Posted by Christine on Jan 3, 2008 in Randomness |
Sometimes I feel like the stories in my head are made of Jello, or slime, or Jello slime. The stories jiggle and wiggle and they float in my head in a state that is neither solid nor liquid. The trick is trying to catch them and mold them into something. I kind of thought I was crazy. Then I heard professional authors at the conference I attended talk about how they wrote. They talked about characters having their own personality how sometimes they had to change the entire direction of a story to accommodate these characters. I heard about people talking to themselves in the mirror in order to understand the story. I heard all about how other people write. Suddenly my Jello Slime didn’t seem so abnormal. As I write and sometimes the slime begins to congeal into something solid and a story begins to take a shape it can hold and grow with it. I love that feeling. Like I helped the slime find it’s permanent home. Sometimes the first shape I try seems like it will fit, only to find out as the story grows that the slime won’t hold the design I set. So I try another shape, and another, until I find the shape that fits the story. The shape that fits the slime and makes it something solid, gives it a home. Hmmm…. writing sounds kind of gross when put it in terms of slime. Sometimes it gets frustrating to keep fighting to figure out how the slime needs to look. What will make it comfortable enough to set and become solid. Still I love it. It kind of reminds me of motherhood. Kids can be slimy too, uhm I mean there is no set pattern and each child is unique, just like each story. Sometimes you have to reset the entire pattern of parenthood/writing, to accommodate the slime… er, I mean story/child you are working with. Motherhood and writing. My two favorite...
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Posted by Christine on Jan 2, 2008 in Randomness |
Here it is the beginning of 2008 and it’s time to decide what exactly I want to accomplish this year. I have to admit it will be hard to top last year. I mean being born and all is a big thing. However I have to try – after all if you don’t try you can’t do anything!!! So here they are my resolutions for the year 2008. 1) To write every day – for 30 minutes a day, or at least 750 words a day. This is real writing time, not doing crits for my critique group or doing editing, but really writing. After all I will never get anything finished if I never actually sit down and write. (Yesterday I did really well on this one, I wrote for about 4 hour and got out about 12,000 words!) 2) To have my novel completely clean and ready to pitch by October when I plan to attend the Surrey Writing conference again. 3) To write and submit at least three short stories for publication during the year 2008. I have one written and in critique already and I hope to be able to send it for submission to a magazine by the end of the month. So that’s my new years goals. How about you, any goals this...
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Posted by Christine on Dec 31, 2007 in Randomness |
The year 2007 has been a busy one for me. For starters I was born. It’s interesting to be born at age 30. I came into the world with a husband, children and bills to pay. Luckily I was also born with a passion and I didn’t have to spend years trying to discover it. My passion, the story. I love stories. I love to read them, to tell them and to write them. So this year I was born Christine Brant teller of stories. I have accomplished many things in my first year of life. I shopped a novel to some agents – about a dozen – and realized I was not yet ready to shop anything. So I stored the novel under my bed and let it die a peaceful and comfortable death. Instead of lingering over my poor dead story, one that will always have a special place in my heart as the first novel I ever finished writing, I began another novel. I decided to join an online Critique group and fell in love with it. The feedback and support I have gotten from them has been invaluable to me and is helping me develop as a writer in major ways. Next I tried my hand at short stories. I wrote “A Decade of Scottsdale” over the summer and entered it into the Surrey International Writers Conference storytellers competition. I won. I attended my first writing conference. The above mentioned Surrey International Writers Conference. It was the highlight of my year. I attended great workshops, met fabulous people, and got spectacular advise that I plan to follow as closely as I can. I participated in NaNo WriMo (Aka: National Novel Writing Month) and completed 29,000 words of the novel I am currently writing. Overall an eventful year. As 2008 approaches and I look back on 2007 I have to say I am content with the past year. In fact I am down right thrilled with it. What more could I ask from my first year of...
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Posted by Christine on Dec 25, 2007 in Randomness |
I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Mine was great fabulous and fun filled. My kids had a blast, I had a blast… It was great and I am lucky to be blessed with such a wonderful. So I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Talk to you more about writing in 2008.
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Posted by Christine on Nov 7, 2007 in Randomness |
What does the future look like? How different is it from now? What makes the year 3000 different from the year 2000? Well I know one thing that will not change. The people. One thousand years ago people were basically the same as they are now. They ate, drank, loved, hated, and grew as individuals, if they could survive. They feared death and slavery and they attempted to live the best way they could. Today people eat, drink, love, hate, and grow. They fear the loss of their basic human rights and they fear death. People try to live the best way they can. A thousand years from now people will eat, drink, love, hate and grow. They will fear the loss of basic human rights, whatever they are perceived to be and they will fear death. People will try to live the best way that they can. In the end any story told that involves people is the same. So what does my future look like? The one I have drawn in my head. Well, it’s not so different. People live on many planets but they still have homes. They decorate them with images of loved ones and favorite places. They like comfortable clothing and furniture not hard plastics or glass. They want to curl up with a warm drink when it snows. They move around in the universe the way we move around our planet. Most major illnesses have been cured – if you are lucky enough to live in the right place. Colonies are like the frontier once was to us. Distant, removed, often low on water and resources. There cancer can still kill. There resources are still precious. While in the future vocabulary will change. I see the language of the future as an amalgam of Spanish, English and other major languages. However there will be people who do not choose to speak this “Common” language. Rather they will honor their heritage and speak another tongue. To make the lives of you dear reader easier – I have taken the initiative to translate their language for you. That’s just a glimpse, you’ll have to wait to read the book to see what the world looks like in the year...
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Posted by Christine on Nov 5, 2007 in Randomness |
So last year I made a list of the books I wanted for Christmas. It turned out to be a great idea. I got all the books I wanted and Hubby was glad he had gotten me gifts I enjoyed. So this year I am repeating the process. I thought I would share my Christmas list with you. Amazon.com: Reserved for the Cat (Elemental Masters, Book 5) Amazon.com: Jinx High Amazon.com: On the Prowl Amazon.com: An Ice Cold Grave (Harper Connelly Mysteries, Book 3) Amazon.com: Magic Bites (Kate Daniels Series, Book 1) Amazon.com: Iron Kissed (Mercy Thompson Series, Book 3) Amazon.com: Many Bloody Returns Amazon.com: Poltergeist (Greywalker, Book 2) Amazon.com: Next Amazon.com: Poison Study Amazon.com: The Bone Doll’s Twin (Tamir Triad) Amazon.com: Playing For Pizza So what books would you put on your Christmas list this...
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