Clearing out all the crap I have been grabbing from all over the internet, but found these posters I made for a fundraiser Dodgeball Tournament. 

The person in charge of the event called me three days before the Tournament, asked for some fast (like, you have one hour), funny, intentionally bad, posters: 

Each poster is a two panel, the first is the "Be Honest" accompanied by the statement posters. 

I've been cyberstalking the lovely Meg and her fic, Sawdust and Ashes. Through a circumstance of chance, I found her LJ account, and now we have a darling new Beta relationship. As a little bit of motivation, I made a quick motivational trailer for her fic to watch whenever she got dejected. 

It's a Gilmore Girls fic, along the hurt/comfort family variety. A great Luke and Jess bonding fic. 

Song: The Gravel Road, James Newton Howard
Clips: eatsleepandbreathe.net 

So, a video that I used to host on youtube.

Because of youtube's new thing where they are actually adhering to their terms of use, I have removed it. 

But here: A fan video from NBC's Heroes, before things got rough (Spoilers for How to Stop an Exploding Man). It was made to bring my sister up to speed for Volume 2. 

Music: Chosen (From the Buffy finale) by Rob Duncan

Quick little question for all the NaNoWriMo people,

Who is doing script frenzy? 

My NaNo committed suicide, 500 words away from my total for day three.

Then, after frantically trying to save it, it came back to life. Again.

My plot is kamikaze this year, in fact it reminds me of a demonic albino goldfish I once had. 

It tried to kill itself twice. I do not lie. 

Both times it jumped out of the fish bowl. The first time I got it back in the bowl. no problem. The second time I was out of the room, and it jumped again. 

I came back in the room and the thing was on the carpet dead. No flopping or anything. I went to the kitchen to get a spoon to pick it up, preparing funeral rites in my head. I shimmied the thing onto the spoon, but it was sliding. I put it back in the water to readjust it, and it immediately sprung to life. 

Bizarre fish. The freaking Count of Monte Cristo.

Anyway... NaNo. 

I played with the timeline a little bit, changed the perspective again, made a morally ambiguous character a little more morally ambiguous. Pushed the element of betrayal and wrote a new opening. 

The whole NaNo experience is about honing the craft right? ;)

Well, technically it's Day 2, but I passed out from exhaustion around three am. 

Word count is: 2430

My friend sent me a link to the cutest comic ever, also the most accurate: 
That was me, but instead of midnight (I was asleep), it was about 7:00 last night. I sat down to write and nothing was working. My characters motivations were strong, but them working together was just. not. right.

So I changed out my missing character, took one that I knew wasn't working the way I intended and sent him away on an off page mission to find his missing son, and brought back my female MC. She and the dwarf are working better right now.

Thank God all the prep that I did is salvageable. My novel seems to be working with the plot a little better now, so that's good. 

All in all it was a good night for writing. 

My kickoff bash with my brother and sister was smashing, and now my brother is cooking breakfast. Dominic and Jennifer (since midnight Nov. 1) have both gotten 5000. 

My friend Cathy has 6000, and my other NaNo convert, Amanda, finished with a respectable 2000.

Now, off to write until my omelette is ready!

I break out the iTunes, hoping to put some damage into my outline, and BAM, Time is Running Out by Muse starts blaring.  

So... how did it get to be today? I was eagerly counting down the days, and now wish that I had just one more, but whatever. I have three hours now to work before I have to meet my sister for a play. 

I don't want to go, but I owe her. BIG TIME. Last night I put plaster cloth all over her back and arms, and even though I lotioned her like she was eroding, it was pretty painful to remove. But I do have a lovely cast, that will be great for my sculpture project that's due Monday afternoon (Possibly entered into the collegiate show on thursday)

Michaels is actually a pretty nice job, my manager is fantastic and laid back, and my fellow employees are all quirky and fun. 

I also found the Generation T book and with my discount, I can get it for about 10. So I'm stoked. My plan for making my own clothing (because I'm too poor to buy it) is once again in motion. 

I got to quit stalling. Must work on outline. 

Peace out girl scouts. 

This is a rant-type thing. Please don't be offended by anything said in here, if I was speaking about anyone's personal fanfiction, I would have left a review on the story offering the constructive criticism that was needed. 


Why does it seem to all suck, lately?  

A lofty claim, I know, but it feels like it has been so long since I've read a great fanfiction. A truly compelling story about the characters that you love. One that you are begging for an update, that you check every single day. Or, one that you find late at night. You know that you have to go to bed, you have to be up in three hours, but you can't stop scrolling. 

What happened? 

I feel like every thing I click on lately is crap, crap, CRAP. Is it that I've changed? 

I mean, I'm not 13 anymore. I've grown, my tastes have changed, and I have read so much since then: am I simply noticing the things that I easily looked over in the past? Does it just take more to dazzle me now? 

Is it the accessibility and instant gratification of the fanfiction sites? 

With sites like ff.net, anyone can rattle off 5 words and declare it an opus. They post it with zero editing, zero thought and insight into the role that fanfiction should have with canon, and zero accountability. 

It seems that everyone wants to be an author, and that's fine. I love to read, I think that the world would be better with more writers. Afterall, aren't we the sensitive, thoughtful types? Quick to ponder, quicker to appreciate the work of another.

But with ff.net, everyone becomes a writer with that "upload" button, and it seems that more and more defensive writers are citing "Plz don't flame me, this is my first fic" or seems to hide behind the "it's just fanfic, I'm not a professional" tirade. 

Which is all frankly bullshit as far as I'm concerned. I have read some great fanfiction in the last 10 years, some written by men and women who deserve (and may well be) professional authors. Regardless of your writing experience when you hit that button every fanfic writer becomes a published author. Published.

Doesn't that in itself create accountability?

Is it the vanity reviewing? 

How can crap authors really expect to grow when no one gives any real criticism? I read 13 fanfictions today, each one worst than the last. The worst being a Buffy the Vampire Slayer story: a time travel story of such absurd proportions I could only make it through 4 chapters before closing it in disgust.

I clicked on the reviews (81 reviews 81 reviews?!), and not one had any criticism. Constructive or otherwise, just "update plz" or "so hottttt" 

Nothing about the disgusting misuse of characters, discarded plot, inability to properly punctuate, and the occasional slip of chat speak.

I've received constructive criticism and see? I'm still here. I didn't spontaneously combust. My soul didn't die inside my broken, frail body. I made the changes that I needed to, and my story became better. 

One particular harsh CC really opened my eyes, and I remember the advice that I received. It truly changed my writing. Is that what today's authors need? 

What happened to beta readers? 

I used to be on a beta reader index for theforce.net, and my inbox would be flooded with beta requests, so much so that I had to remove my name from the listing. I selected to exclusively beta six authors. These people refused to update something until it was beta read, going as far as to resubmit something to me three times to ensure that it was perfectly tweaked. I wasn't the only one with this beta/author relationship. The entire board it was taboo if you didn't have a beta. If you didn't have one, people scrambled to find you one. 

What happened to the characters? What happened to the story?

I like smut. I like lemons. I like limes. I'm a sweaty, Sprite kind of girl. 

But when your entire premise of a story is about saving someone from the present that you love, have them proactively try to protect them. The aforementioned BtVS fic had the first four chapters a supposedly 21 year old Buffy is incapable of doing anything but wax poetic (bad poetic) on how "hott (sic)" Angel's human self was. Upon their first meeting she screws him in an alley.  

Which sex in alleys is fine. I like PWPs. Remember the Sprite? 

But it's when PWP completely loses sight of the characters. If you want to write about two people having sex, write original characters and post it as original erotica. Don't destroy two beloved characters for the sake of getting off.  

What happened to stories? What happened to the canon tie-in? Alternate Universes are fine, when done right. And most AU fics that seem to work have some tie into canon, somewhere.

I won't start on Mary Sues. Frankly because I'm sick of talking about her, reading about her, and thinking about her. Enough people have ranted on her for five lifetimes. 

But my biggest heartache stems from: What happened to plot and character driven drama?

__________________________________________

Anyway, that's my rant. I'm off to find not crappy fic. Any suggestions of where to look?

Also, to reiterate, I'm talking about none of my friends here. I leave constructive criticism where I read, and would have left it with you if I thought you needed it. 

 

So my dad called me last night and said that my brake-hose-thing broke and all of my brake fluid was collecting behind the dashboard (?)

He said it seems an easy fix and should be back on the road shortly. Either today or tomorrow... so thanks dad, and thank you for your concern everyone!

Until then I am borrowing my sisters car. I'm getting ready for my first day at Michaels (for those of you who don't' know, 6AM blows!) 

 My dog is very sweet, charming, and loving. She is protective and a comedian. 

She is also the devil. 

This morning she ate a tube of toothpaste. Travel sized. Crest if you would like to know. 

It's all over my bedroom, on my sheets, on my pillows, on my walls. It's all over her. Her chest her face, her legs. 

She also squeezed open a tube of green acrylic paint, and proceeded to march around my bedroom, leaving a demonic green paw print trail all over my hardwood floor and also my sheets. 

I would like to say that I am the true victim here, but alas, it's my sheets, especially my comforter, which will never be the same. 

But whatever. Demonic as she may be, you can't put toothpaste (or acrylic paint) back in the tube. 

Just laugh it off and move forward. 

It's 6 days until NaNo and I am about to jump out of my skin.

I'm doing all my homework for the next month this week, and starting my new job (Michaels! Whoooo!) on Tuesday. 

In the Bible, Sunday is the day of rest. 

In NaNoland: Sunday is the day of Outlining. 

Can't wait to work on this, but now must clean my house, otherwise I will just procrastinate next week. (Oh boy, I haven't cleaned the burners in the stove in a loooong time *wanders away from novel*)

Also, I added a ton of NaNo friends, and most added me back, so thanks for the adds everybody! Happy NaNo-countdown.

I started my independent sculpture project last week, and it's something I'm very excited about. I was browsing on foundshit.com, and saw these pictures:





The OP said that they couldn't find the original photographer, but after a little research, I stumbled onto http://www.zenaholloway.com/zena.html

Zena Holloway has beautiful photos on her site, I suggest anyone go to that site and loose a few hours. Some of the most ethereal photos I have ever seen.
( independent sculpture project )

Alright, now I got that last post out of the way... ;)

I'm working on my own novel for the first time this weekend, and I'm really happy with how on pace I am. I will be ready for October KickOff, for sure.

I met stargatedragon on Friday, my local NaNo mentor, and she is just a lovely person. We spent a few hours getting acquainted, and talking about our respective projects. 

She introduced me to the concept of steampunk, and I think that I will begin to trickle the genre into my NaNo. Fantasy does not have to be primitive. 

I am currently planning my NaNo kick-off party on Halloween, lots of sugar, lots of laughing, lots of writing (?). Also, I'm looking forward to the official Pittsburgh chapter kick-off on the Sunday. 

It will be a great, social weekend. This is the NaNo that I missed out on last year, and I'm so happy that I'm meeting the new people, and conning old friends into the mix as well. 

So here we are, 12 days before NaNo, and I am about to explode from excitement.

My whole life is revolving around NaNo, planning, preparing for, and converting. Yes. Converting. I'm converting people to NaNo-ism.

I have three lovely people in my life who are registering to become NaNoWriMo's, two have already registered: JenniferLynn, and dominicjohnson. My younger sister and brother. 

Both have enjoyed writing in the past, JL is a pretty successful fanfiction writer, even though she hasn't written in quite a bit of time, and has received glowing reviews for her writing. She has also written some wonderful shorts, but keeps a lot of her writing close to her chest. 

She also suffers from the same nagging internal editor that I did. It took *SO* much nagging to get her to sign up, but she finally did. She is very busy with school, but will be doing a reduced word count (about half the pace), and will finish the 50,000 if she has the time.

Bonus: She's bringing along her friend for the NaNo ride, Renee. Renee is also a great writer (from my sister's praises) and has already completed a novel (non-NaNo).

My brother, dominicjohnson is still in junior high, but enjoys writing, he just lacks a lot of motivation to do so. NaNo is perfect for this, and we spent this last weekend plotting and planning his NaNo. It looks like it's going to be fantastic.

Two of my local friends from last year will be returning, two are maybes. I'm luring my friend Val in with a reduced word count, and am just encouraging my friend Marc who, if he returns, will be doing his third NaNo (one time winner)

God... How many more people can I get in 12 more days?

but you sure make fun stuff in Photoshop.


Working on the cover of my novel, threw my sketchbook against the wall in frustration, and moved to photo manipulation. My first love.


It's a banner for NaNo, and the parchment is a stock photo, and I am legally allowed to use it (Yay!) 

Edit: Blood spattering is all me. It's one of my many talents that I don't share with people. Because it's scary.


 

Today I started my NaNo prep, and I'm very, very excited.

For anyone who doesn't know what NaNo is: A month long novel competition. The goal is to write 50,000 words from midnight November 1 to midnight November 31. There are no prizes, just (hopefully) the first draft of a novel.

This will be my second attempt at NaNo, and I bombed it last year. A mid-way failure. I completed about 12,000 words in the first week, and then.... dropped off the universe. I got myself together, and locked myself in front of the computer and pumped out another 12,000 in three days. Then it was midnight, November 31. 

It went by way too fast, and little excuses and tiny procrastinations became bigger setbacks. 

This year I am hell bent on succeeding. 

I'm working on a supernatural/fantasy novel for NaNo8. I have a basic plot... I don't know what to call it, it's not as much of an outline as it is a sprinkling of ideas in my American Political Thought notes.

I am however looking through some Asian mythology, and am feeling excited and invigorated. Western mythology just seems so old hat, and it's continually hard to create something new from creatures and stories that have been beaten into you since you were a child.

Obakemono is a great website and I recommend it to any writer, or anyone with a few minutes to spare on the internet. It's a great comprehensive website about Asian monsters/demons/tricksters, in a fun encyclopedia format.  

Alright, now to organize my fun/scary/awesome findings into my shiny new NaNo folder on my desktop.