Archive for July, 2009

Quarter Of The Way There!

Posted July 31, 2009 under Writing | Tagged: | 3 Comments

A couple of days ago, my beta, JK issued me a challenge. That challenge? Reach the 20 000 word mark by the end of the month. And do you know what? Even with a few bumps in the road1 I have managed to do that with just over four hours to spare.

What makes this even more exciting is that I only reached the 10k mark on the 15th of this month – that means I wrote 10k – doubled my total – in half a month. If I keep this speed up2 that means I can write 20 000 words of a draft a month. And that can result in one 80 000 word novel in four months.

And that means my goal is completing the first draft of Lionheart before NaNo – where I plan to write as much of The Circled Green3 as possible – is a very distinct possibility indeed. Let’s hope that is the case after all, so JK can have plenty of stuff to beta. :P

In the meantime: 20 000 words! Yippee!

  1. Like the day that my computer was busted, and I had to spend the day writing by hand… and then typing it up, or the fact I’d forgotten quiz night [↩]
  2. And it does not seem like it is impossible, as I have discovered that I can write more than 1000 words a day if I focus [↩]
  3. My Victorian Era faerie story [↩]

The Only Colour That Matters

Posted July 25, 2009 under Humour | Tagged: | 9 Comments

The right-inset image was brought to my attention via the Allison and Busby blog. It’s a t-shirt from CafePress with the phrase “vampires prefer brunettes”1 – a reference to the line said by Edward in Twilight2

And it made me think, on characters, author appeal and funny.

Now, while one of my vampires (the adorkable perfumer-slash-assassin Daniel) does have a preference for brunettes, it’s more a case of a particular brunette. It’s made very clear that Charlie’s weakness is redheads, while Lauren’s current partners have leaned more towards brown/black. Rivka’s longterm3 lover (the one she turned) is a blond.

As for Jared and Athanasios… they’re like Captain Jack Harkness. Anything with a zip code.

But really, in the end the only colour that really matters is red… because when it comes to vampires, it’s what’s inside that counts.

  1. One of many variations on the theme, actually [↩]
  2. Correct me if I’m wrong – I’ve only read the first three once, and it was over a year and a half ago, closing in on two. [↩]
  3. Think centuries [↩]

This Is Why Context Matters

Posted July 23, 2009 under Humour, Writing | Tagged: | 7 Comments

While watching my Twitter feed go by, I noticed that Robbie was posting tiny snippets from the work he was currently reading. Since I was on a big Lionheart kick at the time, and we had been discussing Doctor Who and concepts like the TARDIS being bigger on the inside, I decided to post a tiny snippet of my LH draft.

Unfortunately, Twitter has a limit of only 140 characters. So when I cut down the fragment I wanted to post, it ended up having an… alternate interpretation.

“Unless it’s bigger on the inside?”

“”That it is,” he said, sliding his hand inside so far it went up to his shoulder.

As you can imagine, removing the context took it into what could be interpreted as Rule 34 territory.

Here is what the scene actually looks like, when it has context – as allowed by being able to have more than 140 characters.

“Nah, no problem,” Will replied. “You’re able to carry all your baggage?”

Leander reached under the table to pull out a shoulder bag. It was a smooth, black leather, with several pockets on either side and a long strap to carry it with. “This is all I have.”

Will scoffed at the sight. “No way you have all your stuff in that. Unless,” here his eyes narrowed, “it’s bigger on the inside?”

Leander flipped open the flap that covered the main compartment. “That it is,” he said, sliding his hand inside so far it went up to his shoulder. It was impossible for it to fit in the bag without some magic cast upon it.

And this is why context matters. Because without it, even I have naughty-tinted glasses.