Last Day of Freedom?

Tomorrow, the writing starts anew.  I'm both excited and slightly terrified, just as I normally am at this time.  I plan on doing some cruise ship research sometime today but other than that, I'm as ready as I normally am.  As always, I'm sure getting started will be the hardest part.

Tonight, I'll be stocking up on writing food and possibly throwing back a couple writing beers.

In other news, I'm entering this contest: Missouri Conservationist 75th Anniversary Photo Contest

Corpse Cruise Teaser

When a nanotech-based cancer cure runs wild on a cruise ship, reanimating the recent dead, the passengers must band together in order to survive.  But can they keep the plague from spreading to the mainland and overrunning the world?

Right now, the February (and beyond) project is called Corpse Cruise, but I might change it.  It sounds like Corkscrew whenever someone says the title out loud.

Monday Morning Meatloaf

Okay, there isn't any meatloaf.  I just liked the sound of it.

I'm really dragging today.  Instead of getting all my ducks in a row for the big kickoff Wednesday, yesterday was all hiking and binge reading.  I'm a little sore and didn't sleep well.  I'll post some pictures when I get home today.

On the positive side of the ledger, my mom is halfway through her read of Bullets Dont' Blink and loving it.  Yesterday, she kept grilling me about which places in the story were based on which real-life locations.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I'm the #10 reviewer on the all-time United States list on Goodreads.  I'm only a couple hundred ahead of the reviewer in the #11 spot so I'll probably be back down to 11 before I know it.

Pre-Project Jitters

I'm still slated to kick off the new writing project on February 1st.  I'm experiencing the usual pre-project jitters.  You know the ones.  The following questions keep popping into my head.

1. Did I prepare enough?
2. How well do I know the characters?
3. What if this thing doesn't have enough legs to go at least 70k?
4. Have I done enough research or can I just research things as needed?

Since this is how I always feel before I start a new story, I'm not too worried about it.  I will admit that I need to research the inner workings of cruise ships a bit before next wednesday but I think I have a good idea of what needs to happen.  Right now, my biggest priority with it is coming up with the back cover blurb, as this is normally the first actual writing I do.

A few weeks ago, my mom asked if she could read Bullets Don't Blink.  I said she could when I was done editing it.  She said she'd edit it as she went.  Is it just me or is the idea of my mom editing my book slightly horrifying?  I can just imagine comments like "Does he have to swear so much?"

In other news, I noticed I never posted any pictures from the weekend.  I'll have to do that tonight.  Additionally, I just noticed on my calednar that it's Australia Day.  Happy Australia Day, everyone!

Two Things

1. I had an idea yesterday that I think has enough legs to be the next book I write and I'm very excited about it.
2. Does anyone want to write a crazy amount of words in February with me?

I don't do this very often...

... but I'm going to post a link to the first chapter of something I may or may not ever complete.  It's a new weird/horror story called Fishhead Babies.  The last of my NaNoWriMo writing juices went into it near the end of November.  It's just the first chapter.  If I figure out where I'm going with it, I may pick it up again.

Short Update

Last Friday, I invented the term "Infinitology" to describe fantasy series than seem to keep getting longer and longer once they get profitable.  My ire was raised by this Peter V. Brett blog post.  Yes, I reallize it's not entire his fault that the Demonwar series was marketed as a trilogy but that doesn't mean I'm sticking around for the next three books.

Anyway, I introduced "Infinitology" to Goodreads this morning and now I'm watching to see long it takes to catch on.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Monday Morning Report

1. My car stalled in rush hour traffic Friday.  It started right back up but it was a tense 30-45 seconds.
2. A man was killed at the same exit where I turned around and went back home Thursday morning in the snow.  The really weird thing is that he's also the guy that had my telephone number before me.  People, mostly creditors, have been calling me asking for him for the last six or seven years.
3. I screwed up my goatee trying to do something fancy with it last night while I was trimming it.  That's the end of that.
4. I donated all of my larger photographs that I had been hanging on the walls in my kitchen and living room to the nursing home my grandma is in for her stroke rehab.  Now my walls are bare and I'm looking through my photos to figure out which ones I'll hang next.
5. A ten year old girl gave me some pointers on writing horror fiction at the used bookstore Saturday.  Did you know horses aren't Gothic enough and that piranhas, ghosts, and demons are all scarier than werewolves?

Confession Time

I've got something juicy to share.  Interested?  If so, scroll down.








































I don't actually hate editing as much as I thought.  Yes, I reallize we probably have different definitions of "juicy."

I got some positive feedback on Bullets Don't Blink yesterday and it light a figurative fire under my ass.  The first round of edits is going very well and I'm entirely too pleased with myself.

A Post Where I Actually Use Words for a Change

It's been a pretty photo-heavy couple of weeks.  Here's what I've been up to.

1. I am now a contributor at Ska Blah Blah.  I'm actually a little behind where I'd like to be but reviewing music is proving harder than reviewing books.  Probably because I'm not a musician.
2. Starting yesterday, I've begun reading werewolf books for research purposes.  I have an idea for a werewolf story but I figured I should read a couple more as I develop it.  I'm reading Wolf's Hour by Robert McCammon and have The Wild by Whitley Strieber and a re-read of Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King on deck.  I'll probably space them out a bit since three werewolf books in a row would get a little samey.
3. Still haven't started editing Bullets Don't Blink despite a friend of mine having connections in the biz.  I guess I'm not ready to go into seclusion to do it just yet.  That or laziness.  I'm still feeling a little creatively drained, to tell you the truth.
4. For the first time in months, I have another blog interview in the works.  I'll post a link to that once it happens.
5. I'm thinking about taking a week off in June, August, and November for writing purposes, corresponding with the two Camp NaNoWriMos and the big daddy, NaNoWriMo itself. 

Coincidence?

Yesterday, one of my co-workers asked me if I won any contests lately.  I said No.  Fast forward a few hours.  I got home and found a message on my answering machine.  It was the woman who cuts my hair.  It turns out I won $50 worth of hair products in a drawing.  Not sure what I'm going to spend it on since all I use is shampoo and I doubt she has any shampoo that doesn't have a strong smell.

Maybe she has a really sweet comb I can buy...