The Dastardly Dungeon of Deliciously Devious Drinks

I know how you feel, Junely. That feeling that even if you have a great idea, and write it well, you probably won't find much of an audience. I'm familiar with it. However, logic says to do what you want to do regardless, because it's impossible to accurately predict the future. So there's that.

On my end, I think I've made the right decision to officially go on break from writing. I'm pretty sure I'll return to it at some point, but I'm going to try to avoid all writerly aspirations until the end of February (apart from making sure my Sisyphus story is worth reading). February is an album-writing contest month, like NaNoWriMo. And yeah - I really want to participate fully in that. To that end, I've spent most of today puttering about with audio recording/editing software, getting more familiar with a few things, as well as trying (and so far failing) to fix an annoying problem. Still not at the point of recording a song, alas, but I did have the experience today where I was so focused on the editing software stuff that I was barely paying attention while I played guitar - yet it still sounded pretty decent! Hooray! Once I've got the recording process familiarised, hopefully I can then get back to composing my first song. I have some inspirations that might lead somewhere, but yeah - been holding off on that due to technical difficulties.

I must say, though, it feels *right* to be so focused on making music, to the exclusion of all else. Even if it's only the first day I've felt this way, it still feels right. Like I'm more alive than usual, or something.

Cliff, I once took a ten-year hiatus from writing original prose fiction, and it was a needed break. I was still writing nonfiction articles and instruction manuals, grants proposals, fanfiction, and poetry for my book art. But stepping away from 'the big stuff' removed a lot of pressure I hadn't realized I put on myself. Advances in other careers/interests made me like less of an utter failure.

Junely, you already know you gotta write The Thing, no matter where it takes you. Hugs, and full steam ahead.

tiddlywinks said:

In other news, I have been distracted watching North and South for the first time...and then rewatching it again. HOW did I miss this all these years? Gaah. Richard Armitage, so good. His Mr. Thornton has now supplanted Mr. Darcy as number one in my heart, and that was a hard thing to do.

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I enjoyed North and South a lot too. It may be of interest that the BBC did a version of Robin Hood with Richard Armitage smouldering in black leather...

jallenecs said:

So I woke up this morning with a story idea. Is it the best story idea I've ever had? Not really. But in the right hands, it could be huge, like Da Vinci Code Huge. If Dan Brown was writing it, it would suck, but millions would read it. If I wrote it, it wouldn't suck, but not even my husband would read it.

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Tell you what, if you write it, I'll read it. The world needs more ripping yarns (and I'm not talking about knitting).

Morning, Cantina.

No snow for us yet, but they are indicating that will change toward midday. (There is snow just a little bit north of us, below freezing temps here, and another clump of wet stuff south of us.

Hoping to get some words done today even though Monkey is home from school. Hard to say how that will go. Mr. Aggy will no doubt be muddling around trying to make sure everything is prepped for bad weather. (Which we did yesterday too, so we should be set, but sometimes he gets further ideas on things that need to be dealt with.)

Would like a nice quiet Friday though after the publishing drama yesterday.

Aggy, teeeaaa, per usual

Fil, yeah, this break definitely feels necessary. I hope it doesn't take me 10 years to get back in the mood to write, mind, but if it does, it does. I'll definitely still be hanging out on AW, though, whatever happens. I've spent the last 7 years of my life here, and made a whole bunch of awesome e-friends. It's just that you'll all have to put up with me blathering on about music instead.

In other news... Damn insomnia has struck again. I'm tired. I didn't get to sleep til about 2am last night, and then only got about 7 hours. I was tired as soon as I got up, and I've stayed that way most of the day. But it's now just past midnight, and I've spent the last 1.5 hours trying in vain to get to sleep, and nada. *sigh* So I wound up hopping back online. As you do.

lilyWhite said:

Not me, 'cause if anything I wrote got made into a movie or TV show, I probably would never watch it myself anyway.

On the other hand, it'd be cool to see something of mine (or a spin-off) made into an RPG video game. Not sure if I'd prefer something more old-school or 3D and fancy. Not that much different from a TV show or movie, but it has that nice interactivity.

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I can get behind that thinking. And the other thinking.

griffins said:

I usually feel kind of the opposite, that animated characters tend to be too histrionic. I've found that people don't usually break down the way anime characters do. It requires a slight suspension of disbelief to watch those more cartoony shows, for me. That being said, I'm generally not a huge fan of the Leo DiCaprio school of overacting, though some actors do great with that. It's just a preference thing though. I usually prefer shows where the characters have something to hide. The threat, or romance, or whatever, is often more implicit.

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Well, eye of the beholder and all that, but this beholder is a dense brick, and with how hard it is to read real people I don't want to not know what emotions the character on screen is feeling when I should know. Some characters should be hard to read, and it's all right that they lie and cover their emotions if that's what they're supposed to, and I will give that animated characters regularly overact by a fountainload, but I find an agonized scream preferable to a blank face that can mean literally anything from "my soul was shredded like so much paper" to "Oh, did I put on a wash this morning". If I can't tell whether a character just felt an intense flash of pain or just got distracted thinking about aliens, then I can't empathize, and I'm here to connect emotionally. I'll give, again, that that much subtler ambiguous blank face is more realistic, but I'm not really that into reality.
And even with all the overacting, animation is also just much better at giving the brief glimpses of strong emotions or at giving a hamfisted look inside the character's heads, something that's taboo in live-action. Bah to all that live-action considers taboo, bah to all the grit and realism. If I wanted grit I'd rub gravel in my eyes. *mutters angrily in a corner**poor smibble having to listen*

Right, gonna get off that soap box now. Have a puppy.

I'd taken a bit of a break from creative endeavors for pretty much the last half of 2016. Work stress just ruined things for me. So for several weeks I've surrounded myself with things I've found creatively inspiring. It's helped. I'm doing Sisyphus as a reintroduction to writing again.

Of course, I went back to work this week and I already am quickly reaching the point where I just want to walk away. I used to love my job.

Mornin' Cantina. Got werdz to do today. Also, the yarn I ordered got here, but it's waaay more pink than what I wanted. I thought it was going to be more lavender-y based on what it looked like on my laptop. But once I saw how inaccurate my laptop screen was, I checked out the same webpage on my phone and that seemed to show the yarn color more accurately to reality. Sooo, guess I'll return and exchange for another color, using my phone to decide this time.

Congrats to those who need congratulating! Here, have some eyecake.

griffins said:

It'll come together, Efbeeeeee! I was completely oblivious in my 20's, and when flirting did come my way, it was like, "Who me? Naww!" But one day, it'll click and you'll be like, "Oh. Yes, me. Okay then. Let's see what you're going on about. My gosh, I hope I don't sound this foolish when I talk. Yeah, sure, I'll have a coffee."

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Thanks, Griff

Little Anonymous Me said:

You know, I could have done with about 1,000 more days of winter break, but there's something about a small army of tiny humans all screeching your name early in the morning.

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Especially when they look up at you with those angelic little faces and then pick their nose and eat the booger right in front of you. Multiple times.

tiddlywinks said:

In other news, I have been distracted watching North and South for the first time...and then rewatching it again. HOW did I miss this all these years? Gaah. Richard Armitage, so good. His Mr. Thornton has now supplanted Mr. Darcy as number one in my heart, and that was a hard thing to do.

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Richard Armitaaaaaage! The man knows how to wear a suit...

feyngirl said:

The world needs more ripping yarns

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*opens mouth to argue*

(and I'm not talking about knitting).

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Oooooh, you meant stories. Carry on.


@Junely: WRITE THE THING. You can't know if it'll find an audience if you don't try.

Good morning, Cantina! TGIF!

I think I have the opposite problem than most people. I have ideas, good, interesting ones IMO. I just don't have the motivation to write them.

ION: I'm going to a new board game meetup this evening. I'm looking forward to trying out some of the new games I got for Christmas.

Eating boogers helps stimulate the immune system. Similar to vaccines but not as specifically effective. (Kind of like living with low levels of dirt as opposed to a completely sanitized house, especially for kids.)

Made pancakes, bacon and eggs for breakfast. Now I want a nap. But there are things to do.

Aggy, bah

Lol Aggy. My husband gets all over my youngest for eating boogers.

TJ, definitely not of the overly clean household (dirt is good!)

That moment when you've scrolled through Pinterest so long, you kinda forgot what you were looking for in the first place. And your eyeballs hurt a little because you weren't blinking enough. Well, at least I found some purty pics for my Things-that-remind-me-of-my-WIP board.

LadyV said:

Good morning, Cantina! TGIF!

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I keep meaning to tell you that I really like your avatar. Phoenix, ftw!

*makes evil hiss at mention of Pinterest*

I need to stay away from the evil Pinterest. It gave me yet another novel size plot bunny earlier this week...all from one innocent little pin. *cries* *mutters about having to do more work when she wants to get lost on the evil Pinterest again*

In my defense, I was making a North & South fan board. Because it was fun. But then I got distracted in teh shinyy of some other suggested pins and that was when the evil cyberpunk plot bunny tackled me.

*screams something about writing pirates and Sisyphus and runs away*

I'm having this problem where my WIP doesn't SOUND cool, but IT IS. I tried to describe it to a coworker and was just like "So there's this elf and his village is attacked by lava monsters and blah blah blah". But like. I think my idea is pretty interesting, at it's core? I just can't explain it well

jallenecs said:

So I woke up this morning with a story idea. Is it the best story idea I've ever had? Not really. But in the right hands, it could be huge, like Da Vinci Code Huge. If Dan Brown was writing it, it would suck, but millions would read it. If I wrote it, it wouldn't suck, but not even my husband would read it.

Yay for creativity.

Not having a happy morning.

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Write the thing! (This is something I need to learn too) writing is about personal expression, even more than it is reaching an audience. Audiences are amazing, of course. No one's saying no to an audience. But the biggest thing is getting the words out of your head and somewhere permanent

LadyV said:

Good morning, Cantina! TGIF!

I think I have the opposite problem than most people. I have ideas, good, interesting ones IMO. I just don't have the motivation to write them.

ION: I'm going to a new board game meetup this evening. I'm looking forward to trying out some of the new games I got for Christmas.

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Ooo board games! I've always wanted to go to one of those meet-ups. What are the people at them like?

Scripty said:

I'm having this problem where my WIP doesn't SOUND cool, but IT IS. I tried to describe it to a coworker and was just like "So there's this elf and his village is attacked by lava monsters and blah blah blah". But like. I think my idea is pretty interesting, at it's core? I just can't explain it well

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Lava monsters are cool. Or not, as it were. I should know, one of my WIPs has a magmapus (magma octopus) for a mascot. A mini magmapus. It's adorable. In a "could burn your face off" kind of way.

Mazel tov to all who have recent good publishing news!


Cliff, I have to say, I'm envious of your musical abilities. I wish I could play an instrument, or sing, or write music. I am completely tone deaf. My mother was a piano teacher and couldn't teach me more than the scales. (She also taught a young girl who grew up to be a sort of famous spec fic writer now, and I keep wanting to reach out to her to say, "Remember how my mom was your piano teacher? Can you please introduce me to your agent?" But I won't. I'm not that person.) Still. I like music. A lot. I wish I could make some of my own. Instead I just sing along very badly until the Dragonlets beg me to stop.

Not a good sleeping night for me, either. I went to bed super early and then woke up super early, partly from going to bed to early and partly because Dragonlet the Younger snuck into our bed around 3am and partly because my hip pain started to flare up and I couldn't sleep through it anymore. Still went to the gym today, but will probably crash early again. It's hard being 40.


So, I know that people have had convos here about POV, and I just read this and thought I'd share. Happy writing!

Choosing Your Story's Perspective:
http://mythcreants.com/blog/choosing-your-storys-perspective/#fna0-17020

Ermagahd. There are actually snowflakes falling from the sky. Not sticking much. We'll have to wait and see just how much comes through. At the moment we're sitting right on the edge of a mass of cold air with lots more snow to the north, and snow and rain to the south. Hmmm.

Aggy, might be time for more tea

I am just coming back into the real world after six weeks of Christmas (I'm a landlady but also work retail). Veeerrryyy stressful this year, much more so than previous years, for a variety of factors. I want peace & quiet now. Anything for peace & quiet.

What is this Sysphus thing everyone is talking about?

I was sleeping SO GOOD during the break. But campus reopened this week, and huh, suddenly I'm back to crappy sleep. Stupid work stress.

RD, maybe you know the source of your hip pain and it's something else, but if you're not sure, trying stretching your hip flexors. That's a pretty common problem behind hip pain at night.

Scripty said:

Ooo board games! I've always wanted to go to one of those meet-ups. What are the people at them like?

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To be honest, I don't know. This is my first meetup with this group, but they seem friendly.

My Pandora station, which mostly has Celtic music (from Flogging Molly to Enya and some Chieftains thrown in), mixed with '80s rock and occasional soundtracks, decided I needed to dance today. It played the Snoopy theme

E.F.B. said:

Richard Armitaaaaaage! The man knows how to wear a suit...

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He knows how to wear many things. I saw him in the last episodes of Vicar of Dibley and squeeeed.

He was Guy of Gisborne in that Robin Hood, and yes, he was quite delightful in leather!

Scripty said:

Ooo board games! I've always wanted to go to one of those meet-ups. What are the people at them like?

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We have a local board game group. One guy has over 100 games, and brings a selection of about 20 every other Saturday afternoon to the church rec room. People show up randomly, pick games, play. Most of the people are shy, nerdy folks

Scripty said:

Ooo board games! I've always wanted to go to one of those meet-ups. What are the people at them like?

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I recently attended a sizable board gaming meet-up, and it was a great deal of fun. As for the people, well, not surprisingly, there were all kinds of types. Some would probably conform to negative stereotypical notions of "gamers"—insular, unsocial, etc.—but I found many people there to be plenty enjoyable to deal with. The host of the game I started with (Legend of Andor) was not only highly competent but very outgoing. He was such a pleasure to work with that I stayed for his next game demonstration, Above and Below, even though it didn't look like my kind of game. I'm glad I did, as the game turned out to be a blast!

If you get the chance, I'd say give a meet-up a try. You'll almost certainly have a great time with the games, and you just might meet some really cool people, too.

Aggy B. said:

Ermagahd. There are actually snowflakes falling from the sky. Not sticking much. We'll have to wait and see just how much comes through. At the moment we're sitting right on the edge of a mass of cold air with lots more snow to the north, and snow and rain to the south. Hmmm.

Aggy, might be time for more tea

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We had our snowflakes yesterday. First snow of the season, so everyone panicked, of course.

Cobalt Jade said:

I am just coming back into the real world after six weeks of Christmas (I'm a landlady but also work retail). Veeerrryyy stressful this year, much more so than previous years, for a variety of factors. I want peace & quiet now. Anything for peace & quiet.

What is this Sysphus thing everyone is talking about?

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Sisyphus is the annual Sekrit Solstice SciFi Fantasy Story Swap (SS-SFF-SS became shortened to Sisyphus over time).

JJ Litke said:

I was sleeping SO GOOD during the break. But campus reopened this week, and huh, suddenly I'm back to crappy sleep. Stupid work stress.

RD, maybe you know the source of your hip pain and it's something else, but if you're not sure, trying stretching your hip flexors. That's a pretty common problem behind hip pain at night.

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Work stress is getting me too. *hugs*

I have hip issues and this yoga dvd, at least the hatha portion, does wonderful things for stretching out the hips without overtaxing anything.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005QUQRDS/?tag=absowrit-20

One of my friends has the entire rear of her minivan filled with board games. As for meetups, I feel like playing games is a great way to break the ice.

LadyV said:

One of my friends has the entire rear of her minivan filled with board games. As for meetups, I feel like playing games is a great way to break the ice.

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Probably the best actually. You have something to talk about and you can divert from that or not as you want to. It's also playing a game, so you can be as playful as you want or feel is appropriate. Hum.