No more work avoidance ... just doing what needs to be done

That's right, I've given up work avoidance in favour of writing - I finished Chapter 8 of my WIP, which is great - and in doing ALL that other stuff around our home which needs to be done.

But the writing fairy, if there is such a thing, must be on my side, because when I went out to cut the grass, the lawn mower wouldn't start. The weed whacker won't start either (it hates me), so until my hubby comes home from work to pull start these things for me, our lovely green grass will have to stay 5 inches too long for another day. Which means I can write ... as long as the kiddos stop fighting long enough for me to compose a coherent sentence or two!

Of course, that would be in between taking our two-year old to the toilet 700 times a day. I've decided it is time for the diapers and pull-ups to leave our house forever, and so have broken out the training pants, plastic pants and diaper bucket for ye olde intensive toilet-training. Which, of course, will mean more laundry every night, but it'll be good for her. She doesn't like being "poobie", and is seemingly obsessed with being "keen", so, it is time.

Meanwhile, for your reading pleasure, I've added a list of writing related sites to this blog. Some are blogs of other writers, one is a site full of book reviews, and others are just sites of general writing interest. I quite enjoy reading other writers' blogs, they're often quite entertaining! Much more so than mine, but of course, that's just my opinon.

Must go now and get back to the laundry, toilet-training, lunch-making and writing. Wonder which task will be the most successful today? Most likely lunch and laundry.

Work avoidance tactic #38 ... Blog

I've got all my stuff out, notes etc. I've got a coffee and most of my housework is done, so I have no reason not to start writing ... but I seem to have fallen into the abyss of work avoidance. First I spent some time on Facebook, playing Wordscraper - waking up my brain for the day's slog. But now, instead of opening the Word document containing my WIP, I'm here - blathering.

And no, I'm not rewriting Cold Cuts. I thought about it, what to change and all that ... but then I got out the ms and started reading it. I found one spelling mistake (oops!), but decided that other than fixing that one thing, I can't bring myself to hack, chop, slice and dice the book just yet. Instead, I'm thinking of changing its title, something I'm still working on, after spending most of yesterday afternoon trying to come up with something reasonable. Something that doesn't sound like food, you know? But it's not happening.

So, when all else fails, grab a Timmy's and head to Facebook. Or get out my WIP and get a move on with it.

At one o'clock this afternoon, I'm supposed to be at the kids' school for their concert with Paul Hann, who comes to the school every year and writes goofy songs with the kids. I've heard Brenden's song a couple of times - its about the joys of reading! - but Amie's is a secret. She won't tell me a thing about it. Except that it's NOT Meatballs and Spaghetti. Bummer, I like that song.

Back to work, now that I've blogged for the day, heehee. Oh yeah, I think I'm sending Cold Cuts (hopefully with its NEW title) to the Arthur Ellis Awards again this year - category of Best Unpublished First Novel. It got an honourable mention in 2007, so maybe this year, it'll do a little better. Or way better. But first, I'd better fix that typo!

Rewrites R Us

Yes, after humming and haaing about whether to rewrite Cold Cuts in the face of my latest "turn down", I have decided that a rewrite is definitely in order.

Argh!

So, I went right back to square one and re-read the evaluation I had done back in 2005, to see if I had missed anything, and for an idea of where I might begin. Cheryl was most wise, and I was not, because I didn't quite make all the changes she suggested. Admittedly, initially it was difficult to "get" exactly what I should change to improve my bad guy (make him badder and more plausible) . . . but now I get it. And in getting it, an enormous amount of slicing and dicing is required to get my story to where it should be. I think I'm going to start with cutting the number of corpses in half, and revising the killer's motive somewhat. Not to mention, overhauling the foreshadowing I did, and the glimpses inside the killer's mind.

All this, and I haven't even re-read the ms yet!

Which reminds me, I better dig out the box with the hard copy in it, and get after it. I have many reams of paper, and fresh ink, so there's no excuse for avoiding this rewrite.

While I'm doing that, you should check out the new links I posted on the left, to some blogs of my fellow crime writers. Definitely some interesting reading there.

Rejected again . . . but you know, it doesn't really hurt.

That's right, I got a rejection letter yesterday . . . from Insomniac Press--the one I really had my hopes pinned on, since they actually asked to see my mss, after reading my letter and synopsis. But apparently, my book is not "outsider" enough for them. Not that I'm complaining, exactly, it was a very nice rejection letter, as far as rejection letters go . . . but its still a rejection. And I really would like to know what "outsider" means.

Does it mean my novel is too mainstream for them, or Canadian publishers in general? Or have I simply been too technical, put too much "stuff" in my novel, rather than letting the story flow, however it will? Not that I gave the plot a huge amount of direction . . . if my characters insisted on doing something I hadn't previously plotted or outlined, but it was good/fun/interesting, I let it happen.

Regardless of what "outsider" means, a review of my mss and some rewriting is certainly in the cards. Like starting tomorrow.

Luckily for me, my fellow CWC members have been most generous with their support and advice on moving past this latest rejection. Writing is fun, although rejection is not, so I shall persevere and hopefully, one day, this will become an AUTHOR's blog!!

Anyhow, enough drivel from me. Back to the drawing board.

New Computer ... new chapters

At long last, I upgraded and got a new computer, one which actually operates as fast I type!! No more plodding along with 320MB of RAM, no siree! I cannot believe I put up with that for so long ... and way back when we got it, when Y2K compatibility was the "in" thing, I thought it was fast!!

So, the words are flowing a touch faster ... and deviating from the outline once again. Oh well, technically, the outline is just a guide anyhow, an idea of how I'd thought the story would unfold. The killer hasn't changed, the protagonist hasn't changed, so I know where I'm going with that, lol.

I might post the first chapter here, sometime to see how you all like it. Personally, I think it's awesome, but then again, I'm a touch biased.

Ed Hoch honoured in renaming SMFS award

The late Ed Hoch, probably the most prolific short mystery fiction writer out there, is being honoured by the Short Mystery Fiction Society, which voted overwhelming to rename its Golden Derringer Award. Members responded to the following poll:

"Should the SMFS rename its Golden Derringer lifetime achievement award in honor of prolific short mystery fiction author Edward D. Hoch? "

Were I a member, I most certainly would've voted in favour of this. I have never read an issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine without seeing a short story of Ed Hoch's in it. And I thoroughly enjoyed each and every story. So much so, that I even tried to write short stories myself. Unfortunately, that was a no-go. I'm not a short-story writer.

I don't think there is any other short mystery fiction writer more deserving of having an award named after him than Edward Hoch. He will be sorely missed in the writing community, and I know I will treasure my copies of the AHMM issues with his stories in them.

Another long break between posts ...

I don't know how some people do it. Write their blogs everyday. I mean, I talk a lot, but I don't necessarily have that much to say. Which is why I haven't updated this for more than 2 months. More like almost 3 months.

That's one of my excuses anyhow.

The other, more accurate excuse is that its just been far too nice out to sit in the basement in front of the computer. So, instead of writing, I have been gardening. And my garden is just lovely. Not flowers though, although it does have flowers in it. I'm talking vegetables. My spuds are up to our 2-year old's shoulders, and everything else is growing great guns too. Well, except the carrots, had a problem with those, but I think I've fixed it. At last count I had over 30 carrots, so that's good.

But this is supposed to be a writer's blog, not a gardening blog, lol.

Due to the awesome hot, dry weather, and gardening, I have written nothing recently. Until yesterday, when I managed to get back to it. And you know, its going well. Apart from more technical difficulties with the computer. That seems to be a theme around here. Technology is against me! Seems I've mostly tossed my chapter outline out the window on this book - I mean, I'm following it, loosely, but the book is taking on a life of its own. Luckily, I decided who the killer was before I started, otherwise, who knows what would happen? My characters are running around Castor Creek, doing their own thing, and not necessarily listening to me. Much like children.

Speaking of children, I'm being paged by the 2-year-old. Still waiting news from Insomniac, but I'll update you all when I hear from them. If not before. No, I will write again before I hear from them. I will!!