I haven’t been online much for the past few days

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Busy with crap I can’t/won’t talk about. I’m about 3,000 words into The Buried King and I feel like I’m spinning my wheels–and I’ll be damned if just typing that didn’t give me the idea I needed to revamp the opening of the book.

That means I’ll be restarting this thing for the fourth time, but what the hell. Whatever it takes, right?

It doesn’t help that my brain has been consumed by all sorts of personal shit. How do we change our lives for the better? What’s the next step? Do we move? To another city? Dump a bunch of our crap? Buy a car so we have more mobility?

I don’t know. There’s a lot of uncertainty in front of us. Hell, we’re taking a trip in September, but we can’t even decide where to go. What makes things worse is that I can’t even work out the plot of my WIP on long walks; my thought are consumed with problems big and small, especially the petty annoyances.

More later.

Randomness for 5/18

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1) Producer Linda Obst on Why movies suck so much right now. Don’t miss the comics fanboy outrage in the comments.

2) 2010 Best illusion of the year. For best effect, watch the video before reading the article.

3) Robbing from the poor (writer)–how NOTTINGHAM, a script that featured the Sheriff of Nottingham using CSI techniques to track a wanted terrorist and which was the hottest script at auction in Hollywood for a while, became the completely tedious ROBIN HOOD. Aka why modern movies suck part 2

4) You know how neat-freaks have germ pron? This is vertigo pron. Gah! Heights!

5) Why I don’t get Archie comics for my son anymore.

6) via madrobins: A real-life Miss Marple for the internet age. International access to chat sites, fake online identities and suicide pacts. Jesus, this would make a great book (and I’m sure someone is already writing it).

7) Inappropriate Golden Books.

Again, this is brilliant

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Facebook users, this is embedded video. Click through to the blog entry to watch it.

Sorry Gary.

That dream I had last night?

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Not a dream. I thought I dreamed that muscle cramps in my leg woke me screaming in the middle of the night. Apparently, either my wife had a similar dream (in which she woke up terrified and worked on my leg until it was better) or it really did happen.

Shit. Drinking water now. Will have a banana soon. Have already apologized to her.

Weird.

Not online much

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I’m just dropping a quick note before going back to today’s pages.

Reminder for Seattle-area folks! The low-budget horror movie I wrote, THE DEAD FEED, about a group of friends who receive video feeds showing one of their number being murdered before it happens, will have its world premiere this Thursday night 5/20, 7pm, at NW Film Forum.

I’ll be there with camera in hand so I’ll have photos of the event. Maybe video, too. If you can be there, be sure to say hello.

Today

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It’s gorgeous outside. Sunny, warm and inviting in the way that only Seattle can be. So of course I’m stuck inside trying to finish today’s pages.

With luck, I’ll finish a little early and have time for a walk and some reading. Then it’s a trip to the library and lunch in Fremont with an old friend I don’t see often enough. Later this afternoon I’m sure I’ll be playing a little Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich.

But only if I finish these pages. Logging off.

ETA: Done!

Hey, Americans

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If you support our constitution, respond to the census. It’s necessary

Whoa.

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One of the items up for auction on the Do the Write Thing for Nashvilled flood benefits is a lunch with Miss Snark!

I know! Bid here.

So far, the auction has raised over $53,000 dollars to benefit flood victims in Nashville. And I still haven’t heard back about the books I offered.

This is not a post about fanfiction

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On my LiveJournal friends list, which is where I do most of my internet reading, yet another fanfic (definition) discussion has exploded. No link, because it’s just like all the others: a pro writer said the usual dismissive things about fanfic. People who’d never even heard of this writer before swoop in to berate her/patiently explain she’s wrong/inform her they’ll never buy her work/tell her they’re laughing at her/etc to the tune of 300 comments.

Jesus, it’s like that old joke about the community where everyone’s known each other so long that they don’t even bother telling the same jokes anymore. They gave each joke a number and shout those instead.

Pro: Fanfic 6! Also 4 and 2!
Fanficcers: 12! 22! 19!

Anyway, I would like to offer a little expertise (not my own, ‘natch) on conducting an argument of any kind. Dale Carnegie, take it away!

The Buried King

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Finally started chapter one of the new WIP today. Here’s the rough draft first paragraph:

As the sun rose over the ocean, the chirps keened in their aerie. Joad lay on his cotton mat, staring at the timbers overhead. He could never sleep through that sound, faint as it was. To him, it always seemed that the lords of the city were mourning the start of every new day.

I made my goal, too. I’ll probably end up deleting it all, but it’s an auspicious start.