There really isn't much to talk about, after having off-loaded my "inner turmoil" yesterday, other than the fact that this post is coming to you late because my alarm did not go off this morning and my cat, for once, decided to exercise the greatest patience. It resulted in my being awake, and her fed, exactly one hour after both were supposed to occur.
Speaking of cats, the kittens are so adorable, I don't think I'll be able to say goodbye to them very easily. We have found homes for Calli-Rose and Herne. Smeagol is still waiting, though we have one prospective owner (or should I say servant?) who is sitting on the fence right now. If she agrees to take him in, then all our wonderful, beautiful kittens will have found a good home with good owners/ staff. That makes me happy.
In other, completely unrelated news, I'm exceptionally happy to be able to watch Hey, Hey It's Saturday (a show I grew up with in Australia that is now back on the air) online from Canada. Now, why can't Good News Week be as generous! Of all the shows on in the land of Oz at the moment, it's Good News Week I'd most like to watch.... If anyone knows how I can watch GNW from Canada online, please direct me (none of the podcasts work, and the Channel Ten website will gladly show the ads, but not the episodes!).
In Archaeology news, another smaller stone circle near Stonehenge has been unearthed near the river Avon. The article on yahoo.ca said that it was part of the greater funerary complex of which Stonehenge was a focal point, then later noted that the Bluestones used in this latest find were likely removed and utilised during the construction of Stonehenge. Not to split hairs here, but a site that has been de-constructed to become part of another site nearby cannot be used simultaneously as the site that now no longer exists because it was disassembled to use in the new site. I'm splitting hairs here, but this piece of reporting was a bit shoddy at worse, and dreadfully unclear at best.
Perhaps I'm just cranky because I was 15 minutes late for work this morning... and haven't had breakfast. Time for porridge, I think.
Have a great morning everyone!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Fears and Frustrations
Well, the end of this month will herald the end of the two month wait until I can expect that anyone at Tor has even opened the envelope containing my book proposal. After that, I can expect a wait of up to four months before I hear anything. As busy as I try to keep myself, it seems that I have enough time to be vexed about it all. Perhaps I should take up something else as well!
That is not the most vexing thing about this terrifying wait though. What is even more frustrating, what has me in cold sweats and sometimes unable to sleep at night is the fact that all the story snippets I have in my head, all the ones I have written down and typed up, are going absolutely nowhere. I can't make sense of them. I can't see a pattern in them. They just are - brain explosions on paper that are just sitting there doing nothing and going nowhere.
I know that I am probably stressing unnecessarily here. After all, I first imagined Julian (my main character) some eleven years ago, and it took this long to get him into a completed narrative. Though to be fair I only seriously sat down to write about him after I finished University two years ago. Even still, Julian's tale was different from these other ones. There was an urgency to tell it, a profound driving need to get the story out and bring it to life. This drive is decidedly lacking in all the other ideas.
Granted, that's probably because these ideas are still in their infancy. They haven't yet been fleshed out and given direction. And yet....
I'm so afraid right now that The Great Man was the only story I had in me. I'm terrified that I won't have a career as an author because of it. I'm irritated that none of my other ideas seem to be going anywhere and I'm frustrated at myself for being so unable and so damned unsure.
Just get up and get it done, right?
Every morning I try and say a positive affirmation to set me straight for the day. For the past month, I've told myself that there are many stories that I have the wit and ability to tell. Even though I've been telling myself this for months, I'm still filled with nagging doubt and weighty fear.
This sucks!
*Deep breath*
Alright, I'm done whinging about how inept I feel right now. I'm off to read some stories on authonomy.com and then collect more of those ideas that are still swilling around my head. Hopefully this feeling won't last that long and I'll be deep into another tale before the month is out.
That is not the most vexing thing about this terrifying wait though. What is even more frustrating, what has me in cold sweats and sometimes unable to sleep at night is the fact that all the story snippets I have in my head, all the ones I have written down and typed up, are going absolutely nowhere. I can't make sense of them. I can't see a pattern in them. They just are - brain explosions on paper that are just sitting there doing nothing and going nowhere.
I know that I am probably stressing unnecessarily here. After all, I first imagined Julian (my main character) some eleven years ago, and it took this long to get him into a completed narrative. Though to be fair I only seriously sat down to write about him after I finished University two years ago. Even still, Julian's tale was different from these other ones. There was an urgency to tell it, a profound driving need to get the story out and bring it to life. This drive is decidedly lacking in all the other ideas.
Granted, that's probably because these ideas are still in their infancy. They haven't yet been fleshed out and given direction. And yet....
I'm so afraid right now that The Great Man was the only story I had in me. I'm terrified that I won't have a career as an author because of it. I'm irritated that none of my other ideas seem to be going anywhere and I'm frustrated at myself for being so unable and so damned unsure.
Just get up and get it done, right?
Every morning I try and say a positive affirmation to set me straight for the day. For the past month, I've told myself that there are many stories that I have the wit and ability to tell. Even though I've been telling myself this for months, I'm still filled with nagging doubt and weighty fear.
This sucks!
*Deep breath*
Alright, I'm done whinging about how inept I feel right now. I'm off to read some stories on authonomy.com and then collect more of those ideas that are still swilling around my head. Hopefully this feeling won't last that long and I'll be deep into another tale before the month is out.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Thank-you, Kittens and Other Things
Hi everyone,
I think I saw some sun peeping through the clouds this morning, and that has put me in a wonderful mood. I felt like I was living in Britain with all the cloud and rain that we've had for days on end. It's nice to see the colour yellow in the sky, let me tell you!
Right, on to business. The Run for the Cure was held on Saturday. My beautiful, friend Trina ran with a spectacular time of 43:00 (hell, I can't run at all, so I'm in awe of the time!). Her fund-raising goal was $150.00 and thanks to your generosity, she managed to raise $555.00!
An enormous, shining thank-you from the deepest place of my heart for your help with her fund-raising efforts. You are all heroes and I heart you all!
Our kittens celebrate their one month birthday on the 7th of this month. They have started to roam from their "cave" (read here: my wardrobe) into the bright world of my bedroom. On Friday, they made it as far as under my bed (about a foot away from the wardrobe). By last night, they were happily out of my bedroom and trundling down the hall. It's the cutest thing in the world because they still haven't gotten used to their legs yet and they are continually tripping over themselves, each other and any object they stumble across. It's even more adorable when they play-fight with each other, their uncoordinated pouncing generally turns into a turtle-like attempt to get back on their feet. They make me so happy!
In other, very happy news, I've had a couple more comments on authonomy.com:
This is amazingly well-written and the topic really interests me. I love love love it! great despricption and beautiful imagery. One of the best I've read here. Beautiful! You definitely have a talent and I can't wait till you upload more. I will def. be reading on. this has caught my interest. shelved.
-Cara (first, to dream of love)
And:
There is more than a nod to Lord of the Rings here. This seems like a story played on an epic scale. Your prologue is rich and full-bodied, it sets the perfect tone that you are about to embark on some magnificent journey. Once the book got underway though I did feel like I should have been taking notes. There was a concern that I might not remember all these names and various facts, which were important for the future story and which were superfluous? This is a book that will be embraced by the hard-core Fantasy lover. I might not be one but I know what they like, so I'm sure that this will do well when it finds it's audience. What I will say it that for your writing ability alone, I'm happy to back your book.
Sigh. Life is good today! That's it from me. Have a happy Monday everyone!
I think I saw some sun peeping through the clouds this morning, and that has put me in a wonderful mood. I felt like I was living in Britain with all the cloud and rain that we've had for days on end. It's nice to see the colour yellow in the sky, let me tell you!
Right, on to business. The Run for the Cure was held on Saturday. My beautiful, friend Trina ran with a spectacular time of 43:00 (hell, I can't run at all, so I'm in awe of the time!). Her fund-raising goal was $150.00 and thanks to your generosity, she managed to raise $555.00!
An enormous, shining thank-you from the deepest place of my heart for your help with her fund-raising efforts. You are all heroes and I heart you all!
Our kittens celebrate their one month birthday on the 7th of this month. They have started to roam from their "cave" (read here: my wardrobe) into the bright world of my bedroom. On Friday, they made it as far as under my bed (about a foot away from the wardrobe). By last night, they were happily out of my bedroom and trundling down the hall. It's the cutest thing in the world because they still haven't gotten used to their legs yet and they are continually tripping over themselves, each other and any object they stumble across. It's even more adorable when they play-fight with each other, their uncoordinated pouncing generally turns into a turtle-like attempt to get back on their feet. They make me so happy!
In other, very happy news, I've had a couple more comments on authonomy.com:
This is amazingly well-written and the topic really interests me. I love love love it! great despricption and beautiful imagery. One of the best I've read here. Beautiful! You definitely have a talent and I can't wait till you upload more. I will def. be reading on. this has caught my interest. shelved.
-Cara (first, to dream of love)
And:
There is more than a nod to Lord of the Rings here. This seems like a story played on an epic scale. Your prologue is rich and full-bodied, it sets the perfect tone that you are about to embark on some magnificent journey. Once the book got underway though I did feel like I should have been taking notes. There was a concern that I might not remember all these names and various facts, which were important for the future story and which were superfluous? This is a book that will be embraced by the hard-core Fantasy lover. I might not be one but I know what they like, so I'm sure that this will do well when it finds it's audience. What I will say it that for your writing ability alone, I'm happy to back your book.
Sigh. Life is good today! That's it from me. Have a happy Monday everyone!
Friday, October 2, 2009
I've Won and Other Things
Here's something fun! I've won something! Don't laugh at my excitement, it very rarely happens!
A few weeks ago I participated in a Q&A at C.C. Chronicles with author Anna L. Walls for a chance to win her self-published novel King by Right of Blood and Might, and it's signed! Yippee! I've very excited as Anna and I had started communicating a while back through goodreads.com and later on facebook (small side note, networking works!). So, I intend to read it as soon as I receive it (which probably will be a while since Anna lives in a remote part of Alaska) and write a review of it here and perhaps, if time permits, interview her. Yippee! I'm very excited.
Last night's entertainments was a lot of fun, and made me miss university something fierce! It's nice to see such a show of support from the community for the Celtic Studies programme. I'm very pleased that it is now a minor. Paul Birt, Ottawa Chair of Celtic Studies, did a fabulous job of organising the event. There were a few (blissfully short) speeches, followed by some amazing performances - singers who sung in Irish and Scottish Gaelic and also a small Welsh group that sung with an accompanying harp. It was simply lovely. The evening ended with a few great tunes on the bagpipes played by a woman from the Sons of Scotland (irony much?) pipe band.
Also, completely by chance (from the comments of Wednesday's blog), I stumbled across www.authonomy.com, a website run by the HarperCollins group where you, as a writer seeking representation, can upload a few chapters of your book/s and have others comment and possibly find representation. Pretty awesome. Check it out.
I've put up some choice sections of my first book, The Third Prince, for all and sundry to review, and thus far, I've gotten very, very positive feedback! It has made me blush. There are only two comments thus far, but I've copied them here so you can read them:
Sonia,
Excellent job. Great descriptive prose, well set up and executed.
I didn't see a thing I would change.
Not the kind of story I would normally pick for myself, but I see nothing but good writing here.
MickR - The Nightcrawler
Thanks MickR! And my favourite comment:
Hi Sonia, Mick recommended this to me so I came over to have a look. I'll be very honest, this kind of high fantasy epic is not my usual fare and, when I first looked at this yesterday, I was a bit put off by your prologue sections and didn't read further. I thought they were well-written and deeply sonorous in best epic style - but just not my game. However, based on Mick, I came back and read beyond. As I say, I'm not really in a good position to give you any meaningful crit. It put me in mind of Lord of the Rings (of course - see how limited my reading is here!) and your world is incredibly well-imagined and resonant. When we leave the background and launch into the here and now, with people we can relate to, I am far more at home!
Putting my personal preferences aside, I think this is incredibly well-done and should be of huge interest to fantasy fans. I am in awe - you have written this in its entirety? Respect.
My concern is that, by putting all the books up here, you will overwhelm readers and dilute the backings you receive. The advice people here seem to give is to put up just the one book initially and, when that is flying high, to post the next one. Just a thought.
Anyhow, I've backed you (put your book on my shelf) and really hope this attracts a lot of interest here.
Sigh. I am very happy this morning!
That's all from the peanut gallery. Until next time!
A few weeks ago I participated in a Q&A at C.C. Chronicles with author Anna L. Walls for a chance to win her self-published novel King by Right of Blood and Might, and it's signed! Yippee! I've very excited as Anna and I had started communicating a while back through goodreads.com and later on facebook (small side note, networking works!). So, I intend to read it as soon as I receive it (which probably will be a while since Anna lives in a remote part of Alaska) and write a review of it here and perhaps, if time permits, interview her. Yippee! I'm very excited.
Last night's entertainments was a lot of fun, and made me miss university something fierce! It's nice to see such a show of support from the community for the Celtic Studies programme. I'm very pleased that it is now a minor. Paul Birt, Ottawa Chair of Celtic Studies, did a fabulous job of organising the event. There were a few (blissfully short) speeches, followed by some amazing performances - singers who sung in Irish and Scottish Gaelic and also a small Welsh group that sung with an accompanying harp. It was simply lovely. The evening ended with a few great tunes on the bagpipes played by a woman from the Sons of Scotland (irony much?) pipe band.
Also, completely by chance (from the comments of Wednesday's blog), I stumbled across www.authonomy.com, a website run by the HarperCollins group where you, as a writer seeking representation, can upload a few chapters of your book/s and have others comment and possibly find representation. Pretty awesome. Check it out.
I've put up some choice sections of my first book, The Third Prince, for all and sundry to review, and thus far, I've gotten very, very positive feedback! It has made me blush. There are only two comments thus far, but I've copied them here so you can read them:
Sonia,
Excellent job. Great descriptive prose, well set up and executed.
I didn't see a thing I would change.
Not the kind of story I would normally pick for myself, but I see nothing but good writing here.
MickR - The Nightcrawler
Thanks MickR! And my favourite comment:
Hi Sonia, Mick recommended this to me so I came over to have a look. I'll be very honest, this kind of high fantasy epic is not my usual fare and, when I first looked at this yesterday, I was a bit put off by your prologue sections and didn't read further. I thought they were well-written and deeply sonorous in best epic style - but just not my game. However, based on Mick, I came back and read beyond. As I say, I'm not really in a good position to give you any meaningful crit. It put me in mind of Lord of the Rings (of course - see how limited my reading is here!) and your world is incredibly well-imagined and resonant. When we leave the background and launch into the here and now, with people we can relate to, I am far more at home!
Putting my personal preferences aside, I think this is incredibly well-done and should be of huge interest to fantasy fans. I am in awe - you have written this in its entirety? Respect.
My concern is that, by putting all the books up here, you will overwhelm readers and dilute the backings you receive. The advice people here seem to give is to put up just the one book initially and, when that is flying high, to post the next one. Just a thought.
Anyhow, I've backed you (put your book on my shelf) and really hope this attracts a lot of interest here.
Sigh. I am very happy this morning!
That's all from the peanut gallery. Until next time!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Just For Whqtt
Alright, not really just for Whqtt, but it is my own stuff this time, so I thought I'd honour him in my title!
A couple of things. Today is the first of October. Well, you already knew that. That's not the interesting bit. The interesting bit is that this evening I'm off to a function at the University of Ottawa to celebrate the creation of the Celtic Studies Minor. Yay! I am very much a Celtic Studies lover. I adore the field and should I become an academic (still trying to get there, despite my aspirations of becoming a published Fantasy author), that is the field I intend to pursue. I studied almost all the classes offered in Celtic Studies (with the exception of the language classes, but I fully intend to learn Welsh) and so spent a great deal of time with the Chair of Celtic Studies, Paul Birt. We are now good friends and I occasionally look after his gorgeous dog Brân while he's away. I am also a corrector for some Celtic studies programmes, though not this term, as I, in between moving, getting a teaching gig for Martial Arts, and looking after the kittens, forgot to apply. I'll apply for the winter term. In any case, I'm very excited that it has become a Minor now and I am really looking forward to this evening.
In kitten news, our last, unnamed kitten is now named. We've decided to call him Herne (as in Herne the Hunter of British folklore). I'd love to thank everyone who submitted names for consideration. Since there was only one here on blogger, I've decided that should my book ever get published, I'll be sending them a free copy, although we didn't chose that name. Thanks again.
In publicity news, I've been searched again. This time from Oslo, Norway. It made me giggle, since I have staying with me my friend from Norway! Coincidence? Probably.
In weather news, it's too bloody cold for this time of the year! And can we please have some sun?
That's all! I hope you are all well.
A couple of things. Today is the first of October. Well, you already knew that. That's not the interesting bit. The interesting bit is that this evening I'm off to a function at the University of Ottawa to celebrate the creation of the Celtic Studies Minor. Yay! I am very much a Celtic Studies lover. I adore the field and should I become an academic (still trying to get there, despite my aspirations of becoming a published Fantasy author), that is the field I intend to pursue. I studied almost all the classes offered in Celtic Studies (with the exception of the language classes, but I fully intend to learn Welsh) and so spent a great deal of time with the Chair of Celtic Studies, Paul Birt. We are now good friends and I occasionally look after his gorgeous dog Brân while he's away. I am also a corrector for some Celtic studies programmes, though not this term, as I, in between moving, getting a teaching gig for Martial Arts, and looking after the kittens, forgot to apply. I'll apply for the winter term. In any case, I'm very excited that it has become a Minor now and I am really looking forward to this evening.
In kitten news, our last, unnamed kitten is now named. We've decided to call him Herne (as in Herne the Hunter of British folklore). I'd love to thank everyone who submitted names for consideration. Since there was only one here on blogger, I've decided that should my book ever get published, I'll be sending them a free copy, although we didn't chose that name. Thanks again.
In publicity news, I've been searched again. This time from Oslo, Norway. It made me giggle, since I have staying with me my friend from Norway! Coincidence? Probably.
In weather news, it's too bloody cold for this time of the year! And can we please have some sun?
That's all! I hope you are all well.
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