Dr. Catherine Schaff-Stump

I’m catching up here at Writer Tamago, mostly with being alive. Surgery will be either Wednesday or Friday next week, and frankly, the situation is escalating to the extent that I may have to claw the gall bladder out of my abdomen before then. (Don’t say euw. Say hrm. Consider the possibilities.)

Anyway, have I been doing anything writerly in the last two days? Yes. My friend Mark has helped me work on some of the bits and pieces of the site. If you click on the about page, you can actually see a picture of me, and it doesn’t look so rudimentary. One thing I wonder about is this: can I reduce the amount of just blank color after the descriptive paragraph? I’ll have to ask Mark.

Anything else? Our multimedia group for Wiscon has scheduled a time to chat.

Today is my last day away from my job at Kirkwood, gall bladder flaring notwithstanding (imagine a gall bladder, nostrils flared, hoofing the ground, and all you have to fight it with is a red sheet and a couple of Advil. Or not.).
As soon as I am done doing internet things, which is taking a while today, I will buckle down and write.

The plan today:

Combine Sara and Amanda into one entity
Proofread chapter 8.

Ambitious? Sure. Hot to do it while I’m feeling okay. Sure.

I’ll report back tomorrow or Friday accordingly. Take care, everyone.

Catherine

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Originally published at Writer Tamago. You can comment here or there.

You want progress? Okay. :D

Chapter 5 is done. New scenes added, the whole thing revised, and proofed. Chapter 6 is about half done, new scenes added, the whole thing revised, and proofed. This whole process took 79 minutes. I know this, because I played the new Battlestar Galactica Season 3 CD that Santa brought me in my stocking this weekend.

If I can get up more gumption tonight, I'll hit the latter half of Chapter 6. There are four scenes left--one in need of heavy revision (by virtue of eliminating one character and substituting another. Can I use character folding as a technical term? Is there a technical term?). Two are in great shape and need tightening. One has to be produced from the ground up anew.

Then we're into Chapter 7. Chapter 7 has Esme's trial in it. Critical decisions. Do I keep the whole Michael Hamwich prediction thing? I need a layer of bad kids acting badly at the trial, so I need to weave that in. What sorts of bits are in there that I like that don't move the plot forward? It's a pivotal chapter, so I have a lot to do with it.

Chapter 8, the transitional section to Errol's trial isn't too bad, although I have to introduce the main bad cheese in it for the first time in this version. So I'll have to shine that up.

That's as far as I want to look right now.

I'm pleased with today's progress. It's a lot like being a full time writer today.

Tomorrow, Christmas Eve, has some cooking in it, and maybe a church service, so both writing and meal preplanning have to be done. Do I take the day off on Christmas? Probably not. Why? I'll be vacationing on the 26th and getting tortured by doctors again on the 27th. (Really, it's a consultation with a cardiologist, and I have no idea what, if any, exciting tests they'll want now that I have a demonstrative hepatobiliary scan on hand.)

manzabar, it's looking like the 28th for website stuff, barring zany, horrible testing. Pretty excited about getting that done!

I hope you're all warmer where you're at than we are here in Iowa.

Catherine

The internet is certainly quiet during World Fantasy and the beginning of NaNoWriMo. As it should be.

Today's update: have begun reworking the ending of Sister Night, Sister Moon, with the aim of turning it into a full-fledged novella. Have solicited help from writing group in this regard. Have also solicited social writing get together.

Have taken critical look at website and made alteration decisions. Will submit those to webmaster today, and talk more about them over lunch tomorrow. Mmmm, Greek meat pies. This weekend, really gotta hit some modifications to the Baba Yaga paper hard, because Fantasy Matters is in two weeks or so, and I'm on! Also plan to clean house and do some plotting.

So, that was pretty much my plan to take over the world, on schedule. I'll try to send out two or three queries a week until something gives or I run out on Substance, keep circulating Mistoreth's Eyes until something gives or I run out of paying venues (the days of just for exposure are over for this writer!).

New Plan for World Domination

1. Continue submissions to viable markets/agents.
2. Complete website updates.
3. Rewrite ending of Sister Night, Sister Moon.
4. Submit SNSM to novella venues.
5. After you hear from sonyamsipes, begin Hulk Hercules.
6. Write Gossamer and Viridian.

As you see, 5 and 6 will be a time sink. But I'm looking forward to something new.

Write well. Be well.

Catherine