| Trying LJ again, trying journaling again |
[Oct. 17th, 2007|04:49 pm] |
Back to journaling. Guess I don't really like blogger or something. Anyway, Tales is still here and I guess I just prefer to use something with a history on it. Got rid of some old stuff and hopefully the people who are still subbing to this blog will notice the new post.
Anyway, I've started playing World of Warcraft and have two active characters. I'm also planning on doing NaNoWriMo this year as well.
I've got quite a bit to post about and am interested to find out what others think about some of this stuff.
Anyway, my books are still for sale at Renaissance and are doing moderately well. (www.renebooks.com, author Tabitha Bradley)
However, I'm in the planning stages for a manuscript headed for a print publisher (Baen or Tor) and am currently trying to figure out if I am going to do fantasy or sf. Diranda fantasy was a lot of fun for a while there and I probably would have continued doing that if I hadn't decided to query e-books.
My art is up at Renderosity under the username Diranda, and my website is www.diranda.com
More soon! |
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| Just Tell the Story |
[Nov. 16th, 2005|11:24 pm] |
From the "Rants" section at Stone Dragon Press:
http://www.stonedragonpress.com/
March 30, 2001
Just Tell the Story
"Please. If you have a story that's tense or scary or ominous or whatever, tell the story and let it tense me or scare me or ominate me or whatever. Mood is OK, I ain't got problems with mood, but look at Lovecraft: I screamed aloud that I was not afraid; that I never could be afraid; and others screamed with me for solace. That's so simple it's worthy of Hemingway, and I almost wet myself when I read that the first time.
And Poe: The thousand insults of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. Dood. Someone is extremely fuqqued up and dangerous. And Poe again: "Listen to me," said the Demon as he put his hand upon my head. There's a lot rolled up in that, and the more I unroll it, the scareder I get."
I wish more ebook authors would actually do the above, and other things this publisher's rants page cover. Ridiculous. Know how many things I was taught growing up that I've been told were 'wrong' since I got into ebooks? |
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| From: "I Hate Myself and Want to Die" Forum @ NaNoWriMo.org: "Do You Keep Restarting?" |
[Nov. 15th, 2005|12:39 pm] |
My first year, it took three trys to get started, and I was only a week and a half late by the time the story took off. I did get to 50K that year. Second year I tried three times and then life got in the way and ended up with a horrible mess by the end of the month.
This year, I've tried so far three times. I've had a personal crisis intervine this weekend which ended up with me deciding to quit my current career (I write for ebooks. No, I am not happy.) since I'd felt forced to change the universe I was writing in to accomodate the publisher's wishes and the percieved trends of the industry.
Wanting to change to a more fantasy-type setting, I was forced to, if I wanted to continue to sell books to publishers, keep my characters in a SF setting that I'd grown very, very tired of and had never intended to publish in the first place, to add erotica scenes to my books even if I didn't really want to (since straight sf 'never sells'--editor told me that, after she bought two 'straight sf' books from me), and change the way I write to romance plots. I was also told that if I didn't change my voice to a much more limited viewpoint, I'd 'never sell another book'. I was criticized for 'head-hopping' and a book that won an award was going to have to be completely rewritten in 'an acceptable point of view' if I wanted it to be printed.
I tried to write
A: an Ancient Egyptian fantasy story. Lost interest before I put any words down.
B: A 'straight fantasy' story. I disliked it before I hit 3K but forced myself to keep going until I hated it. I then realized that I was forcing every word, writing it with the end result of selling it to the publisher in mind.
C: I gave up on the fantasy and started to write the sequel to a book I had out in the SF setting. I love this setting, but haven't been thrilled with the SF elements of it for a long time. I realized as I neared 10K that not only was my writing forced, I was losing interest in my beloved characters, my voice was unreal (not mine), I was forcing each word and the worst of all: I seem to have forgotten how to plot a story that wasn't focused on 1: sex and 2: romance. If the scenes weren't working up to a sex scene and the plot wasn't centered around a romance, then I didn't have any idea what to do.
This killed me. Here I was, with two of my favorite characters and I can't write for them. My setting, which I love, doesn't feel comfortable to me anymore and all I can think about it pleasing my editors. It didn't help that I got into a fight with my SO and he pointed out to me that this has happened a lot since I got into epublishing.
I didn't need this kind of constant stress. It was killing my desire to write and damaging my relationships.
So I began to do the things I needed to do to quit. I'm honoring the contracts I currently have out, but won't be sending any more books, at least not now. I'm considering sending something to a print publisher, but if I never publish another thing, I think I'd be happy. Not if being a published author creates this kind of hell on my life.
So what it boils down to is that I don't want to continue the C book and it's November 15. My wordcount is reset to 0 and I don't want to fail again this year.
But now, I don't know what to do. I want to try the setting in the 'more fantasy' genre, but I realize, I don't remember how to plot a book that's not erotic romance--the exact thing I don't want to write right now.
On top of this, I'm my area's ML.
Sigh.
Diranda
_________________
listen: there's a hell
of a good universe next door; let's go
--e. e. cummings
(Additional: Yeah, this will probably get back to someone, somewhere. I don't know what I'll do if that happens, but I'll deal with it if it happens. There's no point hiding my frustration.) |
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| Multiple points of view |
[Nov. 13th, 2005|11:19 pm] |
I think I've had it with the 'point of view' argument. It's arbitrary. I write a certain way and it's not a bad way, or this would have been pointed out by people whose full time jobs concern what is considered good writing and what is considered bad writing. Who get paid more than anyone I know to do it.
Right. So, I write point of view the way I've been taught all these years and have never had an editor tell me I was doing it incorrectly -until- I ended up in the electronic publishing business and then I'm being told that Multiple Point of View may be done in "those other publishers" but it's not the way it's done in Electronic. Furthermore, it's apparently an indicator of a 'bad writer' who uses any point of view other than Third Person Limited Single Viewpoint.
Funny, most major editors for the major publishers don't have a problem with Multiple Points of View or "head hopping". I've spoken to authors who write this way and are with major publishers, who thought it was odd that the publishers I have been working and talking with seem to think it's a 'bad thing'.
I'm tired of fighting about it with people.
My stress level will probably peak in the next few days, but it should taper off once things began to settle down. |
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| Once In A Blue Moon Released! |
[Oct. 31st, 2005|10:11 am] |
Happy Samhain!
My first contemporary romance novel, "Once In A Blue Moon" has been released today! While I'm known for my SF and Fantasy, this book is the result of the positive reaction many readers had to a short story that was published in the print anthology, "The Abyss". This book picks up where the story left off, answering everyone's questions about what happened next!
Regina Steele is the Wiccan owner of a pretty little metaphysical shop,
Once In A Blue Moon and she's been very happy there. Unfortunately, Jack
Drake is about to change all that.
Jack's about as villainous as they come, but very sexy and he's
determined to get Regina exactly where he wants her... in his bed. He's
come to foreclose on her mortgage if she doesn't agree to his terms.
And what are they?
Jack Drake wants Regina to marry him.
Like the villain in an old-fashioned Western melodrama, tall, dark and
handsome Phoenix lawyer Jack is determined to win the girl in this
steamy romantic novella based on the short story, "Once In A Blue Moon"
which appeared in the Dark Romance Anthology, "The Abyss".
Taking this story further, we discover the truth behind Jack's Villainous demands, a Hero who is anything but and the fact that Regina is a Heroine who can take care of herself.
Brooms aren't only used for sweeping and Witches as well as Villains aren't always what they seem at Once In A Blue Moon, the little shop of magic, mysteries and true love.
http://www.extasybooks.com/eb.php3?ebookid=23170 |
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| Double Standards on the River |
[Sep. 26th, 2005|03:18 pm] |
I was looking on Fictionwise.com, one of the largest electronic book distributors on the Internet, seeing if "Peacekeeper" had come up for sale yet and came across a local author's name. This author has a pretty common sounding name, so I looked at the catalog page to find out if this was the same person or not and lo and behold, the bio on this author is the same as the person I know.
http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/ShirleyKennedyeBooks.htm
That would be cool, if not for the fact that this author was the head of the only writer's club in the area for a while, a published author with a very specific opinion on the business of electronic publishing. Which was entirely negative, considering that she is a member of the Romance Writers of America who has been extremely exclusionist on the subject of electronic publishing.
They do not recognize any electronic publisher currently in business as a 'legitimate' publisher save one: Ellora's Cave (which has begun to gain a reputation for mistreating their authors). Thus, any author members of this organization that are published through an electronic publisher are not considered 'professional' members.
Ms Kennedy had made her position on electronic publishing quite clear from the beginning. Even so, I was still trying to be active with this local group and had offered upon a number of occasions to share information on electronic publishing with the interested members of the group, to be told later that Ms Kennedy had been discouraging interest in this method of publishing, and had been criticizing it and me to the group when I was not present.
I made a point of double-checking this information with Ms Kennedy in the hopes that it would be wrong, only to find out directly from her that this was indeed the case.
So imagine my surprise to find two books from her backlist published by an electronic publisher! I researched this publisher to find out what kind of publisher it was. It is an independent electronic publisher that only publishes out of print backlist books in electronic format. It is not affiliated with Signet or any other corporate traditional publisher. The author has to approach this publisher with a submission like any other digital or print publisher, which means Ms Kennedy specifically sought out this company to reprint her books.
Why does this bug me?
Ms Kennedy has done everything in her power to influence local impression of electronic publishing in a negative way. She's made a point of comparing it to vanity press, rip-off artists and fly-by-night outfits out to bilk stupid authors out of their money. This has definitely affected how my personal accomplishments were viewed by the local authors and the public as well.
To see her doing this really annoys me, because it shows that she has a double standard. She has been nothing but nice to me in person, so it was hard for me to believe she had been saying such things behind my back or publishing in a format she has made a point of panning in public.
Though I was hesitant to do this, I sent a letter to the local writers with the same information, because it is important to point this out to people. Which is why I went ahead and wrote this article as well.
As a person who was working really hard to help local writers find out about this medium, who was trying to increase awareness of electronic publishing to the general public as well, the behavior of this author was unnecessary and uncalled for.
To me it seems like the actions of a person who is paranoid someone else might 'usurp' their position of 'local author' (considering that none of the other authors in Ms Kennedy's local circle have been offered publishing contracts and all of the ones with books have had to self-publish them or publish them through borderline legal companies like Publish America, whom most reviewers will not review).
I know this will make me unpopular locally. Since I've had to change my pseudonym anyway due in part to the ignorance of another local writer who allowed my legal name to be linked with my psudeonym several times in a local paper, after I made a point several times that I did not want that and that I was not participating in the event they were publicising, this isn't going to make much of a difference.
I guess the main reason I'm upset is that this lady was really nice to me and complimented my writing consistantly but was perfectly willing to bash me and electronic publishing behind my back whenever she had the chance, and never did deny it. |
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| My Pirate Name |
[Aug. 8th, 2005|04:33 pm] |
My pirate name is:
Red Jenny Rackham
Passion is a big part of your life, which makes sense for a pirate. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!
Get your own pirate name from fidius.org. |
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| Peacekeeper!! |
[Jun. 15th, 2005|12:10 am] |
I updated the news but not the Journal.
"Peacekeeper" has been finished and is now contracted for publication with eXtasy Books. I hope it ends up coming out soon.
I was reading some of my older entries on this journal and realize that I have been working on this book in some way since last June... I'm very happy to get it written and contracted finally and am anxious to see it in print. I am hoping that it will get in the queue soon, so my fans won't have to wait too much longer for it.
Ah well, it will come out soon enough, I'm sure. :) |
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| Wardriving |
[May. 13th, 2005|01:45 pm] |
I'm something of a Wardriver now. I'm still learning the basics, but it's been a lot of fun figuring it out. Haven't actually driven with the computer sniffer, but I've been checking out the radios everywhere I take the Tosh.
http://www.wardriving.com/ |
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| Neat Linux app for LJ entries |
[Feb. 14th, 2005|04:09 pm] |
I just found this interesting free app for Linux called LogJam, which I am using to update my journals.
It's great! |
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| Kicking ass in Linux... |
[Feb. 8th, 2005|03:59 pm] |
Damn, does this new install of Linux kick serious MS ass or what?
I'm running a full install of Ubuntu Linux on my Tosh, and I'm really happy with it. Everything I need in a computer OS works in this distro and it works with a minimum of fussing with the install.
I will tell you, I've been emailing, downloading, updating and working in Ubuntu today, without one need to login to XP. Damn slick, this distro runs on a Debian core, which people have said is a very good core. I've been flirting with the Fedora-core distros for years (Mandrake, Red Hat...) but Dave mentioned that he'd gotten a Debian disk and we looked at it (some d/l problem prevented us from loading it on the Tosh) but then he found Ubuntu.
I installed this and had an internet connection via my WiFi within minutes of my first login to Gnome XWindows. I was surfing the net and downloading email, and I'd barely had Ubuntu running 10 minutes.
We did encounter some minor issues with the widescreen: primarily because I wasn't able to select the proper resolution in the Xconfig, but since we'd covered this issue when we installed Mandrake 10 on the Tosh, it took Dave about 10 minutes to edit the startup scripts.
Now, Ubuntu does NOT write to NTFS partitions. So we decided to redo the Ubuntu install so that we could partition the important part of the drive to a partition that both XP and Linux could read and write to. (FAT32)
The last real issue we had getting this system running was the DVD player. Since this machine comes with a DVD-R/CD-ROM, the trick was finding software that would let it play DVDs. Ubuntu's Wiki page as well as the page: http://jwl.freakwitch.net/Linux_Toshiba_M35X-S149.html was able to help me get that working. Although several of the movie players in GNOME won't play DVDs (Totem, Xine) the simple application Ogle does. And that's all I need: to be able to view a movie on the DVD if I should want to. Granted, I rarely use the DVD player, so that wasn't overly important, but I wanted to make sure things were working if I needed them.
I checked the other aps I DO need all the time: chat capability in Firefox; an email client that I prefer: Thunderbird (some importing from XP was involved in that, but that's something I know how to do. However, a newbie might have some difficulty. Again check the Freakwitch site for info.), a word processor: Open Office 1.1.2, decent and other authors swear by it; Graphics editing and construction: the Gimp; CD burning: comes standard with the distro; Messenger service: Gaim; FTP; Music player that plays mp3s: XMMS.
Definitely not a problem. Everything works fine, and the package manager that comes with the distro: Synaptics (the Debian package manager) makes it very easy to download and install upgrades and other things to set up the system with.
Since I have WiFi now and DSL, it's very easy to do all this, but I keep in mind that if I didn't, the upgrades on this distro might be really hard to manage with a dial-up connection, since Ubuntu comes with a basic setup. To customize it, you will need to have access to the internet.
All in all, so far, I am very happy with Ubuntu. So far 1 day without XP. :) |
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| I realllly shouldn't be up this late... |
[Jan. 31st, 2005|03:15 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  tired | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Cleft in the Sky, Carlos Nakai | ] |
Someone convinced me to take up coding again. (Kicks DH)
So I've been cleaning up the horrid mass of code that PageMill kicked out and have produced two nice looking pages that are readable, but I am wincing at the idea of redoing the entire Bradley site from scratch.
So much so, that I moved the News to LJ.
I'm also SUPPOSED to be painting my Alaran Regency Warhammer 40K Space Marines for the Army Challenge at Rogue Trader in 3 weeks AND working on the rewrite of this story I originally did for Nancy at BuyBestEbooks, "Forever", which has now been renamed "Forbidden" and has turned into the opening volley of "Peacekeeper", believe it or not.
OF COURSE, this has turned into a logistical nightmare in the way of straightening out continuity, but hey, if I don't have at least one continuity logicstical nightmare once every 3 months, it's not normal, right???
I just want to get "Peacekeeper" DONE and get away from "Arcadia" alltogether now. There's a lot that should be happening now that "Arcadia" is over with.
Right now, the official Chronology looks like this (keeping in mind that the stories in "Tales" were never INTENDED to be in any particular chonological order...)
Titles seperated by a comma (,) happen at the same time or very close.
OFFICIAL CHRONOLOGY
JANUARY 31, 2005
from the Dirandan Chronicles books and short stories by Tabitha Bradley:
The Abyss, published by BuyBestEbooks.com
Diranda: Tales from the Fifth Quadrant, published by Renaissance E-Books
Arcadia, published by Renaissance E-Books
and
Enticed! published by Renaissance E-Books
58,021 CE: Alex leaves Arcadia (Alex 17)
58,022 CE: A Walk on the Beach (The Abyss, 11/04) (Gaston 19)
58,024 CE: The Legacy of Thrax (Tales 12/04) (Samuel 22)
58,028 CE: (Gaston 25, Samuel 26, Alex 24)
Sparring, The Appointment (Tales 12/04)
Forbidden, Peacekeeper
The Reylian Orb
Domination
Arcadia (novel 7/04), Destiny (Enticed! 11/04)
The Blood of Thrax, The Bar (Tales 12/04)
The Fall of the Regency
Tempus Fugit (Tales 12/04)
58,029 CE: (Gaston 26, Alex 25)
Chaos Formula
Random Encounters (Tales 12/04)
The Patrician (REB Promo)(Some time after Gaston has been Director)
Urgh.... ack...
... sigh ... |
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| Enticed is out and other stuff |
[Dec. 11th, 2004|02:20 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  calm | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Dave Koz: Love Is On The Way | ] |
Well, "Enticed!" is out, as is "The Abyss". Who would have thought last year, that I'd have three books published and have two short stories in an anthology?
Kind of weird, actually.
Tomorrow I am going to make a (probably weak) attempt at 40K with Dave and our friends at the LV Gamers meeting in Vegas, but at least I'm playing an army that stands a better chance of not getting its butt kicked, than when I was playing Eldar (fiasco. When the Tau beat you, that's bad). So I have this handful of Alaran Regency colored Crimson Fists, but they're Space Marines and are decent.
I spent Friday doing an author day on Terry MacFarland's list and trying to paint my Fists. At least they're all blue with their requisite red hands, so that's something.
I'm not sure how the author day actually went, but it looks like I got 50 hits on tabithabradley.com, so that's probably pretty good. I posted 5 excerpts, but didn't get a whole lot of feedback on them, and was really hoping for a little more interest.
Oh well, the interest comes with time and I need to get more stuff out to generate the interest. Those who have read my stuff have been very interested in the Dirandan Chronicles as a whole, and the Mirza (the Fantasy Ancient Egypt setting I am developing) has gotten some positive reaction too.
Okay, for those Tales readers who have been following my LJ even a little, Alex and Gaston got their reprieve finally. Back in Feb, before Arcadia was contracted, I was working on getting these two together seriously. Arcadia's publishing contract derailed that somewhat, but it was only in working on my sexy erotic romance SS for Nancy at DRA that this story popped into my head that tied everything together.
At the time I was also in the process of setting up a final of "Tales from the Fifth Quadrant", which might have precipitated the proverbial 'final piece of the puzzle' so to speak.
"Forever" is the basis of the Gaston-Alex T'Kayn relationship and managed to make Arcadia and the current Diranda stuff all fit together in a cohesive whole that firmly places Alexandra back in the thick of things, where she belongs.
Alex has several stories in the upcoming "Diranda: Tales from the Fifth Quadrant" along with Gaston, who is the only one of my main Dirandan Chronicles characters who is now immortalized in print, in "A Walk On The Beach" in "The Abyss". Cassi has been relegated to a very minor character (possibly a fling for Gus) and Alex has been returned to where she belonged all along, and I have to say that this was a very important and liberating step for me to take with her.
Unfortunately, relieving that particular road-block released a bunch of other stuff I hadn't realized was bottled up and so I've been kind of not feeling so great since then. I think a lot of times the stress makes you sick, but when you relieve stress, that can make you sick-er, for a time anyway. So we're working on that, but I do feel like I'm making some progress.
Hopefully this means that eventually I'll have a finished book of some sort soon.
I'm seriously considering several publishers that do smaller books in the mean time, places that take 5K and up, like Venus Press and eXstasy among others, since I really like to do short fiction right now and it keeps me writing. I really do want to write another book though.
Nancy has offered to help me out as well, so that's really great.
All in all, things are going decently. |
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| "Hello, my novel is..." (Or my NaNoWriMo update) |
[Nov. 9th, 2004|12:41 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  thoughtful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Jon O'Bergh: Temple of the Great Jaguar | ] |
Though I suppose since I'm now something of a professional, National Novel Writing Month might be considered redundant, I'm doing it this year again. And to top it all, I'm Municipal Liason for my area of (apparently) nearly non-existant writers! (I got my stickers and t-shirt today, about 5 days after the whole area writer thing dried up and died a kind of incongruous desert death.)
In what seems to have become typical of my NaNoWriMo experiences, is that something all consuming ends up occupying the first week of November, of course, after a couple of 'false starts' on November 1, 12:05-20 am. This year it was TusCon.
I did, however, manage to begin my novel in the car on Thursday night, and continued to work at it during the convention at the table in-between autograph signings and panels. (I was on three panels and a signing.)
During the amazing experience which was TusCon (which I will detail in a report to the EPIC list soon) I managed to get a meager but established word count and a pretty solid idea of where my book is going, though this book has been knocking around in my head for a very long time.
I figured once I got it started, it would probably be pretty easy to get running with it and finish it, since it's a pivotal event in the lives of my main characters and the universe in which they live. It is also, unfortunately, the same book I had mentioned earlier on the EPIC list that I will most likely have a very difficult time of placing.
I do recommend the frentic month-long rush towards 50K to any writer, regardless of published status, because it reminds you that any words on paper are better than none and that you can't edit a blank MS. Even getting in a week late. And I am still trying to figure and establish my writing 'style', which is why I have so much respect for those of you who have several novels already planned and are able to sit down and produce a book, from beginning to end in a short amount of time and be able to not only start it, but end it and move on to the next one. :)
So, the reason why I'm sharing my NaNo experience with you is so you A: know I'm still here, B: know why I may be quiet or unresponsive this month and C: let you know what's going on with me, being new still to your world and hopefully give you a little insight into at least one writer's growth and learning experiences. |
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| NaNoWriMo Launch in 4 days... |
[Sep. 27th, 2004|12:53 pm] |
NaNoWriMo's sign up is getting closer. October 1 is when the 2004 site goes online and I'm getting really excited to see it!
It's one of the few things I am excited about these days.
I'm trying to figure out how to arrange my time so I'm not constantly doing 16 hour days 7 days a week. Somehow things have gotten to the point where my writing has been shoved to the bottom of the list, with everything else taking precedence over it.
This is not a good thing, since I want to write most of the time.
I know something is going to have to go or my career is going to suffer. DH reminded me last night, the most important work is my writing and if the other 'work responsibilites' I have are getting in the way, then something needs to go. |
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| Tucson Store Vandalized |
[Sep. 3rd, 2004|01:43 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  angry | ] |
I just got this sad article through one of my email groups.
A Wiccan store in Tucson, Az was vandalized, which is really awful.
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=oid:60079
I agree with the owner, this was obviously a hate crime.
It's terrible, that religious persecution continues to go on, even though we have seen the horrible human toll extreme religious bias can take.
As we come upon the 3rd anniversary of September 11, I think people should stop and think before they say something hateful about another person's religious viewpoints.
I'm not immune to religious bias, just like racial bias, I don't think any adult is, but there's a difference between thinking it and -acting- on it. One thinks mean things about other people, that's a fact of the human existance, I don't care who you are. But when you think it, you can tell yourself that such ideas are inappropriate... going out and recruiting a bunch of brainwashed thugs to crash airplanes or throwing steel balls through a business' front window or stealing their repair fund, that's ~wrong~.
Anyone who does this kind of criminal act in the misguided idea that it's their right as 'the superior religion' isn't a true follower of that religion, be it Christianity or Islam.
Stormy |
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| Change and Mercury Retrograde |
[Aug. 29th, 2004|05:25 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | tired | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Water", Richard Warner | ] |
Mercury is retrograde and has been for almost 2 weeks now. Starting projects isn't recommended, but change is usually in the wind somewhere.
I've been getting the impression I needed to make some serious changes before I can move on, since I'm very blocked right now. I realized that the change that needs to happen involves stepping back from the entire Diranda thing for a while. Not sure how long, but at this point, possibly indefinitely.
To that end, I went ahead and simplified the Diranda.com site and am in the process of putting most of that stuff in storage for now.
What is this going to do for me as far as blocks, I'm not sure. Maybe it will free me up enough to get going on a project and stick with it. At least I hope so.
I'm wanting to write some fantasy, and have been for some time, (since last year, actually) it's been the Diranda stuff getting in the way. It's just that most of my finished work is Diranda in some way. I'm glad it's getting published, so maybe that's what I needed to settle and move on.
Hm.
Hadn't thought of that before.
Well, I will still use Diranda.com for my setting related stuff once I get some stuff done, but for now, it's a nice host for the websites I'm running for Desert Sky Writers, Matt and the Morgan's Well paganism and witchcraft site I have been trying to get together for a while. It's also a good domain name in general, short, different and easy to remember and spell. So it works for email as well.
I'm not thinking that anyone will miss the content on Diranda.com too much. The stuff I'd done for Arcadia was moved to the Tabithabradley site anyway. So nothings missing, just moved. As for the other pages, Rysusi, Androl and K'Tactans, well, they're in storage with the rest of the stuff.
I may do a small page of some of the great pictures Rob did of Diranda though, because they're just too cool for words. |
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| Pictures & the Chandler Curse |
[Aug. 16th, 2004|04:03 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  weird | ] |
Okay, so I get my Author pics back from the photo place and they remind me of the "Friends" episode where Chandler can't take a decent picture.
Gods. Sometimes I scare me.
:P
I guess they're not that bad, but I -know- I can take a better picture than that.
On the up-side, I apparently have a fan who isn't one of my friends or a member of my family...
Whoa, surprise!
SR |
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| Get a load of the new look for "Tales" |
[Aug. 1st, 2004|02:05 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  frustrated | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Dedication to Chief Joseph": Peter 'Wyoming' Bender | ] |
Went ahead and decided to try a new theme for the journal. I think it's cute. The background starry graphic was made by my brother, and it's in use on Diranda.com now.
Looking back over my journal, I realize everything but the LJ has been getting in the way of updates. That and I've been a bit bitchy each entry. I'm sorry about that.
Maybe I ought to go and erase a bunch of those. Not sure really. Thought my publishers might read the LJ occasionally, but I doubt they've got the time to actually.
I am SOOOOOOO blocked right not it's not even funny. I have two more books coming out and have put up a "Free Story" on Tabithabradley.com, but haven't written anything new since then, and I'm ~trying~ to get a book started. This is a business where you've got to keep writing to succeed, and for some reason, I just can't get this story onto the screen where it needs to be!
I've been doing EVERYTHING else BUT write lately: setting up promotional events, writing press releases, working on the website, getting my press kit together (including photos), making Ebook CDs (of which I have sold 1 ~sigh~), and hoping very hard that "Arcadia" sells more than 5 copies!!!!
I ~want~ to write Gaston's story. But the market seems more geared towards Romance and Erotic Romance at that. I'm just not sure I can do Romance OR Erotic Romance with Gaston. Er, not that Gaston's at all opposed to being the hero in an erotica or erotic romance, mind you! Earlier (like January 04) LJ entries show that!
I'm just far too close to the bastard to force his story into a formula.
Another problem with his story is where to begin it? I have something of a timeline (in my head, mind you, I learned a while ago that it is not a 'good thing' for Stormy to write timelines down!) for his life events, but am not sure where is the best place for his first book to be placed. A LOT of things happen to him, you see.
I guess I'd know better if I knew more about my readers. I think I've got some. My website hits are at least showing people hanging out on the sites and looking at them. :)
If my readers are primarily females who read a lot of romance and erotic romance, are they going to want to read a book whose point of view is the hero's and NOT the heroine?
Or, if they're male, are they going to want to read a book where there is a romance in the plot, even if the main character sleeps around a bit before the relationship develops? Somehow I think if I have male readers, they won't mind the romance, since it probably won't dominate the story.
Friends of "Tales from the Engine Room" and my Literotica fans know that I can do a good erotica and still have sexual tension, but at the same time, not detracting from the story.
I OUGHT to put up a Dirandan Chronicles Erotica short story I wrote a while back on Lit and link it from the website as my new "Free Story", since I haven't got the resources to offer a free d/l of an erotica on my site and have it protected from Under 18s. I wouldn't want to get in trouble.
Or, maybe I should ask a couple of erotica-writing friends on EPIC how they do it. :)
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