Wise Words
I figured out the issue with the WIP and am now putting the chapter to bed, and starting a new one.
The whole writing thing can be such a trial: fight to get an idea, fight to write the book, fight to edit the book, fight to find an editor/agent…a friend of mine said it best, though. She told me whenever she feels disheartened, she remembers Ali, because even in the fights where he won or won big, he still took a bunch of body blows and went to the mat.
Words to remember.
BIG Plans for the Weekend
My plan for the weekend: Spend the ENTIRE time in p.js, in bed, reading a book.
It’s been raining here (and kinda snowing–God bless Edmonton). The day is grey, my brain is empty, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out what happens next in my WIP…I mean, I know the BIG thing that happens next, I just can’t fathom all the little things that gets my character there…
Besides, I’ve spent wwaaayyy too much time in the office (though granted, most of that time has been yanking Gus out of the recycling bin–what is it with that cat and paper?!). Still, staring at a computer counts for something, doesn’t it?
Other plans for the weekend: Eat chocolate for breakfast, chips for lunch, and…well, I was going to say “cake for dinner,” but I know my husband. He’ll hold me down and force nutritious stuff down my mouth, so I’ll give him the option of deciding what to eat for supper…maybe if I had a mid-afternoon snack of cake, that’ll make up for any veggies coming my way at dinner…
In other news, do you ever have those moments when you’re watching a t.v. show–one you’ve been unfailingly loyal to–and then the writer does something incredibly stupid with a character, and suddenly, you find yourself standing by the broken plasma television, mallet in hand, and trying to explain your actions to your husband?
Wait, maybe that’s just me.
But seriously, TWO shows did that to me yesterday. How can you write a character, sketch them out as resourceful, smart, tough, then have them totally capitulate in a blindingly stupid manner?
In one show, the characters–MILITARY PILOTS WHO ARE TRAINED TO KILL AND MAKE HARD DECISIONS ABOUT WHO LIVES AND DIES–roll over for THREE CIVILIANS. What? WHAT?! They’re trained to kill, they’re combat ready and some grief-stricken looney manages to get the better of them?! I’m so irritated, I can’t write anymore. I mean, GIVE ME A BREAK, these guys can take out a target at long distances (and I know this, because the writers have spent 2 years showing it to me), but now, suddenly, they’re totally incompetent?
It was the same thing with the other show, where an FBI agent, who regularly carries extra guns, gets his primary gun taken away, but never pulls out his extras. And when the bad guy beats him, he just rolls past the gun on the floor…and the other police guy gets his gun taken away (knowing FULL WELL) he’s going to be killed, because he doesn’t want the bad guy to harm his daughter.
So, let me get this straight: the bad guy has your daughter. If you’re dead, you can’t do anything to protect your daughter, but your choice of action is to have the bad guy kill you IN FRONT of your daughter. Even though you know the bad guy’s history is one where he always leaves the kid alive…and did I mention the bad guy is old, walks with a limp, and the cops are young with biceps bigger than my head?
I’m not saying a cop or military guy can’t be blindsided, but yeesh people, keep it consistent within the framework of the character you’ve created. Don’t have them do something stunningly stupid for the sake of a season-ending cliff-hanger, because at this point, I’m so annoyed, I don’t care what happens next.
Sick Day
I feel like crap.
No, wait.
I FEEL LIKE CRAP!!
Totally calling a sick day–have some pages I’m going to edit, gotta practice with the kids, but this afternoon, I’m doing nothing but curling up in bed with the furry ones and watching Remington Steele.
Quote for the Week
œSuccess means doing the best we can with what we have. Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be.
~Zig Ziglar
I’m Taking it as a Compliment
So, I was at the school, working with the kids for our Artist Night, and at the end of the rehearsal, one of the children comes up to me and says, “Can you be a teacher?”
I said, “No.”
“Not even a substitute?”
“No, sorry sweetie,” I say (feeling all warm and fuzzy). “I don’t have my degree in education.”
“I think you should go back to school and get it.”
Now, I’m SUPER feeling all warm and fuzzy, but I say, “That’s two years.”
“I still think you should go–“
I start composing this blog
“Because then we could fire Mrs.—.”
Uh. Not so warm and fuzzy. No one likes Mrs.—, and I don’t know if the kid’s comment was really born from “Wow, you’re so awesome and I wish you were my teacher.” or “Listen, Natasha, at this point, anyone–even you–would be a better choice than that weirdo.”
Still, I’m taking it as a compliment.
Hell, it’s my blog and my fantasy life, right?
Quote for the Week
œThis manuscript of yours that has just come back from another editor is a precious package. Don’t consider it rejected. Consider that you’ve addressed it ˜to the editor who can appreciate my work’ and it has simply come back stamped ˜Not at this address’. Just keep looking for the right address.
~Barbara Kingsolver
Day Off?
Yesterday was smacked down with a wicked allergy attack. Spent the day on the couch with Mr. Murphy (and fighting for the blanket). Today, I feel a bit better. I’ve got to go to school and rehearse with the kids, but I’m debating if I should take the day off from writing and give myself an extra day…it’s not that I’m sosick, but I’m full of meds, and thinking is proving way harder to do…
Quote for the Week
Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.
~Bernice Johnson Reagon
I Blame Jack Klugman
Back in 1976, Jack Klugman played Quincy, the Medical Examiner, on a show (aptly) called Quincy, M.E.
And from the moment I first saw the show, I wanted to be an M.E. Of course, that dream wasn’t too be (the smell of decomposing bodies are hard to get over, plus there was the small hurdle of my tendency to reverse numbers), but I still love everything morgue. I know it sounds a little macabre, but I think pathologists are the modern version of the warrior–they delve into flesh, and bone (and fluid) to find the answers: who killed this person? Why did they die? Did it have to happen?
So, when Metro Continuing Education offered a day workshop at the Edmonton Medical Examiner’s I was on board! What an AWESOME class. There were so many cool (or maybe I should say “cool”) things, like in Alberta, a doctor cannot claim doctor-patient privilege and deny the M.E. access to information because the doctor would be charged. Also, the location of a body in a room can determine how fast it decomposes, that Canada has both a Medical Examiner’s system and a Coroner’s System, and that children’s bones don’t survive fires.
Some of the pictures were graphic–although, the ones that I had the hardest time with were the ones where the woman’s body had bloated (though it was the bloating, so much as the angle of the photo), and the one where the maggots had taken over the guy’s face.
The workshop covered the history of the M.E., the Golden Triangle (scene, body, and history investigation), and how they determine time of death. It also included a tour of the facilities (including a walk through the body storage closet and a chance to look at a brain damaged by meningitis).
Very cool stuff for anyone who wants to write police procedurals, or is just interested in how close CSI gets to the truth of an M.E.’s investigation
The Power of Fruit?
Weird week. It started snowing on Monday, which just depressed everyone. I think we were prepared for the white stuff in April and March, but waking up to a blizzard (and it was a wicked snowstorm. Whiteout conditions and everything) was just beyond sad. (Terribly sad. A father and his kids died in the storm.).
I’ve felt out of sorts all week. Partly because everything had melted and I thought we were past the point of having to kennel the dogs because of muddy paws, and partly because grey, flat light doesn’t appeal to me.
I thought Monday was wretched, but it’s Thursday and Edmontonians are still out of their element. No one seems particularly happy or joyful. I’ve been wrestling with this edgy energy and I couldn’t decide if I wanted to work on my manuscript or take a day off.
I tried taking the day off…that lasted five minutes because I’m not in the mood to read, watch t.v., or slack off. So, got myself a snack–a peach–and believe it or not, I feel way better. Not nearly so out of sorts.
Peaches really are happy fruits, aren’t they?
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