Earth Abides by George R Stewart: Tried and attempted, but never finished. Too slow moving and read more like a school report than a novel. I know it's thought of as pinnacle and received great reviews, but I'm shelving this one.

Ark by Stephen Baxter: Did not finish this one, either. It held my attention until the half way point and then I lost interest completely. I'm not going to say it's a horrible book, but clearly not my cup of tea.

The Passage: In Progress

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I'm part of a new MUSH, NYC: Veil of Shadows. It's a modern/dark fantasy/horror/gothic MUSH that borrows from and combines different mythos into something new, and we're really looking for players.

Here's the intro from the welcome page:

The city that doesn’t sleep. To the untrained eye it is a bustling mecca of people and energy, lights and sounds and smells. It’s a perpetually in motion metropolis where businesses rise and fall, careers are made and broken, and there is always something for everyone from tourist to resident.

Beneath that glitzy veneer, however, lies an unseen world. This is the world where those with the power to channel it heal themselves, call upon fire or make the ground break. In this world, there is a man listening to the thoughts of those around him on the subway, there is a woman moving objects without using her hands. When the sun sets, a woman rises from the shadows taking refuge in the beauty of the night to feed upon the blood of the unsuspecting. As the moon rises full in the sky a man takes refuge in Central Park and one might hear howls at the sky.

This is New York behind the Veil of Shadows. Welcome to a place where the supernatural flourishes in the modern world. New York: Veil of Shadows is a modern fantasy/horror MU* that borrows loosely from a variety of media outlets to create an entirely new supernatural realm. It is a world where vampires do business in skyscrapers or back alleys, a world where ghosts wander the streets and haunt places old and new, where werewolves run in packs and witches and warlocks pass on their craft to the next worthy generation. It is a place of magic and suspense, filled with intrigue and colored by myth and legend.

Come, create a character and take your place behind The Veil of Shadows.

The address is: nycmush.net:4228

New post at fantasy_echoes.

Creative, but not fic.

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It's nearing the end of the year, and also nearing the end of my creativity. I've been RPing and NanoWriMo-ing and I need to kick start my creative juices so . . . a meme!

(Stolen from elleth)

( Without further ado. . .Collapse )

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I have created a tumblr for my fantasy_echoes blog.

Why? I haven't the slightest idea, but it was very late, I was very tired and it seemed like a good idea at the time. (I'm pretty sure a lot of forgotten and buried memories from college started in much the same way, except that there was more alcohol involved.)

For those interested, it can be found at fantasy-echoes.tumblr.com. I'll start posting my creative, fictional endeavors there as well, as soon as I figure out what I'm doing with the dang thing.

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I won.

Thirty days, fifty thousand words, and even with some really bad days and downtime in there.

But, I did it. For the first time ever, I finished NaNoWriMo. I went into this feeling like a cheater, or like it didn't really count because what I'm writing is a work of fan fiction. However, I chugged and slaved over this fan fic like I have anything else I've ever written, perhaps more so because it was a new fandom and new characters. I went in with a vague and basic idea, and at 50K words, the story wasn't doing nearly what I thought it would do, and the road it took was so meandering that it never got to the place I wanted it . . . but I did get 50,000 words.

( It's not as easy as it sounds.Collapse )



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Yesterday was hard.

I got my official NaNo recommended word count, but it was by the skin of my teeth and it was a push-pull struggle all the way. My focus was off and while I knew what I wanted to say, I was having a hell of a time saying it. The end product was crap of the highest magnitude, but the words got written.

I'm hoping for a little better progress today, but it's an up and down day due to Girl activities. I broke 30,000 words (by my count, I haven't checked it against the official NaNo validator), so I only have 20,000 to go. In a way, that's good. According to NaNo and my NaNoWriMo report card, if I keep at the pace I'm writing, I'll finish next Friday, November 18th.

( Go me. But . . .Collapse )




(I missed my check in last night. Didn't update my word count before midnight so it looks I did nothing yesterday. On the plus side, maybe that means when I update again tonight, it'll look spectacular?)

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I am either doing something right, or doing something completely wrong.

I have, thus far, managed to keep up a steady pace with NaNoWriMo this year. I haven't gotten overwhelmed, or (super) distracted, and I've stayed on task. I'm already at 25K words, and the story has barely started.

(Yeah, but I've come to accept that I'm a bit wordy, and editing comes later, right?)

So, what am I doing differently?

I'm not entirely certain. This year I went in without an outline or even a general plan. I had an idea and decided I would just start typing and see where the words and the characters took me. I also haven't limited myself to writing in a linear fashion. I have a basic idea of the story and outline - for the first part - once the words started flowing. So, plugging ahead on a later scene, or not stopping to stress when I can't get a scene isn't a problem.

If I can't find the words, I move on.

One thing I am doing differently this year, I'm writing a work of fan fiction. Call it lazy or cheating, but it's working for me. I'm getting words out and I'm having fun while doing it. In recent years, I've had stress fits over NaNo, or not enjoyed it much. I'm enjoying the story the characters are telling, so who cares if it's somebody's else's sandbox?

I'm calling this a dry run. If I can do this for a(n) (epic) fan fic, maybe next year I'll be ready to tackle a work of original fiction.

Or, maybe I'll stick to the sequel.





(Oh yeah, I'm MommieGeek over at NaNoWriMo if anyone wants to be writing buddies.)

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Yes, I'm trying NaNoWriMo again this year. If anyone out there wants to add me as a Writing Buddy at the site, you'll find me under MommieGeek.

That's all for now. I'll babble ... or vent . . .later.

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It's been almost a month since my last update.

I would love to update and say that I've been writing furiously on my story for crossbigbang, but that wouldn't be the truth. I have tried, I mean, really really tried, but I'm stuck somewhere in Chapter Five and Six and don't quite know how to get myself going again. Not from lack of trying, simply from lack of interest or motivation. I read the story, and the characters are not singing to me the way they used to. The story is not keeping me awake at night, or talking to me in the shower, or creeping up on me when I'm driving in my car.

I am, however, writing. After a fashion. I've joined a new RP. It's a MUX (Please don't ask. I don't know why it's a MUX and not a MUSH or a MUD or a MOO. I'm just happy to figure out the interface - woefully slowly - and being doing some interactive type of RP.) It's not officially open yet, and when it is, it will probably be invitation or audition-only, so I'm not going to link the URL just yet. I'm getting additional writing outside of the MUX by posting blogs and "off-screen" scenes, which is where I've been flexing my writing muscle. I'll likely post those over on fantasy_echoes over the next few days.

In other news, The Big 4-0 came and went just as all birthdays do. I'm not the sort of person who's going to break into tears because I'm 40 and I haven't accomplished the goals I set for myself at 18 (or 25). I'm 40, I'm alive, I'm healthy, I'm employed and in this day and age all of that is saying a lot and should be appreciated. And I do appreciate it all.

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