Being a Brief Account of Another Dead Day

[greygirlbeast]

There's not a whole lot to say about yesterday. I did not "hammer out" the proposal for Blood Oranges. Instead, I sat here all day, making notes for the book, trying to find something like a plot. That provisional plot I inevitably use for proposals, which often looks very little like the finished book. I think I may include the proposal for The Red Tree in Sirenia Digest #48, as an example, because I read back over it yesterday, and I truly am grateful the book described therein is not the book I ended up writing. It'll be the same way this time, but even knowing that makes this no easier. I'm just no good at "hammering out" prose, even provisional prose. My response to the received wisdom of writing instructors and workshops that one should never be afraid of writing a bad first draft...well, it's rude, my response, and centers on my general unwillingness to write anything badly.

I did come up with two names yesterday, the name of the narrator (yes, it's another first-person narrative)— India Phelps —and the name of her lover— Eva Canning. I lifted Eva from "Werewolf Smile," from Sirenia Digest #45, though this Eva will be a very different Eva from that Eva. It's not much, but it's a start.

I am thinking that today I'll be going to a library to continue my notes and the working out of this puzzle, in hopes that by tomorrow I'll be ready to write the proposal/synopsis thing, however provisional it might be. And I still have a short story to write for Bill Schafer at subpress this month, and two pieces to write for Sirenia Digest #48. That means I have, at best, twenty days remaining to get all this work done, having lost most of those first ten days of November.

Please have a look at the current eBay auctions. Thanks.

I forgot to mention that Spooky and I read and adored David Petersen's Mouseguard Fall 1152, and are now looking forward to Winter 1152.

However, last night we watched the series premiere of the V remake (it really is a remake, and not a "reboot"), thanks to Hulu, and I was not so impressed. Thing is, I was never much of a fan of the original series, and I saw very little last night that improved upon it. Sure, Morena Baccarin does a superb job, and is extremely easy on the eyes. But that's about all the first episode had going for it. Partly, it's that this new V is weighed down by the blandness that usually infects network television. Interchangeable, forgettable characters reciting forgettable, interchangeable dialogue. I'll watch again next week, but I'm no longer optimistic.

And now I need to get dressed and slip out into the chilly grey day.

Comments

[sovay]

the name of the narrator (yes, it's another first-person narrative)— India Phelps

Nice.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

I thought so. Though, I have a first-cousin named India, as I hope she isn't going to take this the wrong way.

[sovay]

Though, I have a first-cousin named India, as I hope she isn't going to take this the wrong way.

I think I'd be flattered.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

We shall see.

V

[myownpetard.livejournal.com]

apparently V's producers aren't sure how they feel about it either--they've only made three episodes

Re: V

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

apparently V's producers aren't sure how they feel about it either--they've only made three episodes

Interesting. So, everyone's hedging their bets.

Re: V

[myownpetard.livejournal.com]

i just hope they aren't here just to eat people, like in the previous V. that was lame.

Re: V

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

i just hope they aren't here just to eat people, like in the previous V. that was lame.

It seems probable.

Rude Humility

[bleedingtom.livejournal.com]

Well, you state that hammering out prose is not your dance, but I don't know what to make of this daily mirror of you. Its certainly the most enjoyable diary I've read and the ease, the weight of your words on here is most fit indeed. If that sounded British, excuse me. I'm halfway through the BBC adaptation of Hitchhikers Guide, and the Queen's way with words seems to seep into me quite easily.

V is another network scif treatment. In my memory, the mass media seems allow their marketers to write, direct, and act in the shows. Its sad, and perhaps the reason that the people at large don't read science fiction half as much as they should.

Re: Rude Humility

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

Well, you state that hammering out prose is not your dance, but I don't know what to make of this daily mirror of you.

It's not fiction, mostly, and I have much less trouble with nonfiction.

If that sounded British, excuse me.

I have often been accused of excessive formality in my language. No apology necessary.

Rough Drafts and The Red Tree

[kendare-blake.livejournal.com]

Good luck on that proposal writing business. I share your view of bad first drafts. Unusable writing is such a time-suck. But we, the readership, definitely appreciate your toils, and hopefully we all support you where we can. I know I'll definitely be buying a copy of The Ammonite Violin, and I'm just now getting into The Red Tree. I pre-ordered it months ago, but I've gotten into this bad habit of savoring the good stuff, so reading takes forever unless it's dung, when it should be the other way around. About The Red Tree, I don't know how this hasn't increased your readership by leaps and bounds. I think it's a great, gritty, creepy novel, and seems so accessible to even first time readers of your work. I'm finding myself increasingly attached to the doomed Sarah Crowe, despite her attempts to be unlovable. I just read Constance's Newport ghost story and the accounting of the Ames murders aloud to my husband, because he is a sissy who can barely stomach the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, and I wanted to make him uncomfortable. To my disappointment, he seems to have sprouted a spine and instead said, "Wow, she's a pretty good writer, huh?"

Anyway, I look forward to finishing it. Good luck with that expensive medical thing, and thank you for the excellent stories.

Re: Rough Drafts and The Red Tree

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

About The Red Tree, I don't know how this hasn't increased your readership by leaps and bounds.

Because books do not sell well because they're well written. For that matter, they do not sell well because they're poorly written, either. As so forth. It's a crap shoot, somewhat rigged by advertising.