New Directions

In the past few days, I confessed (separately) to my boyfriend and one of my best friends the method I use to put myself to sleep.

I tell myself stories. I have done this for years now. In fact, I remember some warm California sleepovers a long time ago during which my best friend and I imagined our own fantasies in virtual video cassette form and popped them into imaginary VHS players. (Oh, by the way, we were two of the founding members of the Weirdo Club. WWRTW!) In those days, our fantasies involved becoming figure skating legends or dating Nick or Brian from the Backstreet Boys. Over the years, my storytelling methods lost their literal translation from life to the screen in my head, and I focused more on the details of the stories themselves. I started seeing my novels come to life, my characters like actors in a play while a voice over described what they were doing and how they felt about it.

The past couple of months, my novels have moved off the stage (though I still retreat into their comforting embrace in daydreams), and a more sordidly detailed sort of setting has taken their place. An entire soap opera of characters and drama has gradually taken shape in my head until I can lie contented with insomnia for hours, imagining the various misdeeds and ill-begotten children of that world in my head. Having confessed this silly secret to my boyfriend, his reaction was "well, why don't you write it?"

Me? Write down all that smut and ridiculousness? I mean, I secretly adore watching General Hospital, and I can't say I haven't forgotten all of the outrageous stories my girlfriends and I used to play with our Barbie Dolls. But write it? I feel like that would be a betrayal to my other stories - stories that may involve sex and illicit relationships and murder, but have nowhere near the "watching the train wreck" feel of an actual soap opera.

However... A serial soap opera could be fun. And seeing as I have the characters and plots already formed, why the hell not? It will be entertaining, and, hey, there's a reason soap operas and thrillers and Harlequin romances sell so well. Besides, there's always the plus that this will make me post/write something every day.

The real question is - is anyone interested in reading this crazy stuff? And if not here, where could I take it?

Love is a bird..

I imagine that if Melantha made a music video, she might look like this.



For those of you who don't know who Melantha is, she's the Scerae (i.e. a goddess) of Chaos and Insanity in a fantasy story that M and I wrote together. She is known as the Black Flower, born of the Cruel Shard, and she is the best thing I have ever written.

Here's how she first appeared:

On Writing

Trying to back into the habit of writing daily. It's amazing the things that fall by the wayside when one gets even a little busy. I've finally gotten around to hanging pictures on the walls of my apartment, and the atmospheric difference is amazing.

My boyfriend and I attended a friend's salon gathering on Friday night. There were many beautiful things shared: poetry, food, some gorgeous violin/cello music, even a mostly impromptu rap. I offered to do a little reading of my own, and chose A Hunter's Fire as my subject. I read a small scene where my main character is sitting in a diner with her newly formed rock band; it's mostly internal monologue indicating the beginning of her slip from reality. And it went over pretty well. I got some questions and some compliments, and overall felt good about the whole thing.

(I am planning my own salon party. Soon, I hope. If you're around and interested, let me know and I'll send you an invitation!)

A Hunter's Fire is probably my favorite novel of those I am currently working on. Face the Flames will always be my first baby, but AHF is the story that rings truest to me. An artist's descent into madness is a story I am always interested in. Now if only I could decide what to keep of what I've written - and whether or not I should just turn the damn thing into a screenplay instead.

Face the Flames goes ever on and on. I'm stuck in Dameon's world right now. Trying to iron out his chapters in part one. I messed up the timeline awhile ago and am still in the process of trying to fix it. I have done bits and pieces of future chapters though which I am very excited about. Mostly about Tori and David's relationship which (aside from Gabrielle and James in AHF) is my favorite thing to write about.

Wings of Destiny is still in editing. As soon as I finish up with that though, it will be time to find a serious agent and get that out there for the masses to devour. I'm pretty excited; I think it has a decent shot. Despite or because of the craziness.

Other projects are ongoing... The North and my various Circle of Four stories almost never leave my head. I get scraps of them down from time to time, but nothing solid yet. I've also got an autobiographical piece I've been steadily adding to. Moreso for the past month or two. I guess getting older makes you stupidly in love with your childhood.

Oh! And in the vein of trying to resurrect my daily writing schedule, I signed up for a Science Fiction Big Bang. Four months to write 25,000 words. This is half of what NaNoWriMo requires stretched four times as long. I'm going to write a prequel of sorts to Face the Flames as my challenge. It will follow Human characters on Siphenn - and David may or may not be among them. He and General Hunter will probably be the only characters to appear in both this story (tentatively titled "Desperado") and the novel.

Excitement!

NaNoWriMo and ALB

Anyone who knows me well these days knows that the month of November is largely dedicated to the crazy trip that is writing 50,000 words in 30 days.

This, along with the fact that I spent the majority of last month finding a place to live, furnishing it, and delving into the realm of real adulthood is why I haven't posted for nearly a month.

So a brief update is in order.

I have started my new job as an Inventory Arborist. I'm in training right now - but the job consists of surveying trees in the Worcester County area for signs of the Asian Long-Horned Beetle. As you may or may not know, this invasive beetle causes terrible damage to our native trees (maples in particular). The USDA has launched a huge effort to get this beetle under control here on the borders of rural New England before it can get away from us and invade our hardwood forests, causing untold numbers of dollars in economic damage - not to mention irreversible aesthetic damage. The ALB arrived in this area in 2008 and since then the government has cut down nearly 30,000 trees in an effort to eradicate it. The contractor I work for is responsible for closely monitoring and indicating where damage remains or is spreading.

Above: Damage caused by the ALB - perfectly round exit holes and chewed areas where the female lays her eggs in the tree.

Below: The adult Asian Long-Horned Beetle. 

Alert the USDA immediately if you notice any of these beetles in your area or see this sort of damage on your trees! www.mass.gov/agr -or- 1-866-702-9938

So I've got that going on. And it's going well. I love that I'm working a job where I feel like I'm making an actual difference in the world. Wish me luck cause my first USDA test (only get two chances to pass this thing) is this Friday!

National Novel Writing Month is the other thing dominating my life right now. I've got what I think is a fantastic story this year. Mortal Coils is about a family of witches living in an old New England town. Told through the eyes of Noah Macpherson, a male scion of the family, there is lots of family drama, the problems with growing up different from everyone else, and mysterious dreams that seem to be plaguing Noah and no one else. Did I mention that he falls in love with a girl who houses an angelic spirit determined to kill him and his entire family as demon worshipers? It's crazy stuff. I've fallen behind this week due to adjusting to new work schedule and other things like an all day Lord of the Rings extended edition marathon on Saturday. But I am catching up today. 

I hope. 

Hopefully more normal posting will soon resume - that way I can feel like I really have a life again.

Green Pieces

A little self-service here.

In addition to my mighty works of fiction and ramblings about life and its many complexities... I also keep a science blog. The purpose of it is to demystify many of the issues we face in science and nature. Most people love science when they're young and gradually become disillusioned by the jargon and the math when they go through school. But science is a wonderful realm of amazing things and I think everyone deserves to regain that love they had when they were kids.

In my blog, I cover many things - the ethics of our political decisions about the environment, current scientific research, the pure joy of watching nature at its finest... There are amusing and fascinating nature videos every Tuesday. And my current project (inspired by my new job) is an in-depth look at invasive species.

The blog can be found here: Green Pieces For Everyone