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Links and lalala

/ Alex Whitehall / Leave a comment

I went to West Chester today to visit the tattoo shop. The guy was very nice (though my friend was worried b/c he has a teardrop tattoo–a sign of killing someone in prison?) and gave us estimates and we made appointments for Saturday.

(I didn’t meditate today, but I’ll do it tomorrow. Just too hectic and buzzy today, which one could argue is when I should meditate the most. Maybe I’ll do it before bed.)

On our way into town, my friend played me The Rake by The Decemberists. It’s pretty messed up, but kind of a catchy tune. If you like children you may not want to listen.

Still reading Wishing on a Blue Star, which is good, just not something I can power through, unlike Tigers and Devils, which I read yesterday (when everyone else was watching the Super Bowl). Also still working on You Better Not Cry, which is good, if not sad. Possibly more sad than Wishing on a Blue Star, which is about someone with terminal cancer. I guess You Better Not Cry is more lonely sad, while WBS is just achingly sad.

Need to text my brother to see if he wants to get together for lunch. I don’t think either of us have time.

Out of Season

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I just finished baking pumpkin custard, thus the title of this blog.

But really, it’s meant to be an update on my new year’s resolutions:

Meditation: I do it every Monday. How successful that is can be argued, but I sit down and don’t do anything for 10 minutes. So I’m working toward meditation.

Sitting up straight: I’m trying. Not doing so well, but I’m trying, so I’m sure I’m making small improvements.

Reading: I am reading other books outside of the usual genre…though I tend to read 8 billion books at once now (okay, 5).

I’m scheduled to get my tattoo on Feb 12. I just sent out the rough draft of my book to my beta readers. I’m going to put off my taxes until tomorrow I think and reward myself with writing and/or reading.

Happy Monday!

Snow up to Here

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Here in PA we’re getting the largest storm of the season so far, at least it looks to turn out that way if the snow we’re expected to get tonight amounts closer to the 8 inch mark. So my normal Wednesday activities are canceled (aside from work, of course), leaving me two extra hours to “get stuff done.” On schedule? My computer, editing CL, and washing my dishes (does it ever end?). The exciting life.

My computer (aka, the desktop) was very sick. So I reinstalled Vista (business) from my friend’s disk, but because it just “wrote over” what was already there, saved some old files, and didn’t remove my partition, the virus (who is a sneaky duck) remained. Yesterday my friend came over to remove the partition (thus wiping the harddrive) and installed Vista (home premium) for me (legit version, since I’ve got a product key). She seems better now, and I’ve begun re-installing all those lovely programs I had before. I get to re-install more tonight. It doesn’t even bother me, as long as everything is virus-free.

Editing is going well for CL! I’m up to page 113 of 158, and I don’t think it sucks. It might not be brilliant, but I think I’ll be okay with handing it off to my three betas for whatever horrors they’d like to report back. I plan to get it to them at the end of the month. They’ll get it back to me when they do (hopefully no later than March 15, but I’m not putting time limits on them). I’ve begun compiling lists of publishers (do they take simultaneous submissions? do they list standard contract rates? do they give time lines?) and it gives me squirmies in my stomach. Thankfully once I send CL off, I’ll have to wait a minimum of 2-4 weeks (more likely a minimum of 4) before I hear anything. That’s a month of freedom. (Well, sorta freedom since I have stories waiting to be written, glaring at me from my flash drives.)

You don’t need to hear about my dishes.

Also, on one of my various other communications, you may have heard I’m having stomach troubles. It’s been going on for the last week and is a serious annoyance. I can eat, but some things set it off, but not every day. Monday I felt back to normal, but then halfway through Tuesday, my stomach did it’s rumbling and my throat clenched up and UHG, it was back. Again, this is just a minor inconvenience (and I think I had similar problems in high school). But I’m pretty certain it’s not contagious, so no worries.

Finally, I’m thinking of signing up for some writing classes at the local community college, if they offer them next semester. I think it’d be a good idea to get more consistent feedback and forced to write outside my comfort zone a bit. Or maybe see if there is a “writing circle” in the area (very much doubt it). I don’t want my skills to become stagnant! (ETA: When I got home there was information on the next semester and there is a “Creative Writing Sampler,” which is $99. My only fear is that it’s going to be too remedial, but how pompous is that?)

…and really finally, this time: Patric Michael, an M/M romance author, recently fought off cancer, a really rare lymphatic type. Wishing on a Blue Star was going to be a memorial book for him, but is now a celebration of him and his strength. You can find it for free at Dreamspinner Press. I’ve just started reading it and will post a review when I’m finished.

Noveling update

/ Alex Whitehall / 1 Comment

Update on my novel:

As you may recall, the end of February is supposed to mark the completion of my edits and the beginning of preparations to send it off for publication. While I am sticking to this, I am also warning that I’m permitting slight flexibility because of my recent computer problems. I still hope to finish by the end of February, but I’ll be giving myself a day or two flex because of January’s unforeseen events.

I’m currently on page 20 of 158. Some days get more editing done than others, and some days I’m tempted to trash the whole thing. It’s very frustrating at the moment. In addition, I’ll be rebuilding my desktop computer from the ground up, which is loads of fun. So looking forward to it.

Also, I’d love to have people who’d be willing to read through it and tell me (mostly plot wise) if things are good (or should I just give up [not that I’ll listen to that, necessarily]). Drop me a message if you’re interested. I won’t be upset if you start reading and don’t finish, especially if it’s that bad, or in revenge for me doing something similar to you (just tell me which).

Not What I Expected

/ Alex Whitehall / 2 Comments

Hello all.

Or just YOU.

You may have noticed I haven’t posted much of anything recently, either here or on my reviewing blog. The reason? My computer decided to start the new year with a bang. Thankfully not literally, but it’s doing its best.

Last Sunday I started getting an error message and some popups when browsing the web, so I did a virus scan (didn’t help) and then a boot up virus scan (which didn’t help and may have caused later problems). I downloaded another virus software and did a scan with that too (just to be sure). They all found plenty of viruses, but none deleted the one causing the problem. In addition, one of them (most likely the boot scan) resulted in me deleting a file that probably caused other problems with my system. Or it may be the virus, there is no way of knowing.

So my desktop is currently about as worthless as a brick at the moment, and my netbook is in repairs with my very (awesome) (bestest) computer friend, since it’s been long suffering of “I don’t feel like working.” Which leaves me on my 10-year old laptop who somehow can still connect to the internet and let me edit my novel (which I have to be done editing by end of February *gulp*).

Much of my free time has been spent rebooting my desktop computer, so the amount of reading I’ve done is minimal, and when I had free time, I was so stressed that I didn’t think it was safe to read something new and be pissed at it. I did read one story, which was wonderful and will get a review up, hopefully by the end of the week.

This was not exactly how I planned on spending the beginning of my year, but there is very little to be done about that.

On Reading

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A recent author inquired (I can’t find the post) if we (as readers) are annoyed when a writer (like she does) jumps around in sub-genre. Do we want an author who writes consistently or who writes whatever he/she wants? (Not that these can’t be one and the same.)

Personally, I like both and said as much, but I thought I’d explore that a little more in depth.

When I’m in the mood for a certain type of book, I rarely start a new one because I don’t know what that book will give me, in most cases. In some instances (such as with Andrew Grey), I can be fairly certain I know what I’m getting, especially if it’s his Farm series. But for the most part, I prefer to go into a book only knowing the barest of details and with minimal expectations.

This usually works. Assuming my expectations are always set at 3 (for acceptable writing, plot, characters), most books meet it, some go above it, a few go below it. My only real requirement is I’m a huge fan of happy ever after (HEA), or potential happy endings. (Life sucks enough, I don’t need to be heart broken after reading.) If a book is good enough (as judged via reviews on GoodReads), I’ll risk the non-HEA. (Side note, I recently got the two books in the Infected series by Andrea Speed. I’ve heard the ending is not so HEA, which worries me, but I’ve otherwise heard good things.)

So I start new books without needing anything from them except basic good book protocols. If I need something, I go to something I’ve already read, because I know the emotions it evokes (or the events that occur to satisfy that need). I don’t want the author to feel trapped in a writing style, and I think I’d become bored if I kept reading the same book over and over again in slightly different plots. And yet…

And yet I read every book of Grey’s Farm series and am chomping to read the next one. Why?

Aside from my insane need to buy books (I just picked up Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, first of the series [and I think what the show is based on] at Good Will for $.25), I’m attached to the characters we’ve been introduced to and look forward to hearing more about them. In addition, Grey is very good at giving exactly what he gave in the previous four books in a way that’s just different enough (for me, at least). Okay, when I read three of them in a row, it probably wasn’t a good idea (I get a little sour on things), but I still read and enjoyed them. It’s like eating chicken every Monday. Sounds boring, right? But it isn’t just plain chicken. It could be chicken parm, chicken in white sauce on shells, chicken sandwiches…you get the idea. That’s how Grey’s Farm series feels to me.

So why am I chomping at the bit to read the next of Grey’s books (Love Means … No Fear, fyi) and not just reading it?

Well, for one I want to finish the book I’m reading (The Lexicographer’s Dilemma, the review should be up by end of the week), two I shouldn’t be buying more books (I have over 20 that I already own that should be read), and three, even if I’m really in the mood for one of his books (aka, something with emotional struggle that has a HEA), I can’t really excuse buying his new one when I have four others that would work, plus a kindle full of other stories that match that description. But damn you, Grey, I still want to buy it.

Okay, so this wasn’t really about reading, it was about me resisting the temptation that is an author who produces cookie cutter books (I mean this in a good way, not a bad way). But to make it less off topic, what do you do? Do you like your favorite authors to surprise you? Or do you want what they write to be what they always write?

Better in 2011: AKA New Year’s Resolutions

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So, resolutions for the new year:

Body: Work on siting up straight. I’ve noticed my slouching has gotten worse and I think it’s exacerbating my tight back/neck muscle situations. Plus, it’s just generally a good thing to sit straight.

Mind: Read at least one “real” book for every 2-3 romance novels. Not only will this help my writing (by giving me variety and a fresh palate), but hey, I might actually learn things by reading nonfiction too!

Soul: Meditate once a week. My guess is that this will be the first to fail. I’m being flexible on length and all that sort of thing so I’m more likely to succeed. I just need to take some time to relax and breath and refocus my energies so I don’t get worn down like I did this summer.

Other things I’d like to do this year:
* Work more on being published.
* Get my tattoo. (It’s only been planned for the past 6 years.)
* Read more books I already own. (Stop laughing.)
* Get more fit. Really just need to get back into routine of working out after work.

Snow day!!

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Okay, not really a snow day because I had off anyway, but it’s the first real snow of the season and it’s pretty substantial. 4-6 inches at least (too much drifting to be positive).

To the right is my Christmas, as summed up in presents. As much as I love getting and giving presents, I really enjoy spending time with my family. This year was especially sweet <3.

I haven’t done any writing in five days, which saddens me. But I hope to do some today. Tomorrow I hope to go to the barn and give my riding instructor her present (which is mainly me cleaning her tack room of all the crap she doesn’t need). I was scheduled for today, but decided not to risk the roads if I didn’t have to, and I didn’t really have to.

So if everything goes as planned, my next update should be my new year’s resolutions.

For the Solstice – 2010

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Every winter’s solstice, the longest night of the year, I like to remember those who have brought light into my life this year. This list is not all inclusive–it is dependent on a faulty memory. If I’ve forgotten you, I’m sorry; it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate what you’ve brought into my life. If I were a different person, I’d probably tell this to your face and you’d know immediately for how grateful I am. But you all put up with me, so I’d imagine you know I wouldn’t.

Tuna and her Parrotfish – For making me part of something special. For making me feel special. You’ve brought me so much fun in my days and introduced me to so many new things. And Tuna, thank you for never losing faith in me.

B Sides – For being an awesome brother. We may not have gotten together as much as we both have liked this year, but you take the time to hang out with your dorky lil sister, and I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Gregg – For picking me. I never win random prizes, except this once, it seems!

Lanyon – For being a giving person who writes wonderful pieces of fiction.

Breaking (of B&E) – For working on my computer when it breaks. For being patient and trouble shooting and probably wanting to crack it in two and say “whoops”. BTW, it broke again.

Missy – For the amazing (an unnecessary) payment for riding your horse. And for being happy and funny and delightful to be around. Your heart is huge.

Meggs – For joining the barn and giving me another person to ride with, especially since my other one has been absent. For being a geek and funny and just as willing to talk as to listen. For trying to find a guy for me to hook up with.

For some reason I had more difficulty this year making my list. Normally, I start the list a week or so before, adding people as they come to me. This year, I forgot until a few days before, started the list…and it sat there. And sat there.

I’m wondering if there are a ton of people I’m not appreciating as much as I should. People who put up with me on a daily basis, people who help me, who expect nothing in return. I’m sure there are plenty of people I’ve missed; I tend to be rather oblivious to what people do and appropriate social protocol. Plus, Jan 1, 2010 is really far away.

I hope everyone has a happy solstice; may your winter be warm, your summer cool, and your smile true.

Going barefoot

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While reading one of my blogs, he posted this, which, as a person who loves to go barefoot. I found interesting. He also mentioned these shoes, which I’d love to try one day.

How to Live a Barefoot Life

The above philosophy is fine, and might appeal to some, but what you want is a practical guide, no?

I’m not going to give it to you. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, nor is it desirable to live the life prescribed by someone else. The whole point is to do it on your own, without buying one of my books or doing it exactly as I do.

Live this philosophy, in small bits, and see if you like it. It takes some time to adjust to this approach, but it’s lovely in the end.

Some things to consider and try, though:

Try walking barefoot (tips , faq ).
Get rid of a couple boxes of clutter today.
When you leave your house, take less with you than usual.
When you find yourself worried about the future or past, breathe, and focus on your breath going in and out.
When you find yourself wanting to buy something, pause. Then think of how you can live without buying it.
Take time to fully enjoy a few simple pleasures today: the slow savoring of a small portion of something delicious, watching nature, spending time with a loved one, walking.
Try some minimalist fun.
Think of the restrictions you impose on yourself, and see if you can lift a few of them.
Smile, and breathe.
Most of all, be present and enjoy life.

Whether you follow this or not is up to you. Just something to think about as we approach the new year.