The Dastardly Dungeon of Deliciously Devious Drinks

tiddlywinks · Jun 20, 2017

*nearly gets stabbed by fork in smibble pile*

Sheesh! I haven't had a Polonius ramble in like twenty-four hours.

(I'm saving it for my magazine interview tomorrow - work related. *sigh* But still very cool. I'm trying not to think about how dorky I'm going to sound.)

*goes off to almost-kill more characters instead*

Jade Rothwell · Jun 20, 2017

dmed a game today

so no traditional writing, but a lot of creating

Cobalt Jade · Jun 20, 2017

I've been a really bad (or perhaps really excellent?) procrastinator over the past four months. Today I brought an end to it, I submitted a short story I think I did a really good job on to an SFWA market. Formatting the story in the accepted way is nerve wracking for me. I always get nervous, like I feel the least little mistake I make will strike me out of the running. And I really want to join the SFWA, for personal reasons. The bad part there's a three month turnaround.

Now I have to edit an older story for another market, one for a shapeshifter erotica anthology. My story doesn't have a happy ending... the shapeshifter eats his love interest... but the editor didn't say anything about a HEA or a HFN being mandatory.

Aggy B. · Jun 21, 2017

Cobalt Jade said:
Now I have to edit an older story for another market, one for a shapeshifter erotica anthology. My story doesn't have a happy ending... the shapeshifter eats his love interest... but the editor didn't say anything about a HEA or a HFN being mandatory.

I have a steampunk story with shifters in it where the protag eats part of another shifter's arm after she first gets turned. I had to email the editor (back when I wrote it for an invitational anthology) and ask if that would be okay.

Morning, Cantina. Doing stuff today. Drinking tea right now.

Aggy, tired and anxious

greendragon · Jun 21, 2017

Last night my talk at the Big Flats Women's Club went really well. There were about 30 people attending, and I seemed to rock it

Hopefully this will results in some new local fans! The organizer had bought a copy of my book from the ARTS Council and was about a third through it...

Yzjdriel · Jun 21, 2017

Apparently the daughter of one of my coworkers has recently found employment in a cupcake store.

He bought $320 worth of cupcakes and brought them in for us. XD

_Sian_ · Jun 21, 2017

Hi all

The tax man was mean to me today, but as I've not earned nearly enough to be properly taxed, I'll earn it all back at the end of the month, so I'm treating it as and extra savings account.

Also, I have done literally no writing, but have finally found a non-fanfic book I can get into *does the yay dance*

I hope everyone is well, and hugs to those who need them, yays to those who need them

_Sian_ · Jun 21, 2017

greendragon;10188772[COLOR=#333333 said:
Richard Armitage is lovely Have you seen him as Guy of Gisbourne?

[/COLOR]

Him and Benedict Cumberbatch make up my British man candy list. And perhaps Tom Hiddleston. And they all have the most amazing voices as well.

JJ Litke said:
God, I suck at writing romance. I'll read someone else's and think, wow, that's good. Then I try it and it's all, ugh, so much corny syrup, bleah, my teeth hurt.

I honestly think romance is one of the hardest things to write. Kudos to anyone who does it successfully

Damoclian said:
Okay, Cantina: The time has come to talk about plots and plans and nefarious schemes, cabbages and kings. I need tha people who outline to tell me how they outline in exhaustive detail when convenience strikes, because I need to learn, and if not through others' experiences, is goin' to take a while! Help me Obi Wan Cantinobi, you're my only hope.

Everyone here plots far more than I do, but here's the two methods I combine:

MICE quotient: (description and examples here and here)

I also rely a lot on the plot mechanics listed in "Anatomy of a Screenplay" by Dan Decker.

They're both abut fulfilling promises. The MICE quotient in this idea that you have to start and finish things in a particular order: Ie, start with a muder, end with solving it, ect. So if I figure out the first half of the story I just mirror it to get the second hand.

Dan Decker's plotting comes via chapter relationships. He defines the first act as the setting up phase. the entry into the second act happens when the protagonist, antagonist, primary relationship character and goal are all present on the screen/on the page. The second act ends and the third act begins when you start resolving the character relationships - the relationship between the protagonist and antagonist, the relationship between the protagonist and the goal, and the relationship between the protagonist and the relationship character.

I love this way of doing it because it's all very character driven structure, and as such makes a lot of sense to me.

greendragon · Jun 21, 2017

_Sian_ said:
Him and Benedict Cumberbatch make up my British man candy list. And perhaps Tom Hiddleston. And they all have the most amazing voices as well.

We share tastes in men

I have others to add, though... David Tennant, Tom Ellis, Gerard Butler, Sean Bean, Aidan Turner, Jamie Bamber, Ioan Gruffudd, Piers Brosnan, Jason Isaacs, Liam Neeson, Sam Heughan... I could go on...

E.F.B. · Jun 21, 2017

tiddlywinks said:
Never fear! I'm perfectly fine. And I even rewrote a scene in my novella and was super duper evil to my characters. Someone almost got eaten.

Yzjdriel said:
Apparently the daughter of one of my coworkers has recently found employment in a cupcake store.

He bought $320 worth of cupcakes and brought them in for us. XD

#jealous

_Sian_ said:
Him and Benedict Cumberbatch make up my British man candy list. And perhaps Tom Hiddleston. And they all have the most amazing voices as well.

QFT.

Morning, Cantina. For some reason, the builders aren't here yet, but they got the frame for the back deck up yesterday and said it should get finished today, so here's hoping they get here soon. If they're not, I'm sure my mom will be burning up the guy's phone to find out what's going on.

I'm pretty happy with the progress I've made on planning my Snow White retelling so far. Yesterday I finished filling out my character bios doc as much as I'm currently able and things were really flowing. I'm very happy with how each character's personalities and backgrounds are starting to stand out and be distinctive from each other. Very important since I have 7 dwarves along with at least four other characters to deal with here.

Then again, I'm pretty sure my cast in In Dreams They Came has more than 11 people and I feel like *they* all stand out, so heck yeah, I can handle this! Good thing characterization seems to be one of my strengths... Anyway, the Official Outline has begun and shall continue today.

Shadowflame · Jun 21, 2017

Soooo tired. I slept in a little. (Kind of hard to determine as I go to bed at midnight, get back up at 2:30 with hubby and go back to bed by 4:30) I usually get up around 8:30 or 9 but it was 10:30 before I opened my eyes and they stayed open. Sometime today/tomorrow I must go bet my back popped by the chiro. Thought my back issues were done as they weren't bothering me at all yesterday until I went to work. Things were fine then sudden spasms. OUCHIES! Luckily I got it stretched out enough to get things done because the lady working subs was having a medical issue (BP kept falling) and almost passed out on us. We sent her home and I took over her station and tried to keep up with the other things I do on my regular shift.

Today I'm off (YEAH!) and have some freelance work to do. If I get it all done I can spend most of tomorrow on my work.

Oh, and hubby got a new position at work. We spent some time shaving off his beard--most of it anyway. He'll be on the chem team doing a variety of things. Bad thing is he'll be working overtime almost every week. For the most part, he'll only be off on Sundays.

greendragon · Jun 21, 2017

_Sian_ said:
MICE quotient: (description and examples here and here)

Well THAT was a several-hour rabbit hole! But it led me to Jim Butcher's blog on sequels, so certainly useful!

E.F.B. · Jun 21, 2017

Well, my mom called the building guy because he wasn't showing up, (why he didn't call us, I don't know) and our deck is not getting finished today. Apparently, he had a seizure last night after overworking himself yesterday. (He worked at our house from 8am to 4pm and then apparently went and worked at someone else's house until 11pm. Dude. Really? Do you not realize it's summer and blazing hot out?) He had to go to the ER and so couldn't work today. Why he couldn't have called us and let us know before we felt the need to call him, I don't know. He didn't call and tell his own boss either, because the boss man showed up here a minute ago, was confused why no one was here working, and had to call his employee to find out what happened. He told my mom that if his employee can't work tomorrow he's sending another guy out here to finish the job so we aren't left waiting. *sigh*

Back to the wordage.

greendragon · Jun 21, 2017

If the boss had him at two places from 8am to 11pm, then he's culpable for the worker's collapse! Unless it was a side job? Still. Stupid macho men pushing themselves beyond limits. Women are more sensible than that. Right, ladies? Ladies? Oh, bother. Here, have some tea. No, Elizabeth, not you!

E.F.B. · Jun 21, 2017

greendragon said:
If the boss had him at two places from 8am to 11pm, then he's culpable for the worker's collapse! Unless it was a side job? Still. Stupid macho men pushing themselves beyond limits. Women are more sensible than that. Right, ladies? Ladies? Oh, bother. Here, have some tea. No, Elizabeth, not you!

If I heard correctly when my mom talked to the guy before, his work day is supposed to end around 5pm. Anything extra he does after that is his choice, so not his boss' fault he kept going. Yes, I was thinking it was a dumb macho move, too. The man clearly loves and takes pride in his work, and I'm not at all surprised, given my impressions that he's a major overachiever that he didn't know when to quit. *shakes head*

JJ Litke · Jun 21, 2017

E.F.B. said:
If I heard correctly when my mom talked to the guy before, his work day is supposed to end around 5pm. Anything extra he does after that is his choice, so not his boss' fault he kept going. Yes, I was thinking it was a dumb macho move, too. The man clearly loves and takes pride in his work, and I'm not at all surprised, given my impressions that he's a major overachiever that he didn't know when to quit. *shakes head*

Hmm, and if he doesn't get enough done, then knocking off at 5pm has no consequences, right? No customer complaints, no "why isn't this finished" from the boss. Right.

Aggy B. · Jun 21, 2017

JJ Litke said:
Hmm, and if he doesn't get enough done, then knocking off at 5pm has no consequences, right? No customer complaints, no "why isn't this finished" from the boss. Right.

Yeah, this. Also, seizure? And wondering why he didn't call? They can cause short term memory loss yanno. (Have enough of them and you can have permanent memory issues even if the seizures themselves are brought under control.)

greendragon · Jun 21, 2017

Me to co-worker at 10am: When we get the final changes on this from the auditors, I'll need you to process them. They need them back tonight.
Co-worker: OK.
Me at 3:20pm: Where did co-worker go?
Other co-worker: There's a retirement party somewhere else.
I email the files with notes on what to do.
4:55 to co-worker, just returning from party: Hey, I sent you those files. Could you get them processed?
Co-worker: Tonight? It will take a while. i hope I have time!

Grr.

Granted, it's not her fault they weren't sent until 3:20, but I did warn her. I swear I did!

E.F.B. · Jun 21, 2017

Aggy B. said:
Yeah, this. Also, seizure? And wondering why he didn't call? They can cause short term memory loss yanno. (Have enough of them and you can have permanent memory issues even if the seizures themselves are brought under control.)

This occurred to me after I posted.

Jade Rothwell · Jun 21, 2017

I'M ADOPTING A CAT FROM THE HUMANE SOCIETY :heart:

Cobalt Jade said:
Now I have to edit an older story for another market, one for a shapeshifter erotica anthology. My story doesn't have a happy ending... the shapeshifter eats his love interest... but the editor didn't say anything about a HEA or a HFN being mandatory.

that sounds both awesome and terrifying hehe

JJ Litke said:
Hmm, and if he doesn't get enough done, then knocking off at 5pm has no consequences, right? No customer complaints, no "why isn't this finished" from the boss. Right.

god, that poor guy. I've worked hours like that before and can attest that they're hell on earth. I'm a workaholic and even I wouldn't do that if I didn't have to

JJ Litke · Jun 21, 2017

Jade A said:
I'M ADOPTING A CAT FROM THE HUMANE SOCIETY

Yay, kitty! Pics plz!

greendragon · Jun 21, 2017

I WANT KITTY PICS! NOW!

Damoclian · Jun 21, 2017

Guys, guys, GUYS! I made a huge mistake today! D: I signed up for a free trial of Crunchyroll (legal, licensed anime streaming service) and I am now addicted to the weabo lyf again!!!

On the bright side I had a breakthrough on ye olde plotting for tha last section of tha novel, so woo-to-the-ooOooO-oot there...

tiddlywinks · Jun 21, 2017

_Sian_ said:
I honestly think romance is one of the hardest things to write. Kudos to anyone who does it successfully

THANK YOU. :greenie

I was just ranting about this the other day to a friend when some grr-mutter-mutter-grr person who is vaguely a relative so I can't strangle them said, "Are you still trying to write romance, dear? Maybe you should try something a little more...you know..." *delicate cough as I give person the death stare and sweet--sweet smile before husband saved me from verbally bashing their brains in*

:Soapbox:

It ain't as easy as it sounds. Especially when your readers KNOW there's an HEA at the end. So you have to be super special and crafty and not all gack-worthy in how you get there, right? Right.

I'd go on, but we'd be here all night.

In other news, I think I survived the magazine interview this morning and didn't sound too moronic. I hope. *bites nails*

_Sian_ · Jun 21, 2017

greendragon said:
Well THAT was a several-hour rabbit hole! But it led me to Jim Butcher's blog on sequels, so certainly useful!

The scene and sequels thing is actually from his uni teacher - she's written a book too, which is very good. Called: "The Fantasy Fiction Formular" (although I didn't find it all that formulaic, tbh).

Jade A said:
I'M ADOPTING A CAT FROM THE HUMANE SOCIETY

KITTY!

tiddlywinks said:
THANK YOU. I was just ranting about this the other day to a friend when some grr-mutter-mutter-grr person who is vaguely a relative so I can't strangle them said, "Are you still trying to write romance, dear? Maybe you should try something a little more...you know..." *delicate cough as I give person the death stare and sweet--sweet smile before husband saved me from verbally bashing their brains in*

It ain't as easy as it sounds. Especially when your readers KNOW there's an HEA at the end. So you have to be super special and crafty and not all gack-worthy in how you get there, right? Right.

I'd go on, but we'd be here all night.

In other news, I think I survived the magazine interview this morning and didn't sound too moronic. I hope. *bites nails*

I think romance is especially difficult in the fact that generally (not always, mind you) driven by internal conflict. So your characters, their interactions, ect all have to be bang on, because it's all about the miniature of interactions. Which is not easy to do well.

The Dastardly Dungeon of Deliciously Devious Drinks

Chaser of Shineyyyy Plot Bunnies

rolling dice

Not as sweet as you think

forgetful elephant

Ooooh, pretty lights and sirens :D

Ooooh, pretty lights and sirens :D

Stories, stories everywhere

Gametrovert

Stories, stories everywhere

Stories, stories everywhere

People are not wearing enough hats

Not as sweet as you think

Stories, stories everywhere

rolling dice

People are not wearing enough hats

Fragile Bunny

Chaser of Shineyyyy Plot Bunnies

Ooooh, pretty lights and sirens :D