tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88358372011-07-07T18:32:18.997-07:00I've been writing for years now, but success is still something that I only experience in the twilight between sleeping and waking. On the other hand, for an unsuccessful hack, I've had some minor victories, some pleasant confirmations and some outright stellar rejections. I'll let you read if you promise not to laugh.Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.comBlogger1761100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-57295753689915699572009-09-09T15:23:00.000-07:002009-09-09T20:02:23.843-07:00

I was recently skewered on FaceBook for mocking a meme in which people all post an identical set of obvious statements that appear to demand universal health coverage. The pitchfork-wielding rabble (mostly my own family) objected to the fact that I decried their mindlessly jumping on a bandwagon rather than expressing a considered opinion, and I decided that if I were to maintain my moral high

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-65844826109710597572009-08-19T20:06:00.000-07:002009-08-19T20:18:07.009-07:00

Having had a recent brush with death (and by "brush with death" I mean "a semi-serious illness that lasted, surgery included, about a week and a half"), I have once again been reminded of the need for an advance medical directive. I know that it's important that my loved ones know my wishes should I, for any reason, be unable to communicate them. With that in mind, I decided to go one step

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-22405821998047307342009-08-15T20:19:00.000-07:002009-08-15T20:31:20.403-07:00

The Pirate and I just got back from a fabulous day out that included a lovely breakfast, an amazing movie and pistachio ice cream. At this very moment, I am sipping the best gin I've ever had. I shan't tell you the name of it, but it comes in a bottle that looks like it should contain propane.Back when I first saw the previews for GI Joe, I thought “I have to see this.” I'm a sucker for stuff

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-12269709674664393542009-08-02T10:01:00.001-07:002009-08-02T10:50:27.520-07:00

Since falling ill, my dreams have been restless and action-packed. I was worried at first that my boss's conjecture, that my creative spark resided in my gallbladder and might therefore have been entirely removed, might prove true. Last night's dream showed that the spark is still alive and well.I was the sister of the village blacksmith, an enormous, hot-headed bull of a man well-known up and

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-898495661477459012009-07-30T13:33:00.000-07:002009-07-30T14:09:06.076-07:00

Some of you may have heard that I've been out sick. It's true. On Sunday morning, I woke up at 5:00am with the same projectile vomiting I've had in the past that I thought was food poisoning. This is the third or fourth time in a couple of years that I've had this, and every time, I thought it was something I ate. But this time was different for one very crucial reason: in between bouts of

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-30327132227904583212009-07-19T14:09:00.000-07:002009-07-19T14:24:48.966-07:00

Friday night the Pirate and I took the girls to see the new Harry Potter movie, and I was reminded of something I've noticed before. Michael Gambon, a wonderful actor who plays Dumbledore, has the most freakishly long hands I've ever seen. They're unnaturally long and skinny and always make me think that they've been digitally re-touched, except that there was nothing in the books that mentioned

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-42808046234072013432009-07-16T21:01:00.001-07:002009-07-16T21:46:42.139-07:00

Ever since Monday, when I met a homeless man whose sign said "Tell me off for $1," I've been thinking about him. Whenever I get the sharp side of someone's tongue at work, I always think the same thing: "They don't pay me enough to put up with this kind of crap." I saw this man offering to let people chew him a new one for a single dollar, and it makes me sad that he values himself so little that

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-7106507078355382312009-07-16T17:03:00.001-07:002009-07-16T17:40:51.519-07:00

Most of our last day in New York was spent at the MOMA. Our journey there was uneventful - breakfast at the same place as every day (next door to the hostel), train ride up to 82nd St., walk through Central Park and over to MOMA. On the way through the park, I saw a woman with a big, mongrel-y dog whose tail was entirely bald and a little scaly looking. It gave the dog the look of an enormous,

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-53204314202475024662009-07-14T17:48:00.000-07:002009-07-14T18:20:45.868-07:00

Notes from 7/14While at the United Nations yesterday, we noticed (because we're unusually keen, clever & observant) about 4 million cop cars lining the streets in front of the U.N. Turns out, those cop cars are part of something called a "community response vehicle surge," and the cops do this sort of thing all the time just to remind New Yorkers that yes, they are safe and no, they can't park

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-27377457432201153362009-07-14T16:07:00.000-07:002009-07-14T17:46:52.849-07:00

Notes from 7/13New York is presumptuous. The tea comes already sweetened to a syrupy degree, the coffee with cream. At breakfast I ordered turkey bacon and got, not 2 or 3 slices as I'm accustomed to receiving back home, but five slices. It's as though they were afraid that nobody else would order bacon that day and wanted to get rid of it all.We walked over to the United Nations and took the

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-18226213207845954102009-07-13T06:25:00.000-07:002009-07-13T06:47:39.949-07:00

I'm in New York for a few days, and I've been taking notes. What I realize from reading them is that I don't travel well.At all...Notes from 7/12Packed last night. We're only gone for a few days, but we've spent tons of money just getting ready. Our flight leaves SFO (an hour and a half away) at 7:00am. We got to the airport in plenty of time because I'm a terrorist. The overly-helpful guy at the

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-22209024361353713572009-06-28T22:18:00.000-07:002009-06-28T23:14:16.509-07:00

Over the course of my writing life, I've spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on writing advice. Books, magazines, seminars, conferences - I've listened to it all, and the one thing I've found to be consistently true is that the formula for teaching is this: First they tell you what to do, then they tell you what it looks like when you do it. Sometimes you get a sentence or two of "before

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-62183889447426114322009-06-06T20:56:00.000-07:002009-06-06T21:17:49.522-07:00

The Pirate and I sat down to watch a movie last night, and here's what happened in the first ten minutes: The very pregnant wife of the school music teacher tells him that the baby she's carrying isn't his.The wife and child disappear and the music teacher is now a carpenter making furniture and lacking in personality.The politician is asked whether, if the syndicate financially backs him for

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-11705114035328605812009-04-14T08:34:00.001-07:002009-04-14T08:39:45.247-07:00

Everyone at my office was recently given a sheet of cardstock on which is printed "emergency procedures." They're all common-sensical enough, but the way in which the whole is written with some things called out in bold, some in a different color ink, three different fonts - everything you're told not to do if you want to make something readable. And yet, it's oddly compelling. There's a sort of

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-37769516875484628032009-03-21T08:48:00.000-07:002009-03-21T09:27:59.166-07:00

I'm not going to tell you about the beauty of opera or about how a well-written country song can break your heart just as surely as your freshman year sweetheart did. As I so often do, I'm going to tell you about a dream I had. More specifically, I'm going to tell you about a series of dreams I've been having on and off for the last 20 years. What makes these dreams unusual is the fact that

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-50741576191149048352009-01-23T08:35:00.000-08:002009-01-25T15:00:50.854-08:00

I've been listening to a couple of Oscar Wilde books (Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories and The Picture of Dorian Gray, both originally published in 1891), and I've noticed a striking similarity of tone between it and Susanna Clarke's book Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell. On the surface, it's as obvious as the curiously formal manner of speech between all the characters - a sort of

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-78760079050230438342009-01-11T13:51:00.000-08:002009-01-11T14:04:30.715-08:00

I have exceedingly vivid dreams that I use as the basis for a lot of my fiction. We all know this. A few years back, my dreams tended to revolve around military and spy technology, and I wrote a great deal of that kind of thing. It's still coming into some kind of final form, but I'm not sure what that form should be. I'm now having the same problem with the series of occult dreams I've been

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-87090600312084203622009-01-08T09:40:00.000-08:002009-01-08T10:13:58.891-08:00

I've got a heinous commute that I make a little more palatable by listening to audio books. I've managed to get through the biggies (Moby Dick, War and Peace, The Iliad) and indulged myself with crappy fantasy series (Song of Ice and Fire, Wheel of Time). But right now, I'm going through a streak of true crime, and I'm finding something bothersome. If the events in question actually happened, it

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-31432030849821899652009-01-02T23:22:00.000-08:002009-04-14T08:43:01.718-07:00

Now is not a good time to be unmotivated. I've just finished two novels and have put together a new crit group whose first meeting is January 15th. I've committed to myself to get a certain amount of editing done so that the submission process can start.I know what it is, though. I'm allowing myself to be deluged by other people's process. Many of my friends are writers, I'm part of several

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-36756286181259621512008-12-29T22:04:00.000-08:002008-12-29T22:29:05.937-08:00

I'm not talking here about the kind of reading that you do as a writer. I'm talking about what your third-grade teacher would have called "reading aloud." I have a special place in my heart for reading aloud and do it every chance that I get. If I'm at a party where there are children present, I'll sit down and read them a book. That way I'm doing something I love, interacting with the

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-27376693646014187642008-12-25T12:44:00.001-08:002008-12-25T12:46:15.411-08:00

I've posted yesterday's interview, which you can find here. In it, I talk about my process, read from the first chapter of my new book, discuss my next work, and reveal where on my body I keep my tattoos. Anyone who's seen me already knows. Enjoy!

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-65081652628591896062008-12-23T19:51:00.000-08:002008-12-23T19:57:10.303-08:00

Tomorrow morning at 7:20am, I'll be on KFJC radio (89.7 FM in the Bay Area) reading from my new Nanovel, "Two Women and a Boat, to Say Nothing of Cthulhu." Feel free to listen in via their netcast. Ann Arbor has graciously invited the Nano gang back for another year, and I'm taking full advantage of it!

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-64066472453054899782008-12-11T21:08:00.000-08:002008-12-11T21:12:34.577-08:00

You know, normally I've got a schedule to keep. I check over the address list from the year before and make any necessary corrections on Thanksgiving weekend. I put the cards together and get everyone to sign them in the days between Thanksgiving and December 1. This year - it's mid-December and I have done NOTHING. I am looking at the blank page facing me and thinking "I have no idea what to say

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-87313679143515012642008-11-29T09:29:00.000-08:002008-11-29T09:37:40.426-08:00

Now that November is drawing to a close, it's always hard for me to maintain focus. When it comes to certain things, I am NOT a procrastinator. I normally finish my 50,000 words for Nanowrimo in the first couple weeks (a little more if I've had to take days off). The problem is that once I've set my goal at a certain number of words and I achieve that, it's hard for me to maintain the focus to

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-37683520404909775712008-11-24T20:13:00.000-08:002008-11-29T09:37:40.426-08:00

We're coming up on the first part of the bingeing season, and one of the things that Thanksgiving affords is a FOUR DAY WEEKEND. How is gorging going to help your writing? It's not. BUT, the extra two days off that most of us are granted this time of year ARE. One of the best ways to boost your productivity is to get out of your own environment for a significant period of time. It's tough to

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-6315839794038813242008-11-20T08:37:00.000-08:002008-11-29T09:37:40.426-08:00

Writers and artists pride themselves on the fact that their pursuit is wholly intellectual. It takes a certain amount of brains to sit down and spin out a scenario that doesn't, and in many cases couldn't, exist in real life. But a lot of writers sit in front of their computers and just stare. And stare. And stare. How do I get Maude and her sister from the party to the castle? I've just locked

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-69221455410236366842008-11-14T17:52:00.001-08:002008-11-29T09:37:40.426-08:00

Those were the words of my third ex-husband. He saw the soundtrack of my life being much more akin to the soundtrack from "The Little Rascals," rather than the soundtrack to "Fight Club." What's your soundtrack? A recent study has shown that listening to happy music not only elevates your own mood, but can be good for you. My gut feeling is that it's true. I can be moved to tears of joy by music.

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-28274101728530800972008-11-13T17:36:00.001-08:002008-11-29T09:37:40.426-08:00

I have heard a zillion times the advice that if you want to be a good writer, you have to read a lot. Various published authors have published their lists of recommended books (here's Philip Pullman's, and Nicholas Sparks', and here is a whole list of author's lists). I find most of these lists to be pretentious, saying not just "see how much better taste I have than you?" but also "see how,

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-18080431459887395212008-11-11T09:33:00.001-08:002008-11-29T09:37:40.426-08:00

During November, I get lots of complaints to the effect that the writer has a day job and children and can't "fit it all in," and that I'm somehow unreasonable for scheduling writing events during the day or too late at night or on the weekends. The first thing I think is that I can't please everybody, so I don't even try anymore. But the fact of the matter is that I have a day job. And a long

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-69792435779319136752008-11-09T22:13:00.000-08:002008-11-29T09:37:40.427-08:00

While my own November efforts are coming along swimmingly, it never ceases to affect me when others around me aren't going at it with the same enthusiasm. It makes me feel as though I've somehow failed. Then I think of my harp. I took harp for a number of years (a very small number involving a decimal point) from a woman who makes her entire living playing and teaching harp. This woman spends

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-5590917100243534012008-11-08T09:04:00.001-08:002008-11-29T09:37:40.427-08:00

My own personal challenge this month is not just writing my own novel - hardly a challenge anymore. It's being the guiding and inspiring force for others who are trying to do the same. I have a dear friend, another writer, who has been active in many Bay Area writing groups for as long as I've known him. Wherever he goes, he attracts other writers to him by the force of his very positive

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-41711513426460209632008-11-04T09:46:00.000-08:002008-11-29T09:37:40.427-08:00

This time of year, there are lots and lots of people doing Nanowrimo, and one of the most common elements that people see in the discussion forums, in entries to the Nanowrimo LiveJournal group, in person at the writing events, is "I don't know what to write." Frankly, I'm always astounded by that assertion. I'm shocked that someone could exist on earth and have nothing to say.I've always had the

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-78617937398795203772008-11-03T19:56:00.000-08:002008-11-29T09:37:40.427-08:00

This happens whenever I get busy. Just at the time that I have the most actual stuff that people might want to hear about (I'm writing another novel, I'm doing Big Things at work, I'm gearing up for the coming holidays), I am least inclined to talk about it all. I think to myself "I have five minutes to spare - I can either work on [name one of my zillion projects here] or I can write about

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-89396304784917074742008-11-01T20:17:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:37:40.427-08:00

Once again, it's day 1 of Nanowrimo. I was up bright and early this morning (although not nearly as early as I should have been - apparently when the Pirate woke me at 6:30 this morning, I told him to go away and leave me alone forever) and off to the site of my write-in. Despite doing a little bit of catching up with my bestest ol' bud, it was lovely to sit down and get boatloads of writing done

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-56214221999759476522008-10-30T11:39:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:37:40.427-08:00

I was at a work event until 7pm last night, and then got home, spent some time with my kids, did some Nanowrimo stuff, then passed out. I did not write a single word. I had taken my laptop with me to the work event, even bringing the power adapter that runs off my car battery in case I had some time in the car, but I didn't. I've got one novel to finish in the next two weeks, and another one due

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-23113138207411873112008-10-26T10:28:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:37:40.428-08:00

Yesterday I managed to do a fairly substantial re-write of about 90 pages of the thing I'm working on now. I have a large amount that I have to do from scratch for the end, and I'm not 100% sure how I'm going to pull that off, but it was a good day for writing.On the other hand, I ended up in a place that's very familiar to me. If I'm writing, I'm not doing anything else. I'm not washing dishes

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-29326027148693983862008-10-25T07:09:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:37:40.428-08:00

That's the most frequently asked question I get. Yup, I do have a full-time+ job, AND kids, AND a heinous commute, and I've still managed to write at least 50k words each November. A big part of it is just forcing myself to write a little every day. You'll hear lots of stories about that legendary guy (and I know at least two) who were unable to write for weeks and then sat down and in 1 or 2

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-33564332152793078132008-10-24T17:36:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:37:40.428-08:00

When we last left our heroine, she was frantically trying to write the last couple of chapters of that same old book she's been working on for a while now. It's getting serious. If I don't get it done by next Friday, I'll be trying to finish two of the damn things in November, and just the thought gives me indigestion. The interesting news is that I have given over the first part of my novel to

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-5813552913100940102008-10-08T21:15:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:38:14.921-08:00

The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting colder, and I've started making bad, bad decisions. This is a yearly cycle. This year, I've decided not only that I will actually, officially participate in Nanowrimo, but I will take up the mantle of ML for the Santa Cruz region. The gap was there, and I (like nature) abhor a vacuum. This explains why I have a cleaning lady. I am blessed in a

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-85920689490270567022008-09-29T15:14:00.001-07:002008-11-29T09:38:14.921-08:00

This happens to me more than I'd like to admit: I'm in bed, just falling asleep. As my brain comes unmoored from reality and starts to float away for the night, images come to me. Sometimes they're amorphous, conceptual images that dissolve like fog in sunshine the deeper into sleep I fall. But at times like last night, they just become more and more concrete. Two years ago, I took a bunch of the

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-63170713430873843362008-09-24T12:57:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:38:38.822-08:00

I was at my parents' house, housesitting. They're due back any minute, and I really have to get weaving on picking up, etc. My parents' house is remarkably unlike real life. In real life their house is decidedly Spanish colonial - chunky wood, leather and tiles everywhere. In my dream, everything was 70s futuristic with black and white plastic and bold geometric shapes. My parents arrived with my

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-19237344257049074402008-09-22T08:49:00.001-07:002008-11-29T09:38:38.822-08:00

At the very tail end of last night's dream, I was going on a business trip to Reno. Not surprising, considering that much of my team is in Reno and yesterday I was thinking about having to go in the next couple of weeks. I got off the plane and was herded onto a train that let me off in a giant station filled with formations of people marching purposefully here and there. I took an escalator up

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-45899332499567158502008-09-18T19:49:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:38:14.921-08:00

I've been writing this book for, no joke, about five years. This is the third or fourth iteration, and it's coming back to the spirit of what it was when I first wrote it. Every time I "fix" it, I end up moving the chapters around. This has made it horrendous for my alpha readers, who receive a new copy and start reading it and marking it up with comments like "Why is this the first time we've

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-2245429248195698652008-09-11T08:03:00.001-07:002008-11-29T09:38:38.822-08:00

Last night I was taking the Badb to her father's house, which involved getting in a truck and driving over what looked like the landscape from the beginning of The Chronicles of Riddick where Vin Diesel is running over the frozen planet. It's like a fingerprint magnified a million times into a series of giant ridges. And I was driving on one of them. I'm sure there's a word for when it's

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-54151703226175439032008-09-10T09:58:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:38:14.921-08:00

I'm working every spare second I have to finish the piece I'm writing now. It's coming along as quickly as can be expected, and I have every expectation that I'll be done in the three weeks I have. What's next? Well, my next project centers around the Cthulhu mythos. I knew NOTHING of the entire body of work before conceiving of the project, so I did a little research on the right folks to read (

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-21618458206855838452008-09-04T15:34:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:38:14.921-08:00

I flog myself constantly for not doing as much writing as many of my other writer friends. They all write a novel a week, and here I am still working on the same one that I've been working on for months and months. Sure, that's an exaggeration, but not by much. But in the last two months, my life has had some pretty major upheaval. My household swelled to 7 and has now shrunk to 5 and looks to be

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-89280674923109395942008-08-25T09:35:00.001-07:002008-11-29T09:38:38.823-08:00

Friday night: I only remember the end of this dream. I had a vegetarian frog. It looked like a tree frog - a big head in relation to its body, but the whole thing was enormous. The size of a dinner plate. Its skin, rather than being smooth like a regular frog, was covered with fine green hair that looked like moss.As a treat, I had smeared some avocado on a piece of cucumber. I threw it to the

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-7718236723328586752008-08-21T09:32:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:39:15.418-08:00

I'm currently in that pleasant place where I'm working very hard editing one project and starting the wheel moving on the next one. Whenever I'm in this place, I'm constantly irritated by the fact that I just don't have enough time. I have a job that's fairly demanding. Every minute I'm at work(okay, every minute except this one) is taken up with stuff. My "To Do" list currently stands at

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-50061141615300312202008-08-17T10:41:00.000-07:002008-08-18T09:22:28.546-07:00

I was at a work offsite, and my co-workers and I were leaving the conference site and walking toward a shuttle that would take us to the airport. As I walked down the hall, my phone rang and I stopped walking and ducked into a doorway to take the call. As I spoke, more people walked by making it hard to hear. I looked into the room behind the door and, finding it empty, I ducked inside. Just

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-25272444997021293582008-08-16T14:21:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:39:35.025-08:00

Having finished the big edits to my book, it's time to put the spine back in. Originally I'd had the whole thing tied together by the sister of two of the characters, her story going back and forth between the other stories, but it didn't work and when I took it out, I was left with five separate stories. Now, I'm stitching them all back together with a minor character that runs through all the

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-64170990986448880182008-08-13T13:06:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:39:35.025-08:00

It has taken me a couple of months, but I'm finally done with the first round of serious edits to my novel. I shaved about 20 pages from the original 250, and it came in at something like 74,000 words. Now that I have it down that far (with expectation that it will be kicked down in word count again during round 2) it's time to put some other stuff in. - The main character must be expanded, his

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-32677048639646116152008-08-11T09:54:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:39:35.025-08:00

My younger daughter came home from all her travels yesterday. I was so happy to see her - I'd planned cookie making as a way of bonding when she got home, and the two of us made Thumbprint Cookies out of the wind eggs our chickens laid and homemade blackberry jam from the blackberries in our yard. The cookies are fabulously shortbread-y, not too sweet, so that the jam is a lovely counterpart to

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-78130003932481514822008-08-09T21:22:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:41:18.053-08:00

When I was pregnant with Badb, my husband and I didn't want to know in advance what gender the baby would be, so we had to pick out both boy and girl names. We started out with Celeste and Julian. I wanted the boy's middle name to be Fox, and my husband didn't like Celeste as a first name. We settled on Athena Celeste for a girl, but hadn't quite fixed on a boy's name until well into my seventh

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-63907568304627619342008-08-08T21:50:00.000-07:002008-11-29T09:42:52.467-08:00

I've been writing to Peaches at camp. They have something called "Bunk Notes" at camp. You send an email, and at dinnertime, the counselors print out the emails and hand them over to the campers with the other mail. I like it because I don't have to leave my house or find a stamp or envelope, and the lag is minimal. In the first week, I wrote normal letters. "Daddy and I had enchiladas for dinner

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-62256615384895477632008-08-08T21:09:00.001-07:002008-08-25T09:33:43.214-07:00

Last night's dream will definitely be mined for all it's worth at some future point. There had been a terrible plague. Only about half of the human population survived, and those that did mutated. But when I say "mutated," I mean like Spiderman mutation. Everyone was some kind of amazing atomic super ninja. Now, of the super amazing atomic ninjas left on the earth, half were insane and half were

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-49756695088610194122008-05-02T14:45:00.000-07:002008-05-02T14:53:49.368-07:00

Yeah, I make my living writing after a fashion. And it's not a bad living, at that. But what *else* can you do with those wordsmithing capabilities? You can win prizes. It's not as though I find this particular piece of prize irresistable, or even that attractive. It's that I could think of a thousand different entries for this particular contest, and it seems like nobody else could come up with

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-84351626305708844562008-04-24T22:44:00.000-07:002008-04-24T22:47:11.865-07:00

I have scrubbed, polished, cut, and otherwise readied my stories Bella and Sacrament for publication and have sent them out to a combined eleven markets today. Wish me luck!

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-91931313455743215152008-04-18T08:52:00.000-07:002008-04-18T09:30:33.375-07:00

If you're a good cook, going out to dinner is often an exercise in picking apart your meal and reconstructing it in the perfect world of your own kitchen. "I would have added shallots to the butter." "This isn't creamy, it's just greasy." "I think they could have been more adventurous with the wine sauce." But it's possible to go out and have a meal and think to oneself "I would never have

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-76483256563338151732008-04-11T10:14:00.001-07:002008-11-29T09:41:18.053-08:00

Before I went to bed last night, I did a couple of things: I worked on a short story that I need to finish by Thursday, and I thought hard about a book I'm starting and how many more themes I can possibly cram into it. Because gender identity, the culture of youth worship, the writing life, introversion and the individuality of perception aren't enough. I know that I can shoehorn music theory,

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1341055400935658172008-03-31T11:28:00.000-07:002008-03-31T11:42:18.178-07:00

I got a new computer today. My old one, a lovely IBM ThinkPad, has become so bunged up with Windows crap that it was taking 30+ minutes to boot, and I long ago decided that Vista was never crossing my threshold, so here I am with a brand new MacBook. The first thing I like is that it sounds Scottish. I can get behind that. The second thing I like is that mine is a nice matte black, so it already

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-59505808364743645942008-03-04T09:27:00.001-08:002008-03-04T09:31:54.951-08:00

I'm deeply conflicted.On the one hand, I am an award-winning fiction writer who has yet to publish anything substantial and is just waiting for a chance - a big break. On the other hand, I am a highly-paid manager at a large company with a mortgage and two children who have big dreams that involve college educations. And I just took on a second job.There are many things I could do that would help

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-13774647779813250732008-03-01T19:54:00.001-08:002008-03-04T09:24:40.242-08:00

I've never once suffered from "writer's block." I've never sat at my computer, looking at a blank screen without an idea in my head. My problem is most often the other way around - I have too many ideas running around my head and can't get them all down fast enough. Where do I get these ideas? Stuff happens to me. Like...going through my spam folder and seeing the eight million messages that tell

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-24892008132312607312008-02-26T12:52:00.000-08:002008-02-26T12:57:49.192-08:00

I'm doing a reading on the radio station KFJC tomorrow morning. I was thinking that I'd do a piece from my last novel, but as I was looking through the contents of my thumb drive, I found a short story that I really loved that I'd written last year. It wasn't edited at all (the word "shit" appeared about fifty times) and when I read it, it came out to about 45 minutes.Oh, did I mention that I

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-71588268414591311942008-02-22T09:16:00.001-08:002008-02-24T17:16:35.204-08:00

I'm here at the Desert Nights, Rising Stars writer's conference, and it's been an enlightening few days. For those of you able to make it out to this conference in 2009, I would highly recommend it. The staff and faculty are all accessible, and the variety of subjects presented is phenomenal. Wednesday was the first day of the conference, and I showed up bright and early at 9-ish to register. I

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-12640374036943575562008-01-25T14:52:00.000-08:002008-01-25T14:57:46.696-08:00

When I started in 2004 writing "Genius of Want," I had originally envisioned it as a play, but was unfamiliar with the play form. Well, for this year's Desert Nights, Rising Stars conference, I decided to commit myself to taking the playwriting small group intensive. This meant that I had to actually write the play. It took me two months, but I finished the play last week. If you'd care to, you

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-11307897252454321192008-01-20T21:25:00.000-08:002008-01-20T21:31:20.032-08:00

Back in August, I threatened to turn my novel "Genius of Want" into a play. I begged for people to read for me, because that's really the only way to get a sense of where it needs fixing. I thought that I could have it done by September, and everyone was keenly on board. And then...it languished. I've been an accomplishing fool, don't get me wrong. Slacking is not at all why it didn't get done in

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-35665662461461550332007-12-01T20:40:00.000-08:002007-12-01T21:02:42.435-08:00

So, I haven't written here in quite a while. Why? Let's see...I started and finished Nanowrimo. I was more excited about the story this time that I've been in a long time, and that's an awesome feeling.I'm heading up the team at work for the Shape Up San Francisco walking challenge. That means not only that I have to do all the team-leader stuff (leading group walks, sending out regular

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-83267683877404057062007-02-27T14:12:00.000-08:002007-02-27T16:07:12.235-08:00

I had planned to blog the conference a day at a time, but that didn't happen because it was 13+ hours a day for four days, after which I got up at bitch o'clock and boarded a plane for home. I had writing assignments and reading and lots to think about, so blogging just didn't end up happening. Neither did sleeping. And precious little eating (the food was atrocious). On the other hand, I did a

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-87123650949904392332007-02-22T09:11:00.000-08:002007-02-22T09:33:22.959-08:00

Yesterday was the first day of the conference. In the past, I've gone to conferences thinking "I know this stuff already. This isn't helping me." I don't know whether this conference has much better classes or whether I'm just more committed to extracting every iota of information I can possibly get. For whatever reason, this time around my attitude has been "I'm paying for this, so you're going

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-4549998656578245582007-02-21T08:21:00.000-08:002007-02-21T08:47:19.616-08:00

I'm at the Desert Nights Rising Stars conference until Saturday night. Just getting here has already been an adventure: It's Girl Scout cookie season, and my family has ordered a packing crate of cookies. I picked them up yesterday, two hours before I had to leave and spent another hour sorting and re-packing them for the trip. I was originally going to drive myself, but there was no way I was

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-56242332893596953832007-02-20T10:11:00.000-08:002007-02-20T11:57:53.262-08:00

I'm leaving tonight for a 4-day conference in Phoenix. One of the things to which I'm really looking forward is the "small group intensive." Me and four other people will be getting together over lunch every day and going over our writing, trying to refine our voices and perfect our technique in an effort to stem the tide of rejection that we all face as writers. The thing is, as long as you're

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-63012050617575242222007-02-15T12:35:00.000-08:002007-02-15T13:03:28.609-08:00

I was just talking to a good friend about things we've read: specifically about authors who are very popular but not very good.I'm not going to get on my high horse here and claim that I've never read trash. I'm not even going to claim not to have enjoyed it. It's just that when I'm reading something strictly for pleasure - something I know is not going to illuminate ANYTHING, I don't question

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-62602477202372817872007-01-28T16:59:00.000-08:002007-01-28T17:37:45.364-08:00

OnceA Dublin busker, who ekes out a living playing guitar and repairing vacuum cleaners for his dad's shop, meets a young Czech immigrant who sells roses on the same street. She likes his song, and what's more...she has a broken vacuum cleaner! They soon find themselves playing music together in a nearby music store (since she can't afford a piano, the owner lets her play his floor models). Over

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-58675886302285629892007-01-27T22:54:00.000-08:002007-01-27T23:24:58.249-08:00

Enemies of HappinessIn September 2005, Afghanistan held its first parliamentary elections in 35 years. Among the candidates for 249 assembly seats was Malalai Joya, a courageous, controversial 27-year-old woman who had ignited outrage among hard-liners when she spoke out against corrupt warlords at the Grand Council of tribal elders in 20003. Enemies of Happiness is a relevatory portrait of this

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-77554230607802677892007-01-27T22:21:00.000-08:002007-01-27T22:53:22.783-08:00

Chicago 10As one of the seminal political events of the 1960s, the Chicago Seven trial seems to come from another era, but filmmaker Brett Morgen, in his third trip to the Sundance Film Festival, has created a film that is much more than a look back. Indeed, Chicago 10 takes a stylized, innovative approach that gives contemporary history a forced perspective. He boldly mixes original animation

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-86893906528960981022007-01-27T14:25:00.000-08:002007-01-27T15:10:09.084-08:00

OffscreenChristoffer Boe's delirious psychological drama is an adept deconstruction of modern self-absorption and a trenchant commentary on the supposed utopia of readily available digital technologies in the modern media atmosphere.The plot is straightforward: actor Nicholas Bro asks friend and director Boe for help with a documentary about his strained relationship with his girlfriend, Lene.

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-76913063392813705472007-01-26T17:32:00.000-08:002007-01-27T06:46:36.623-08:00

So, we've done six movies in three days. We've also shopped for prezzies for the group at home, gone to the grocery store about nine times and I've fielded eight inquiries about my hair.A friend from work was here last week, and she said that one particular day, the high was 3 degrees. It was pretty chilly when we got here, but today, I'd say the high had to have been close to 40. The snow is

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-43105337285937869672007-01-26T16:51:00.000-08:002007-01-27T06:46:13.951-08:00

After traveling across the vast desert expanses of northeast Burkina Faso, Mocktar, a Nigerian peasant, arrives in a mining camp looking for work. Racked with grief from a past tragedy, he takes a job mining gold for the camp's unpitying boss. Carrying small hand picks, the miners crawl through dangerously narrow shafts leading hundreds of feet down, then haul bags of rock back up. Although

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-21433396611393322722007-01-26T16:13:00.000-08:002007-01-26T16:49:49.987-08:00

The PoolA filmmaker who returns to Sundance in a new guise is a familiar-enough occurence, but to return with gifts as unique as Chris Smith reveals in The Pool is rare in any year. In the same vein as his latest documentary work, Smith's creative acumen focuses on the gulf between the rich and poor, sharing insights, observations, poignancy and truth in a deceptively simple narrative.The Pool is

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-24646431919524288882007-01-25T21:07:00.000-08:002007-01-25T21:34:39.994-08:00

AcidenteInspired by the evocative names of 20 cities in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, filmmakers Cao Guimarães and Pablo Lobato uniquely meld a cinematic poem and an atypical travelogue in their film Acidente. Guimarães and Lobato visit each city and unobtrusively film slices of life, from a religious procession in Virgim da Lapa (Virgin of the Rock) to the nighttime activity at a lone gas

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-76614223053839323182007-01-25T20:33:00.000-08:002007-01-25T21:33:32.287-08:00

CocaleroRecently the U.S. has directed its war on drugs against Bolivian coca-growing regions, and the Bolivian government has attempted to eradicate coca crops, devastating the livelihood of indigenous people who cultivate it. In response, the farmers formed a powerful union. Their leader is the Aymara Indian Evo Morales, and in 2005, this unwavering, unpretentious socialist made an historic bid

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-58578487679433905882007-01-25T11:18:00.000-08:002007-01-25T21:33:10.627-08:00

Eagle vs. SharkWhich is the more dangerous predator: an eagle or a shark? That's a trick question. Don't try to answer it. You'll have your own opinion by the end of Taika Waititi's deliciously tangy, deadpan feature debut about two colorful misfits thrown into each other's orbit.Lily is one of those weird, sweet-natured girls with stringy hair who is quite lovely and charismatic under a surface

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-7630795046293937102007-01-24T20:21:00.000-08:002007-01-24T21:21:01.447-08:00

Crossing The LineIn 1962, Private James Dresnok, a 19-year-old American border guard in the notorious Korean DMZ, deserted the U.S. Army by crossing over into communist North Korea. As one of only four American soldiers who defected to North Korea during the height of the Cold War, he was noticeably a stranger in a strange land. Although Dresnok was unsure about his future in the highly secretive

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-30627399783696039542007-01-24T15:41:00.000-08:002007-01-24T16:08:31.141-08:00

For the next few days, I'll be writing from Park City, Utah, where the Pirate and I are attending Sundance. We've got 10 movies to see in five days, and I'm gonna tell you about them!Today's our first day at Sundance. The trip here was great - utterly without incident for us. On the other hand, before we've even stepped foot into a theater, we've already seen one comedy and one drama.Before we

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1169235969378454332007-01-19T11:23:00.000-08:002007-01-19T12:59:25.867-08:00

I know people who are writers, and I know people who *want* to be writers. The distinguishing characteristic in my mind is the quality of bitching between the two groups.People who *want* to be writers complain that they can't get inspired. They're "blocked," they can't figure out what to write, they have a great first sentence or setting or ending but they can't do anything with it. They write

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1169063389984970652007-01-17T11:41:00.000-08:002007-01-17T11:49:49.996-08:00

I know a fair number of people who are also writers. Their genres are different than mine (whose isn't?), their methods are a little different than mine, but they also tend to hang out with other writers. The problem is that, while I have a few other friends that write, I don't really "hang around" anyone. I have one dear, dear friend with whom I do some weekly writing, but other than that I'm

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1168373194293244662007-01-09T11:52:00.000-08:002007-01-09T12:06:34.306-08:00

It happens every holiday season. During November, I'm going great guns, cranking out my November novel and feeling that this year, it's one of my best (yes, I feel that way every year, even 2004) and then come December, I think "it's time to take a little breather." And I pause to do a little gift shopping and visit family. I fully intend to take up my pen again and finish the masterpiece I've

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1165515640827494112006-12-07T09:51:00.000-08:002006-12-07T10:20:40.840-08:00

I've mentioned that I have an assistant who helps me with my submissions. We're still early in this process, so she's a little unsure about which pieces to submit to what markets. She is still looking to me for guidance, asking me "Which one do you want to send to Kidney Quarterly? How about to Hubcap Review?" Normally, I think about what pieces she has, which of them hasn't gotten enough

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1164866305281649672006-11-29T21:19:00.000-08:002006-11-30T10:44:09.243-08:00

I've been submitting like a fiend lately. Well, credit where credit is due - my lovely and capable assistant has been submitting like a fiend on my behalf lately. The point is that over the last year, a boatload of my work has been sent out for consideration. Many of those submissions are to contests of one sort and another, and most of those contests are held by college publications. I enter

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1153959002399283882006-07-26T16:21:00.000-07:002006-07-26T17:10:02.453-07:00

I know, it's been a quite a while since my last post, but on the good side, if my evil plans come to fruition, I'll have much more to post soon. In the meantime, I have a couple of Virtual Bank Line episodes I wanted to record.7.23.2006I was sitting at my kitchen table with several of my former co-workers, including my old boss. We were trying to solve some kind of engineering problem and were in

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1143067598263012762006-03-22T14:31:00.000-08:002006-03-22T14:46:38.326-08:00

I was at a luxury resort whose driveway included a bridge over a deep, clear moat. The moat was a decorative touch, the bottom covered with colorful fake plants and rocks visible from anywhere in the resort (think: the submarine ride at Disneyland). From the driveway, a stone footbridge led to a stone pavilion where one could be close to the water.I was in the pavilion talking to the woman who

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1139242901576137832006-02-06T08:18:00.000-08:002006-02-06T08:21:44.216-08:00

A little while ago, I was feeling sort of blue because I had friends who were saying "I have 25 pieces ready to be put into the pipeline..." and things of that nature. When people say that they have tons of material that they've written and are sending out, I feel the lack of writing time in my life keenly. I'd like nothing better than to be able to do nothing but write, but it's unlikely to

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1139037176197646642006-02-03T22:56:00.000-08:002006-02-03T23:12:56.220-08:00

I came home from doing a reading at the California Writers' Club open mike to find two envelopes that had my address label on them - obvious SASEs from previous submissions. "Ah, well," I thought. "Another couple of rejections." The first one was exactly what I expected - the cover letter I had sent along with a rejection printed on something larger than a business card, but smaller than an index

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1138643443034920892006-01-30T08:45:00.000-08:002006-01-30T09:50:43.116-08:00

I had two distinctly different dreams last night, which is only significant because the end of the first one kept coming into the second one in a kind of "WTF?" way.At the end of the first dream, my friend Mortaine had a special kind of bell. It looked like a clear glass Christmas tree ornament, but inside it had three bells that looked like finger cymbals. They were one above the other, each

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1138052971064282772006-01-23T13:44:00.000-08:002006-01-23T13:49:31.076-08:00

I got the contributor's copy of my little magazine article, but still no word from the agent who promised to get back to me "much sooner" on the second submission.I think it's time to do another round of submissions, although I must admit, I'm a little upset with myself. Other people I know who are writing have volumes of work that they're shoveling out the door with both hands. Due to my own

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1137003165252302482006-01-11T09:47:00.000-08:002006-01-11T10:12:45.320-08:00

I know now what it is that's been dragging me down lately.It's success.In November, I got word that a nonfiction piece I'd submitted in October had been accepted. The piece was short, the pay nominal, but it's an acceptance and that's what counts. The minute I got word, I started hating my job. I wanted to stay home and be able to get to work on all the ideas I had flitting through my brain.I

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1137001645247979022006-01-11T09:22:00.000-08:002006-01-11T09:47:25.330-08:00

It's been a while, but I've had some pretty mundane dreams lately.Last nights' dream was a little disturbing and I don't even really understand why.I was jogging through my old neighborhood, back in Phoenix. There's a maze of condos there called "Concord Village," and in the dream, it had been given over to some sort of military training complex. As I was jogging along, I turned down a path and

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1134503758917905652005-12-13T11:32:00.000-08:002005-12-13T12:07:21.063-08:00

Once again, I'm going to be on the radio. I did it last year and it was really fun, even though what I was reading was silly, silly, silly. This year, I think I'll mix my soundbed carefully and practice a lot. I haven't read in public in a while, and I'm feeling out of practice. It would be even better if, by the time I read, I can tell people that the novel is due to be published....

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1133463854071105602005-12-01T10:48:00.000-08:002005-12-01T11:04:14.136-08:00

In October, I announced to people that I was definitively NOT participating in National Novel Writing Month. And then, at the beginning of the November, I found myself with some unaccustomed time on my hands and an idea that was just sitting there in my brain waiting to be written. I wrote nearly a quarter of my novel in three days. I was 60% done by the end of the first week, and then things hit

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8835837.post-1132097967948077302005-11-15T15:31:00.000-08:002005-11-15T15:39:28.000-08:00

I haven't updated much because at this point I am working a full-time job, raising two children, writing a novel, keeping chickens and keeping up three other blogs about the whole mess. I've been...distracted.First, the Santa Cruz chapter of Nanowrimo made the local paper. You can read the article, complete with an interview with yours truly here. Second, just because I'm writing a novel doesn't

Aoibheallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16638484120508832902noreply@blogger.com0