Yeah, I think I'll try it again. I had a bit of success last year--not like D.B. who had a third of HM when the month was over--so I'll try it again. Since I'm in the first flush of the Vesta story--as opposed to the final flush when that's all you really want to do with the book--I'll see if I can get some significant pages under my belt. Can't hurt. It may also keep me from picking up MMG too soon. I'm hearing it whisper to me, but I have to wait until it's shouting directly into my ear and smacking me upside the head before I do the revisions. A month should be good.
I know a couple other Pirates are planning to attack NaNo. Is anyone else officially signed up on the website?
Bret, there's a section for Young Writers and information for teachers. Something you might think about. Because, you know, you've probably got fifteen minutes that you're not already using for anything but sleep.
Think I'd better go do some warm-ups.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
The New TV Season - Part Two - Great to Okay
Since my favorite of the new crop of shows is on tonight, I thought I'd finish my reviews. Again, this is not a comprehensive list of all the new shows. I usually skip sitcoms, and I don't get any of the premium channels.
Pushing Daisies is one of the supernatural-type shows that works for me--very well. Lee Pace plays Ned, who can bring the dead back with one touch. If he touches the person, or animal or plant, a second time it is dead forever. And if he leaves the touchee alive for more than a minute, something or someone else dies in its place. Ned revives his childhood sweetheart and leaves her alive. Now he can't touch her, but their romance is growing. There are a lot of heavy-hitting actors, many from Broadway, here. The show is color saturated, in every way. Jim Dale provides the narration. I love it, but it doesn't seem to be getting the numbers it may need to survive.
Chuck is just plain fun. A computer geek accidentally downloads all of the country's encrypted secrets into his brain when he opens an email from a former friend. Now he has a beautiful CIA agent and a big, scary NSA agent following him around. The NSA agent is played by Adam Baldwin--Jayne to fans of Firefly. I'd watch it just for him. A great lead-in to Heroes.
Moonlight. Sorry, Whit, but I'm enjoying the vampire show. And I like some of the messing with the usual vampire mythos. Garlic? Tastes great on pizza. Holy water? Makes you wet. And let's face it, Alex O'Loughlin as Mick St. John is hot. David Boreanaz never really did anything for me. But this guy? Oh, yeah. If you've got nothing else to do on a Friday night, why not?
Women's Murder Club is based on a series by James Patterson--which I haven't read, but may check out now. Three 30-something friends--a homicide detective, an assistant DA and a coroner--solve crime and deal with life in San Francisco. They are joined in their 'club' by a young investigative reporter. The nice thing about these 4 urban professional women who are each juggling work and a personal life with varying degrees of success is that not once did they find it necessary to discuss shoes. At least in the pilot.
So that's it for the winners. Sorry, Viva Laughlin. Had you stuck with people singing along with the radio (or just let Hugh Jackman break into song whenever he hits the casino), it might have worked for me. But Melanie Griffith doesn't have the pipes, and the Blondie song came out of nowhere. Oh well.
As with any review, your mileage may vary.
Pushing Daisies is one of the supernatural-type shows that works for me--very well. Lee Pace plays Ned, who can bring the dead back with one touch. If he touches the person, or animal or plant, a second time it is dead forever. And if he leaves the touchee alive for more than a minute, something or someone else dies in its place. Ned revives his childhood sweetheart and leaves her alive. Now he can't touch her, but their romance is growing. There are a lot of heavy-hitting actors, many from Broadway, here. The show is color saturated, in every way. Jim Dale provides the narration. I love it, but it doesn't seem to be getting the numbers it may need to survive.
Chuck is just plain fun. A computer geek accidentally downloads all of the country's encrypted secrets into his brain when he opens an email from a former friend. Now he has a beautiful CIA agent and a big, scary NSA agent following him around. The NSA agent is played by Adam Baldwin--Jayne to fans of Firefly. I'd watch it just for him. A great lead-in to Heroes.
Moonlight. Sorry, Whit, but I'm enjoying the vampire show. And I like some of the messing with the usual vampire mythos. Garlic? Tastes great on pizza. Holy water? Makes you wet. And let's face it, Alex O'Loughlin as Mick St. John is hot. David Boreanaz never really did anything for me. But this guy? Oh, yeah. If you've got nothing else to do on a Friday night, why not?
Women's Murder Club is based on a series by James Patterson--which I haven't read, but may check out now. Three 30-something friends--a homicide detective, an assistant DA and a coroner--solve crime and deal with life in San Francisco. They are joined in their 'club' by a young investigative reporter. The nice thing about these 4 urban professional women who are each juggling work and a personal life with varying degrees of success is that not once did they find it necessary to discuss shoes. At least in the pilot.
So that's it for the winners. Sorry, Viva Laughlin. Had you stuck with people singing along with the radio (or just let Hugh Jackman break into song whenever he hits the casino), it might have worked for me. But Melanie Griffith doesn't have the pipes, and the Blondie song came out of nowhere. Oh well.
As with any review, your mileage may vary.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Marathons
We interrupt our review of the new television season by Jenny-decree. Although, I don't remember hearing said decree, but I may have been busy with pizza.
The writing marathon was a very good time. I wrote an okay start to the Vesta novel during three of the five writing periods, which was sort of against the rules. Of course, so was walking around in a clump of 8. Excuse me, two groups of 4 together. But it was what I think I needed to get a jumpstart on writing again. Lots of good ideas percolating. Gotta love that.
And you have love the way the group just feeds off itself. I realize that sounds like a bad thing, but we do tend to inspire and challenge and build on what the others are doing. So it's a good thing. Sometimes it's direct like Jenny and Ali swapping notebooks at the Gold Dust. Usually, it's more taking inspiration from a comment or situation and building on it.
I guess I've procrastinated long enough. Here's what I wrote at the library based on the Huck Finn reading. No edits--
The bloated body floated face up in the stagnant pond. Benjamin thought that dead bodies would do the dead man's float. The belly of the man--Benjamin assumed the thing in front of him had been male because of the shortness of the hair--was as white as an old tree toad.
Ben picked up a stick and prodded the arm, but got little satisfaction from that. He leaned a little farther across the algae-covered water at the edge of the mossy bank. He poked at the belly and the corpse jiggled a bit. He thrust forward a little harder. The corpse heaved over, surprising the boy. His arms pinwheeled, but he fell forward face first into the fetid water and came up still flailing and sputtering. The body bumped into him and he shoved. But instead of propelling the object away, his hand sank into the soft flesh.
Did I mention that I went to my dark place? Or that two of us came up with little boys named Benjamin as characters? Just happens sometimes.
The writing marathon was a very good time. I wrote an okay start to the Vesta novel during three of the five writing periods, which was sort of against the rules. Of course, so was walking around in a clump of 8. Excuse me, two groups of 4 together. But it was what I think I needed to get a jumpstart on writing again. Lots of good ideas percolating. Gotta love that.
And you have love the way the group just feeds off itself. I realize that sounds like a bad thing, but we do tend to inspire and challenge and build on what the others are doing. So it's a good thing. Sometimes it's direct like Jenny and Ali swapping notebooks at the Gold Dust. Usually, it's more taking inspiration from a comment or situation and building on it.
I guess I've procrastinated long enough. Here's what I wrote at the library based on the Huck Finn reading. No edits--
The bloated body floated face up in the stagnant pond. Benjamin thought that dead bodies would do the dead man's float. The belly of the man--Benjamin assumed the thing in front of him had been male because of the shortness of the hair--was as white as an old tree toad.
Ben picked up a stick and prodded the arm, but got little satisfaction from that. He leaned a little farther across the algae-covered water at the edge of the mossy bank. He poked at the belly and the corpse jiggled a bit. He thrust forward a little harder. The corpse heaved over, surprising the boy. His arms pinwheeled, but he fell forward face first into the fetid water and came up still flailing and sputtering. The body bumped into him and he shoved. But instead of propelling the object away, his hand sank into the soft flesh.
Did I mention that I went to my dark place? Or that two of us came up with little boys named Benjamin as characters? Just happens sometimes.
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