Crazy Land

Now seems like a really great time to let you guys know what's going on. So here we go!

The movers are coming this Saturday to pack all our stuff on a truck, to put it on a boat, to send it to Puerto Rico. See how many prepositions I got in one sentence? That's mad skillz right there.

This boat will be crawling at a snails pace, as we're assured our stuff will be there in four to six weeks. Yeah, ouch. My husband is already in Puerto Rico; today was his first day at work. He arrived last week and managed to secure a Jeep and a house in that span of time. Yeah, we've been busy.

Meanwhile, everything in the house that isn't my computer or the toddler is packed. Although the toddler has tried to pack himself repeatedly, I told him we can't afford the postage to mail him to daddy. When I called the movers last Friday they told me they would be here between Wednesday and Friday of this week (EEEP), so I assumed worst case scenario, and packed ALL THE THINGS. Of course, now they're coming Saturday, but hey. At least we're ready.

Now, the husband has the house we're renting, and an air mattress, and some EasyMac, but since it's going to take so long for the rest of our stuff to get to Puerto Rico, Connor and I will be staying with my in-laws on this side of the ocean for a little while. We're not sure how long exactly, since a) we have more cookware in the house than previously thought and b) he  came back from being in Oklahoma for six weeks only to leave for Puerto Rico four days later, so we MISS each other (I know, ewwww mushy stuff!), but the fact remains it would be better to give our stuff a head start, so to speak. 

ALSO I have stuff to accomplish over here. Stuff like physically going to the water and power companies to close our accounts, the walk through for the house we were renting, and spending time with friends and family. I KNOW! *sniff* Don't get me started. I'm really, really excited to live in Puerto Rico, and my husband has already told me how beautiful it is, but I'm still going to miss my friends and family. I haven't made a long distance move in 15 years, so I'm a little set in my ways. 

In my free time (I know, I slay myself...free time *snickers*) I've been doing some brainstorming, but I'm flitting between three different projects. I'm done with my second draft of Zombie Road Trip, but every time I go to start another novel, I feel pressured to pick the right one (which is utter b.s.) and also the voice tells me I don't actually have time to write a novel right now. Which is closer to the truth, but I can still dream, right? Right.  

We'll see what's taken hold when I can actually sit down to write something. Considering I'll be staying with my in-laws before Connor and I fly out to Puerto Rico (and let me tell you, I am so looking forward to getting the toddler on a plane again...) I don't know what my schedule is going to be like. I'll have access to my computer, but I doubt I'll have a lot of time to myself. 

Come on Mom, what's the worst that could happen? I promise I won't scream all during take off and landing again.

I plan to NaNo this year, so there's that. I was doing the dance of joy when I realized for ONCE I wouldn't be moving during November, but my joy is somewhat quashed by the realization that our stuff will probably arrive around the end of October. *facepalm*

So that's the story, morning glories. I'll be on a plane for Puerto Rico probably around the first week of October, and after that it's time to NaNo. I'll be blogging in between, but I'm not sure what the Internet situation is going to be like at my in-laws (they have it, but I need to make sure I can mooch off their wireless).

What do you guys having going on? How's the writing? The living?

TED talks: Elizabeth Gilbert on Creative Genius

Hi! Still alive! I've got an update post coming, but in the meantime Rena shared this wonderful talk with me, and I in turn need to share it with you lovely people.

You might have already seen it, since it's four years old, but that doesn't make it less awesome. Watch it now and feel empowered and inspired! 

 

Recommended Reading

By popular request (and by popular, I mean Rena asked), here is a post about all the books I've read recently, and think you should too. Peer pressure! Peer pressure! Peer pressure!

In absolutely no particular order (seriously don't read into this (ha! get it? Read into this? I cracked myself up)):

The Mindspace Investigation series by Alex Hughes. This is a light science fiction series that starts in the near future. It reminds me of X-men in all the most awesome of ways.

Wicked As They Come and Wicked As She Wants by Delilah S. Dawson. Steampunk alternate world romance with an excellent eye for worldbuilding and believable characters. Yes please!

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff. Gorgeous prose, haunting eerie story with fresh ideas. I love this book and I plan on checking out Yovanoff's other work.

Geekomany by Michael R. Underwood. Hilarious and fun urban fantasy with more geek references than you can shake a stick at.

The Deacon Chalk Series by James R. Tuck. Gritty urban fantasy with old school magic and vampires. Finally some dark urban fantasy that's actually dark.

Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig. Brutal beautiful prose about a girl who can see how you die by touching you. 

Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman. Split worlds between Earth, Faeryland, and an inbetween place where society resembles Victorian London with it's rigid caste system. There's a gargoyle with a soul, and capricious fey, and feuding families. 

Bloodshot by Cherie Priest. Vampires become awesome again as spies and victims of government experiements. 

Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire. Cryptozoologists fight to study and protect creatures we don't acknowledge as real. Midnight Blue Light Special is the next in the series, and why this is on my recently read list, but if you haven't read anything, you should start with the first in the series. :D 

Also by Seanan McGuire is this bit of brilliance: a serial. It's called Indexing, about people who work for a secret government agency protecting the world from...faery tales. Every two weeks your Kindle is updated with a new installment of the story, but McGuire does a good job of wrapping up each episode so you don't feel ripped off.

These last few aren't recent, but since we're listing books I enjoyed, here you go:

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. No words can describe this book. It broke me apart inside, and then made me whole.

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. Man who gets badly burned is nursed to health by a nurse who claims they were lovers in ancient Germany. Fantastic storytelling.

Shelter by Susan Palwick. Science fiction in the near future, about two women's lives clashing.


Feel free to add your own recommendations in the comments section. 

P.S. For some reason while gathering all these links, I had the urge to Rick-roll you guys. Put Wally Lamb's link with Chuck Wendig's for example. But I resisted, because I'd like for you to actually read some of these books if they catch your interest. You're welcome. 

The House That Structure Built

Update: editing hasn't kill me. Yet. 

Neither has packing, although there was that time with the boxes of books that almost ended poorly.

Honestly, these update posts make me self conscious because I know I'm editing at the speed of a glacier. Most of my writer friends have started and finished their edits. Writers all over the blogosphere announce how happy they are to be done editing.

And still, I am revising. I'm not even done with the macro stuff yet. 

I worry there's something wrong with me. That maybe I just suck, and can't edit my way out of a paper bag, and that's just it for me. But then I kick some sense into myself, and realize it's not really me, it's the book at this point. Because sweet magnolia cupcakes, this book has a lot of things wrong with it. My rough drafts are messy to begin with, but this baby was written in ten months, starting when my son was five months old and I was carving out fifteen minutes during nap time to write a few sentences. I suppose it's no wonder there's some serious issues such as structure, tone, and voice, all the way down to the minor stuff like how I fell in love with the word "just". 

Or how I need to replot the entire thing. And kill some characters. And fix the plot holes. You know, the basics.

It's been very discouraging, because I feel like I'm taking too long. That I should be done now. It doesn't matter I only have about two hours a day, less lately since the son has decided to wake up between the hour and hour and a half mark from his nap. I've taken to staying up late a few nights to get some more time in. That lasts for a few days, and then I crash.

Lately, the moving thing, the whole let's go through our entire house worth of stuff and get rid of 50% of it so we can afford to move to Puerto Rico has cut into the writing time as well. My husband reports to work the first week of September, and now that our original plans of him staying in a friend's place for a month have changed, he has to get a place to stay a week after getting there (and staying in a hotel in the meantime). We're shipping our stuff over there a month earlier than expected.

So yeah, there's other stuff going on. But I still need to make time for writing, I still need to keep progressing even when that evil voice tells me I should just start all the way over. Again.

Because, here's the thing folks. Revision doesn't just teach you how to fix THIS book. I mean, yes, that's what you're doing when you revise. You're making the words not suck. But ideally, while you're revising, you're getting better at writing, so when the time comes to start a new rough draft, you're not making the same mistakes over and over again.

To do that, and to revise properly, you have to figure out what you did wrong the first time, and how to fix that. 

As easy as it sounds, it can be very hard. Very mentally taxing. I find drafting emotionally draining (or rejuvenating, depending on the scene in question), but revision is mentally taxing. You're picturing the book in it's entirety and thinking about what happens if you shift this scene forward. Or you're just focusing on one scene, and reading through each line for the moment where the pacing slacks off. Either way, it makes my already tired brain tired. 

So that's where I'm at, folks. I'm still editing, still toiling away. I'm making a lot of progress, don't get me wrong. I can see how each day of editing is moving me forward, and as soon as I figure out the new plot order, I can start the scene by scene stuff. But it still feels like it's taking forever and I should be done by now and I'm doomed and omg I'm just going to eat some chocolate and hide from the world. 

Then I remind myself it's taken other authors years to finish their edits, if we're going to play the compare yourself to others game, and then I don't feel so bad. 

So, sound off people. Where are you at in your writing? What do you do when it feels like it's taking too long?

Witty Title Goes Here

I have many post ideas. I was going to write a post about moving to San Juan and all the cool things I found out about Puerto Rico. I had another one about my progress on editing (slow, but steady), and still another about all the really cool books I've read lately.

In between packing, editing, shopping, cleaning, and vegging on the couch in exhaustion I've half drafted these posts in my head. Then it was time for bed, or cooking, or something else and it slipped my mind until almost a whole month passed by! Where does the time go? If you find it, let me know. I need some more.

Rest assured, those posts are coming, but in the meantime I hope you all are enjoying your summer and getting LOTS of writing done! :D

Moving to San Juan

I wanted to wait until we were sure and things settled down to post this.

We are sure, and things are as calm as they are going to be.

We're moving to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

My husband works for the government, and through a long series of things that I don't want to go into on such a public forum because of Big Brother, he's going to San Juan, Puerto Rico to finish his training.

So yeah, that happened. It's partially the reason why I've been so quiet recently. I'm trying to sort through clothes, books, and other random stuff I desperately needed to pack with us the last time we moved, but haven't used since.

I am making excellent progress, but I know it's going to come up on me suddenly. We're here until November of this year, so I'm in between having plenty of time for packing, and having no time at all.

I'll post more about the specific details later, but for now I just wanted to keep everyone in the loop.

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Or rather, me?

I have been busy doing stuff. Lots of stuff. I went to Deliah Dawson's release party and then Alex Hughes's release party. I had tons of fun. It was really nice to get out and talk to other readers and writers. 

Being in front of your computer is important as a writer. It is. Most of the time it's just you and the words. But sometimes you need to get out into the world and interact with your fellow human beings. Sometimes you need to listen to music loudly and drive long distances, and bring a friend along to a party celebrating a book. What a wonderful idea for a party! I say we have parties for books more frequently than when they're just released, but that's me. 

Getting out and talking about books and movies and TV and songs and the weather and food was good for my psyche. It's me and my 15 month old most of the time, so having real conversations in the flesh with people is wonderful. I didn't have to tell anyone to not eat dirt or climb on the table, which is always a bonus.

When I wasn't at a release party eating cupcakes, I've been home, editing. I've been editing ZOMBIE ROAD TRIP for a while now, and it's taking longer than I thought. It always takes longer to go through the book for all the messed up stuff than I think it will, though, so we're right on track.

I also had a fantastic Mother's Day. I got a pedicure with my mom, and we ate Chinese food for lunch. Which is a trip to the bookstore short of perfect (don't worry, I just bought some books on Amazon to make up for it ;) ).

Life isn't going to slow down any time soon, so I'm about to go into "carve out time to blog" mode, since I'm neglecting the blog again, and time isn't going to appear any time soon. 

So what have you all been up to? Do you like the new blog design? I've been working on admin stuff for the blog in my spare time (hence no new posts) and I think you guys are going to like it. :D