.
And Happy Anniversary.
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October 28th, 2006 at 3:02 am
Good luck with Nano. I’ll be doing it too, but I’ve decided to do young adult this year instead of chick lit, and hopefully that will come in at around 50,000 words so I don’t love motivation after Nano, and have to struggle to finish…because then Christmas etc takes over and I get distracted.
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October 28th, 2006 at 10:21 am
I’m doing revisions on my second demon hunters book. I mean these revisions are a lot of rewrites.
Wonder if I can do that in Nano?
Never done nano
Hmmmmmm
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October 28th, 2006 at 9:15 pm
Happy Anniversary
)
And I’m in for NaNo, debating between two ideas, I’ll decide last minute which one to go with.
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October 29th, 2006 at 10:34 am
I’m doing NaNo. Writing the sequel to my YA mystery. We shall see how that works…
And I totally use the term cousin-in-law. It makes sense. What else would you call that relationship?
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