The Dastardly Dungeon of Deliciously Devious Drinks

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tiddlywinks

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*crawls out from smibbles*

FINALLY. The antibiotics have started to fully kick in, making me feel like a mostly normal human being again. Minus the really bad cough now that's keeping me up until 8AM yesterday and 4AM today. No, I did not work yesterday. I slept. (See 8AM note). My boss understood. Bless him. Today, I finally went back to work and started crawling out of the mess of projects, campaigns, meeting rescheduling, PR launches and frantic employee "YARGH" discussions that they were politely holding. Couldn't put in a full day yet, as now I have no voice. But it's getting better.

Holy crap, I forgot how much strep throat sucks. Plus a cold on top of it. :/

On the bright side, while I was too blergh for client work work, I apparently was just lucid enough (in theory) to rewrite the opening of my pirates novel. The characters seemed to think me coughing and on an ice cream/soup only diet meant "yeah! let's talk about busting pirate balls"...take that how you will. And yes, yes that does have multiple meanings, and yes, yes they do all apply. :evil

I'm waiting to hear if I broke it before I stick anything anywhere near SYW. So don't look at me like that.

and yes, dammit, I removed some of teh sparklies...

Grudgingly.

Some.

Also, I have started binge-watching Vikings after reading a LOT of Scottish highlander romances these past five days. I know they don't go together, but somehow in my mind, the brain said "go watch bloody Vikings" after swoony Scotsmen. In my defense, I'm still slightly sick and on meds.

I'm sure this all bodes well for the pirates.

Time for ice cream!

~Winks, who is going to hold off just a litttttttle longer before she sends out more queries.

P.S. WHY ISN'T BLACK SAILS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON PRIME? WHY? CURSE YOU, UNIVERSE. CURSE YOU.

P.P.S. You can roast the smibble pile now.
 

JJ Litke

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I've just started querying, too, Winks. So far, all signs indicate that this is going to be every bit as depressing as the last time. *sigh*
 

tiddlywinks

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Yes. Querying doth sucketh.

Then again, it is hard for one to grumble about how much it doth sucketh when she's been procrastinating on sending out more queries. That whole "can't be rejected if you don't send it"...which also means "can't find your darn agent if you don't send it, stupid"...

*sigh*

*goes to update her query tracker list and prep query battle plans*
 

Aggy B.

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For those that like pretty things, there's a new trailer for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets out.

For those that like scary things, there's a new trailer for It out.

I have a headache so no words tonight. Heading to bed.

Aggy, ouchy
 

Shadowflame

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Hey, I'm digging the new trailer. Really creepy! I read the book when i was 12 or so. The ending had me so scared I was afraid to go to the bathroom at night! lol
 

tiddlywinks

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Also, random question, Cantina. I'm kicking a number of my shorts out of the nest again on another round of subs. Trying to figure out the anthology bit. A number of the anthology calls I see pay pretty minimal and an author's copy. Worth a go? Or continue my steady yet blergh "working my way down the paying markets" list to see where my stories land process?

~Winks, who bites her nails trying to figure out yes/no/anything below semi-pro on her grinder lists, yet dreams of having something published somewhere someday relatively soonish that isn't just her blog because she'd like to get paid?*

*note that this is only my personal philosophy/approach and not to malign anyone who decides to put their stories on their blog

*bites nails again*
 

E.F.B.

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Hope the sunshine and fresh air helped!
It did!

For those that like pretty things, there's a new trailer for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets out.
Never heard of this. Gonna look it up anyway. Tomorrow. When I'm less sleepy.

I have a headache so no words tonight. Heading to bed.

Aggy, ouchy
:Hug2:



I'm not sure of the exact count, but words did happen today. I connected a new scene with one I wrote possibly a good two years ago (I remember I was still taking my college courses at the time and I remember handwriting the first draft of that older scene in my story notebook one day when I took a break after lunch. So yeah, it had to be at least two years ago.) I'm happy because this is building up to the introduction of one of my favorite characters. I actually first wrote that introduction scene two years ago too, but it'll be interesting to see if it needs editing now that some details have changed. It seems many of my scenes need at least three edits before they REALLY match what I originally had in my head. Not sure why, but at least when I'm struggling with the first iteration I can always remind myself that it really does always get better in edits.
 

Shadowflame

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Also, random question, Cantina. I'm kicking a number of my shorts out of the nest again on another round of subs. Trying to figure out the anthology bit. A number of the anthology calls I see pay pretty minimal and an author's copy. Worth a go? Or continue my steady yet blergh "working my way down the paying markets" list to see where my stories land process?

Okay so here's my 2¢ YMMV and all that disclaimer stuff.

With an anthology, you are usually going to have a theme or something that ties all of the other stories together. If your story fits the theme and other submission guidelines, go right ahead and send it.

I write some stories specifically for anthology calls and some just because. I know when i write an anthology story, it might not be picked up and I might have a hard time placing it elsewhere.
However, the just because stories are also a challenge to place. I do start at the top and encourage other writers to do so. Sometimes you get lucky.
Do what you think is right for your story.
 

JJ Litke

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I haven't had any luck subbing to anthologies. Though a couple of times a theme sparked good ideas, so that was cool. I typically try to stick to good-paying markets, but I've also subbed plenty of times to ones that I thought might be a good credit. So, eh, you just gotta go with what you think is going to work for you.

Do what you think is right for your story.

Oh there you go, that. :)
 

_Sian_

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Okay so here's my 2¢ YMMV and all that disclaimer stuff.

With an anthology, you are usually going to have a theme or something that ties all of the other stories together. If your story fits the theme and other submission guidelines, go right ahead and send it.

I write some stories specifically for anthology calls and some just because. I know when i write an anthology story, it might not be picked up and I might have a hard time placing it elsewhere.
However, the just because stories are also a challenge to place. I do start at the top and encourage other writers to do so. Sometimes you get lucky.
Do what you think is right for your story.

Thanks! Appreciate any and all feedback.

I didn't much like the story that got subbed by SH ( I had stuff that I thought was much better that they'd said no to), until it'd been through edits and I started to see its themes.

So I've just decided I am no judge of my own stuff, and to send it out anyway.
 

_Sian_

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ION, the job interview is done. I'm exhausted - which is quite odd, because I didn't desperately need this job. I've got other stuff + when I start uni in July I'll get student support. So I don't even need it.

I'm still exhausted though. Should find out next week.
 

Filigree

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My advice would be to go with public author pages for your various author names.
Yes, social media can be a huge mindsink and time sink. But it's the best place to interact with your audience. (this includes Facebook, Twitter, Instragram, Pinterest, Tublr and others)
One thing to note though, if you do participate in things like FB parties for promotion, you will have to use your actual personal account. You will not be able to use author public pages. Not sure if you can post on FB groups by using your author pages either.
But you can direct people and interact from your author page, it just takes a bit more work. Let me know if you need help with that I can walk you through some of it. The rest is trial and error.

I might hit you up on that. I have an inactive personal page, but never got around to creating author pages. I don't mind interacting under my real name, I blog all the time, and I'm already fairly active on Twitter and Pinterest, with forays into Tumblr.
 

JeanGenie

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Working from home is both harder and easier.

Easier because I don't have be somewhere and dress appropriately. Yes there are days I don't even get out of my PJs. No one cares how you are dressed when you are home. (unless you have company) You don't spend money eating out so you save on groceries. You can plan things around how you naturally work such as certain projects at certain times.

However, it's also harder. First, since you are home, everyone either things you are either lazy or aren't doing anything so of course you can (insert whatever). So there's always requests for your time. And if you give it once, well there goes that time slot for all of time. Second it's more difficult to manage your time. Yes you have more time to write, but you don't have to do it right now... do you? You can catch up on that TV show or read or play around on social media. This is why I have a planner that has the day's to-do list. I don't block out time because I tend to jump from one thing to another or back and forth if say I'm stuck on an SEO article. And some of my projects crossover so I'm kind of doing two things at once.

I don't think working from home is for everyone. If you need structure, then you might want to rethink it. My last two out of home jobs required me to learn how to time manage and work on my own. Stepping into work from home wasn't a big jump from that.

Are you working from home as a writer, or do you have another job as well? If I had to work from home it would only work if it was purely as a writer. Until I have the financial means to stay at home and write, any other job I have I need to go to an office, or I'll never get anything done ;-P And if I do eventually get where I don't have to do anything but write, I'll probably procrastinate too, but at least I won't be exhausted all the time.
 

Caitlin Black

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Okay. I'm looking for some honest opinions from you all (if you feel like responding, of course). Basically, I'm trying to figure out my motivation for writing.

I've decided that I don't want "need money" to have anything to do with my creative efforts - writing or music.

With music, there's an easy replacement motivation. It is physically fun, pleasurable to my ears, and incredibly rewarding when I make progress. That is, music is all about "in the moment" to me. Makes sense, given that music is fundamentally a performance art.

With writing, though, I don't have that same "in the moment" motivation. Typing at a keyboard can be pretty boring. While I do enjoy a story coming together word by word, the fact is, I can get the same enjoyment from reading. It may well be rewarding when I look back on how much I've accomplished (entire novel, for instance). But yeah... The "in the moment" is lacking, and I can't figure out how to make it better.

The only ideas I've been able to come up with are 1) writing to entertain others, and 2) writing to work through ideas (ie. self-therapy). Neither of those is motivating me to actually write at this point, but have worked in the past to some extent.

So... Why do you write? I'm not saying that the ideas that don't work for me aren't valid, mind you. To each their own. But I'm just looking for alternate perspectives. :)
 

JeanGenie

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I write to entertain myself! It basically means that I don't plot much, and I have to do a lot of edits (which sometimes are boring and other times rewarding), but I get an instant satisfaction through the act of writing.

I think the plotters love the planning and the literary writers love to shape the language, and so on...:)
 

Aggy B.

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Also, random question, Cantina. I'm kicking a number of my shorts out of the nest again on another round of subs. Trying to figure out the anthology bit. A number of the anthology calls I see pay pretty minimal and an author's copy. Worth a go? Or continue my steady yet blergh "working my way down the paying markets" list to see where my stories land process?

~Winks, who bites her nails trying to figure out yes/no/anything below semi-pro on her grinder lists, yet dreams of having something published somewhere someday relatively soonish that isn't just her blog because she'd like to get paid?*

*note that this is only my personal philosophy/approach and not to malign anyone who decides to put their stories on their blog

*bites nails again*

The big thing about anthologies is usually who else is in them. If they aren't paying at least a decent semi-pro/token rate, sometimes the headlining author will make up for that. (I.e. There's a John Scalzi short/reprint going to be included in the book so chances are it will sell and folks will read your story even if you don't make any more money.) Anthologies, for me, are usually about visibility and not so much the financial compensation.

However, I've not taken less than $50 for an antho publication. (I only have two out of my dozen or so short story pubs.) Especially if it's a small press. (I saw one recently that I was interested in, but offered $10 + author copy and I as just like "Nope!") And some of that has to do with writing something on spec. If I happen to have a story already written that fits a theme that has made the rounds of the other markets, I might sub it somewhere that pays next to nothing for their anthology stories. But I'm very unlikely to write something brand new just for an anthology that is offering low-end token payment unless the TOC promises to be amazeballs.

Short story sales are a grind. I can only do it because I have taken (years) to convince myself that rejection is a part of the process and that rejection of my work is not rejection of me. That took a while, but was worth the personal reprogramming. (I also have a bad habit of not writing short. Under 5k is really unusual for me.)

Cliff: I write because it's something I'm good at (both subjectively and objectively) and I enjoy it. I also write to sell stuff, but not so much to make money. In other words, I write with the idea that I want other folks to read what I've written, and that I deserve to be paid/compensated for my work, but it's not about making big money. (Although that would be really nice.)

ION, I woke up 45 minutes early today. Going to try for a few words before I have to get Monkey ready for school and I have to head out for a physical therapy re-evaluation.

Aggy, mmmmm, tea
 

kuwisdelu

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With writing, though, I don't have that same "in the moment" motivation. Typing at a keyboard can be pretty boring. While I do enjoy a story coming together word by word, the fact is, I can get the same enjoyment from reading. It may well be rewarding when I look back on how much I've accomplished (entire novel, for instance). But yeah... The "in the moment" is lacking, and I can't figure out how to make it better.

The only ideas I've been able to come up with are 1) writing to entertain others, and 2) writing to work through ideas (ie. self-therapy). Neither of those is motivating me to actually write at this point, but have worked in the past to some extent.

There's no reason you can't do both at the same time: write stories that are both therapeutic and entertaining. It seems like there's a strong stigma against that in many writing circles, but I strongly believe the best stories are written close to the heart.

I write to process and feel my emotions and process difficult experiences, to see someone like myself represented in fiction, to create worlds that reflect my reality and validate that reality, to center characters and perspectives and experiences that are rarely centered, to show or remind other people like me that they're not alone and they're okay.
 
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_Sian_

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Okay. I'm looking for some honest opinions from you all (if you feel like responding, of course). Basically, I'm trying to figure out my motivation for writing.

I've decided that I don't want "need money" to have anything to do with my creative efforts - writing or music.

With music, there's an easy replacement motivation. It is physically fun, pleasurable to my ears, and incredibly rewarding when I make progress. That is, music is all about "in the moment" to me. Makes sense, given that music is fundamentally a performance art.

With writing, though, I don't have that same "in the moment" motivation. Typing at a keyboard can be pretty boring. While I do enjoy a story coming together word by word, the fact is, I can get the same enjoyment from reading. It may well be rewarding when I look back on how much I've accomplished (entire novel, for instance). But yeah... The "in the moment" is lacking, and I can't figure out how to make it better.

The only ideas I've been able to come up with are 1) writing to entertain others, and 2) writing to work through ideas (ie. self-therapy). Neither of those is motivating me to actually write at this point, but have worked in the past to some extent.

So... Why do you write? I'm not saying that the ideas that don't work for me aren't valid, mind you. To each their own. But I'm just looking for alternate perspectives. :)

I write to discover what happens next. I don't plan my stories (like, ever), and I very much enjoy the freefall of making everything up as I go along (this includes worldbuiliding ect). Thus, any time I try to plan anything out other than character backstories/motivation, I fail miserably, cause I just can't be arsed writing the thing.

I edit to make the words pretty. And there's a certain amount of joy to getting the language right.

Oh, and before I started writing (I think I was 12?) the stories would just keep me up all night. Once they were written down they couldn't change/I had tired my creative muscles out. Thus I got rid of my insomnia.
 

greendragon

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I write the books I want to read myself. I write to entertain others. I write because I want to leave something permanent behind me in this world. I write because I must. I write because I enjoy the high when I'm in the 'zone', and I love the accomplishment of a project well done.
 

E.F.B.

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I write the books I want to read myself. I write to entertain others. I write because I want to leave something permanent behind me in this world. I write because I must. I write because I enjoy the high when I'm in the 'zone', and I love the accomplishment of a project well done.
All of these for me too. I don't know what I'd do with myself if I didn't write. It's been a natural inclination I've had for much of my life even if I didn't commit to getting out of my head and acting on it until 2014. It's a creative outlet that feeds on itself. The more I create the more I want to create and the more ideas I get. When I first started out, I never EVER would have thought I'd end up with a document filled with upwards of 10 story ideas and growing. (That number is an estimate. I haven't actually sat down and counted) Even if I someday get a full time job I think I'd have to keep making time for writing because the idea of my poor characters and stories languishing in a document never to see their full potential makes me very sad.

And along with those^ things, as a Christian I also believe that the natural inclinations that I have towards things like writing and crafting are God-given. In acting on them and developing them, I feel I'm doing the things He gave me to do, and I want to learn to do them to the best of my personal ability to glorify Him and thank Him for giving them to me to do. I also believe that He can use the things I do/write for the good of others whether that good is just making someone smile, or something more significant like giving them encouragement or inspiration or comfort right when they needed it, or getting them to see the world from a new, hopefylly more positive perspective. My job is simply to do the things He gives me to do in a way that and leave any potential impact in His hands. This is a major part of my motivation for writing and many of the other things I do.



ION: I plan to do more words today. I'm at a part where I'm skimming over some stuff I've already written to see if anything needs adding or changing until I get to the next bit that hasn't been written yet. So, hopefully I'm able to do that in a way that creates progress and doesn't get me stuck in one of those impulsive nit-picky editing holes I struggle against so often. :p
 

greendragon

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1700 words so far today. They've begun to flow out more quickly than I can type. This is a good thing! The Zone has arrived. More writing later. That was just in the hour between 8:30 and 9:30. I only stopped because I had a meeting.

Then tonight, authors' group, yay!

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and yesterday topped out at 2300 words.
 
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