I managed an amazing eight+ hours of sleep last night, which seems nothing short of miraculous, and today I feel much, much better. Which is good, because I would have hated to go through the Solstice in a stupor. I know I haven't been speaking much here on the subject of Wicca and paganism; it was a conscious decision. But I would like to wish all those who do observe Midsummer a very joyful and wondrous Solstice.
Yesterday was spent almost entirely on
The Dinosaurs of Mars, even if I have no word count to show for my efforts. Lately, I find that I'm having to remind myself that writing is more than the
act of writing. Yesterday, some important strides in characterization were made, and now I have a better understanding of Babette Flanagan and her situation. Also, I have decided to set the story in a less distant future. So, instead of the MSS II (Second Mars Speleological Survey) taking place in 2132, it'll be happening nearer 2075 or so. This alleviates some of my language concerns, if nothing else. Much of yesterday was spent examining in detail photographs of the Apollinaris Patera caldera from the ESA Mars Express' High Resolution Stereo Camera. And just trying to wrap my brain around a caldera so vast.
Producer D called at 4:30 p.m., and we had a Very Encouraging Meeting as regards the "Onion" screenplay, which I will be returning to work on sometime in the next few days. We talked of other things, as well, as D and I often seem the be thinking on the same wavelength. So, there was also discussion of
Donnie Darko and
The Parallax View, of sf as film, of our mutual preference for dark sf over genre horror, and many other things. Today, I am trying to come to grips with all the work I have to get done this summer. Right now, it looks something like this:
1. Write
The Dinosaurs of Mars (it would be good to finish by mid July).
2. Write and produce
Sirenia Digest #s 20 and 21 (subscribers should expect #19 very soon, by the way).
3. Finish the "Onion" screenplay (and, truthfully, it's hardly begun).
4. Begin
Joey Lafaye (which is due in April 2008).
5. Write a short story that I've promised to
Clarkesworld Magazine (which will either be a story about ghouls beneath Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery or a story about what happened to Salammbô Desvernine after "Salammbô," and which will serve as a sort of long overdue afterword to
Tales of Pain and Wonder).
And I think that's quite enough work for even
three nixars.
Last night, I had some very relaxing and intriguing
Second Life. I like how readers keep dropping in on my flat/workshop in New Babbage. It's good to have a place to sit and talk. Later, Spooky and I watched Graham Robertson's
Abel Edwards (2004), a delightful and surprisingly effective little sf film. And that was yesterday, more or less.
The platypus says it's time to stop flapping my gums and get to work. I do not argue with the platypus.
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