Romance is Dead Society

Back in high school (way back), I won't say the date, but you can figure it out, I used to go to movies a lot with my friends.  In fact that was the number one thing to do, probably followed closely by hanging out at fast food restaurants, hanging out in the mall, cruising, and going dancing.  My friend, Cheri, and I went to see "Romancing the Stone."  It was life changing.  We loved it.  We wanted to be "THE Joan Wilder."  I still love that movie.  Then we saw "The Dead Poets Society" and that was life changing in a different way.  After that, we decided that we would become the "Romance is Dead Society."  I'm not sure if we had a motto or any official meetings, but a great number of our correspondence would include the "Romance is Dead Society."  It was more of a romantic ideal and we loved the idea of it, the hopeful irony of it.  Anyhow, I was thinking about it this week.  I'm not sure why.  I'm much less of a romantic than I used to be. I wonder if you can really, truly be a 'hopeful' romantic when you are a married housewife with two kids?  Sigh...

Thoughts on Aging, Writing, and Happiness

So sad today that Davy Jones died.  He was 66, so it's not that shocking, but now that I'm older I'm thinking, it's really not that old.  I didn't know Davy Jones personally, (but how cool would that have been if I did?)  so on the one hand I shouldn't be that sad about it.  However, like all things famous, most of us find a personal attachment to those things that we love.  There is a small ache in my heart that the world has lost this great singer and entertainer.  A small beloved piece of my childhood has died today.  I loved the beautiful and usually happy music of the Monkees and who could resist that smile and accent.  The Monkees and Davy Jones is something that truly made me happy as a child.  I can still hear my mom saying, "You are just crazy about those Monkees."

My girlfriend, Jodey, called today and told me that Davy Jones had died.  Going over the conversation in my mind, I seem to have not been very moved by it.  I don't know if that is just me or if everyone does this, but bad news never seems to sink in until I've thought about it later.  Is it the shock?  I don't know.  Maybe it's my way of protecting myself from bad news.  It just takes a long time to process.

This is just another thing that reminds me that I am getting older.  I also find time slipping away at an alarming rate.  I don't understand how time can pass so slowly when you are younger, but now I look back and it has all gone so fast.  Don't even ask me what high school reunion is coming up.   I don't even want to know.  I find that I dwell on things like what I will not have done before I die.  I will not have read all the books on my bookshelf or watched the videos/dvds/bluerays I have on the shelf.  I'm worried that I won't get any of my books published.  I worry that I will miss out on something my child does.  I wish I had one of those backward time things that Hermione got from Dumbledore.

I feel like I am wasting time on the internet/computer and should spend my time more productively.  I did however hear something encouraging today.  I was catching up on some talks by Bill Kenower of Author magazine.  He was doing an interview and he told a story about a college professor who was very disappointed with the quality of work that students were writing.  He thought that their writing was uninteresting. So he did an experiment and he found blogs for some of the students in his class.  He was surprised to find that those students who wrote such boring papers, actually wrote very interesting blogs.  They wrote well, when it was something that they were passionate about.   Bill went on to say something to the effect that even though it has been said that people don't read or write anymore, it is actually the contrary.  People are reading and writing a tremendous amount, but it is just they are mostly doing this on-line and not in the traditional way of books, papers and magazines.  This does make me feel slightly better about all the time I spend writing inane things on-line.

Another thing about getting older that makes me sad or at least is a slight downer is getting, taking, or (gasp) wanting advice from someone younger than me.  (I'm just thankful that I'm not working and I don't have to take orders from some young power hungry idiot.  That would annoy me.  I have heard stories about this.)  I don't know why this should bother me so much.  It's a weird thing.  It's as if I were in competition with someone (even if they are only a year or two younger).  As if I have arrived at this age before them, then somehow I should know all that they know.  Intellectually, I know this is crazy.  Different people have different experiences and it has made them wise in different ways.  I am wise in some ways (at least I hope so) and other things I'm still learning and other things will never become an issue.  I still can't help feeling like I should know as much as someone else that has lived just as long.  It's crazy.  I am reminded of a bit by Gordon Pinsent.  This is brilliant.

It puts it all back into perspective...

Revision #5

My new plan is to work on revising the book for the 5th time and then put it out there.  I thought I was pretty much done after revision 4, but then I started thinking about how some scenes might work better and I really want to put those in before I send it out.  But I swear this is the last time...  I mean it...   We'll see...

Disappointment Reigns

So I found out yesterday that I didn't make the pitch cut of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.  I'm disappointed, but now I can take my book and try some other things with it. There were a couple of scenes that I wanted to edit, but other than that I think that I will start looking for a publisher.  We'll see

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

So Sunday night I submitted the first Shredded Orphans book to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award for 2012.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll at least make the first pitch cut.  I know I don't have a chance of winning since I'm writing sci-fi instead of literary fiction, but it was a great goal to get the book ready to where I felt comfortable showing other people.  Well, I'll know by the end of February how it goes.  Here's hoping!

In case you are interested here is the pitch I used for my book.

            Come Space Tripping With the Shredded Orphans.  The Verity Aquinas crash lands on the way to a concert.  Lix and the rest of the Shredded Orphans band must find their way back to civilization.  The band is desperate to make it to the concert on time. 

            Lix and the rest of the band have landed in the desert and there is no sign of life.  Their communications equipment isn’t working.  They don’t have a clue which way to go, but that doesn’t stop the adventurous group. 

            Lix and the other members of the Shredded Orphans are slaves to their jobs - literally.  The galaxy is run by the corporate class and at its head is the Galactic Media Corporation.  The band’s manager won’t give two credits to save Lix’s pink Mohawked head if the band doesn’t rate enough image points.

Driven by the thought of what might happen if they fail, the Shredded Orphans set out on their trip across the desert.  Lix worries that the band is falling apart and music isn’t the only thing at stake.  By night, the band plays concerts.  By day, Lix is on a secret mission to save the universe, one slave at a time.  Is the risk getting too high for the group to handle?

Travel with the Shredded Orphans as they encounter ex-advertising slaves, unknown fauna and over-exposure to the sun on this “road” trip of galactic proportions.  It’s like Firefly and Farscape with a recording contract.  Space Tripping with the Shredded Orphans is a hilarious adventure filled with music, mayhem and managers.

First ever video

I just made my first ever web cam video.  It was a tribute Thank You to Chris Baty of NaNoWriMo.  He is just the most awesome guy ever!  I really can't thank him enough for creating NaNoWriMo, which has now seen me through my 4th novel rough draft.  If only editing were as much fun.  To see my video (blush) click here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTjs0Xz_uWY&feature=watch_response

Foray into the short story

So I started writing some short stories.  I have written four rough drafts for novels now, but haven't written any short stories for many years and nothing very structured.  I recently wrote this short story for Author Stand and last year I wrote another short story for PNWA and the really short story was so limiting that I had to make every word count.  I was cutting out words to make the story fit.  It was very frustrating.  I won't post last year's story, but the one I did for Author Stand I thought came out okay.  If you register with Author Stand you can download it for free here:   http://shop.authorstand.com/Products/5573-it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night.aspx      I couldn't think of anything to write at first, so I wrote it about a writer with writer's block.  Do all writer's do this at some point?