Tag: drafting novels

This, that, and the other thing

Things have been busy around here of late.

We’re well into the semester (midterms are this week!) and it’s beginning to get cool and crispy and fall-like around Brooklyn, which I love. This is, hands down, my favorite season in New York. Spring is too short and gets hot and humid fast, but fall lingers with all its lovely, orange-y light. Halloween is coming (which we celebrate with a big party) and then it will get cold and I’ll drink lots of foamy hot cocoa and start thinking about Christmas with my nieces, and eggnog, and cross-country skiing in the mountains.

First, though, gotta get through grading those midterms! 😉

Lest you think it’s all been school and fantasizing about the holidays, I’ve also been keeping the flame burning on the writing front. I recently finished, polished, and subbed a new short story and have reached the 60K mark on the first draft of PROJECT AWESOME. I’m projecting this draft will clock in at around 90K, so now it all feels like running downhill (or so I’m telling myself).

Perhaps most exciting is that this week is MileHiCon and I’ll be flying out to Denver on Thursday to see a whole big bunch of my favorite writer-folk! Yay!

So, yeah – happiness on a sunny, cool Monday.

What’s new with you all?

Writer’s Workspace: 9/3

Welcome to this writer’s workspace. Here’s what’s happening liiiiiiiiiiive at Miranda’s desk.

What I’m working on: Today I’m toiling away on the first draft of Project Awesome (tentatively titled THICKER THAN WATER). I’m about 45K in and have just bumped up against the vaguest portion of my outline. This means a fair bit of floundering around as I suss out exactly what I want and need to have happen with the plot and character arcs. Fun and frustrating in equal measure. Here’s a little taste of what’s been going on with Julia, my angry broken doll of a narrator…

…Snippet from the screen: “I opened the cab door, sliding across and ceding the driver’s seat to Jake. He climbed in and palmed the keys off the dash. I shivered, realizing how close he was, how his murderer’s body was just inches from mine and his murderer’s hands were touching the same steering wheel I’d held a thousand times.”

Keeping me company: the Suri household is unusually full this morning. There’s Mr. Ramses, of course, snoozing in his heated cat bed. And my work-from-home buddy Jeff is here. My husband, Sid, is also working from home today, as the office building he and his colleagues recently moved into has broken AC. So, we’ll all either inspire each other to the greatest heights of productivity, or we’ll get absolutely nothing done.

In my mug: I’ve recently expanded my stable of delicious favorite teas to include Kushmi’s Russian Breakfast. It’s not as strong as I usually go for, but still delicious. I recommend it.

Out the window: humid. overcast. thunderstorms. But, I’m not letting it get me down. We’re leaving for a long weekend in Maine tomorrow, and I anticipate plenty of cool, pleasant early fall weather up in Bar Harbor.

A little procrastination never hurt anyone: I can’t actually subscribe to this philosophy today. I got zero work done over the weekend due to various crazy things and, as mentioned above, we’re headed out on vacation tomorrow. As far as writing for the week goes, it’s now or never. That said, I do want to share one link — to the announcement for this year’s Hugo Award winners — and a big congratulations to all those nominated and victorious (but especially to my VP instructors John Scalzi and Patrick Nielsen Hayden and fellow VP graduate Mur Lafferty. VP represent!).

Writer’s Workspace: 2/26

Welcome to this writer’s workspace.  Here’s what’s happening liiiiiiiiiiiiiive at Miranda’s desk:

What’s that? you say. It’s been so long since I posted one of these, I’d forgive you for thinking this writer wasn’t working much these days. But I am! In fact, I’ve been on quite the streak lately. I was a little worried that tackling 3 classes this semester — all different and one a new prep — would ring a death knell for writing productivity. Some weeks, I’ll admit, it kind of has, but overall I’ve gotten a lot more written than I anticipated. Last week I had a 4K day, followed by a 2.5K day, and I’m hoping to top that this week.

What I’m working on:  The last push of revisions on what will hopefully be the last big redraft of ABSENT (my archaeological time travel novel). I’ve got several projects waiting not-so-patiently in the wings, so this one needs to wrap up, and soon!

Snippet from the screen: “Emily slumped forward, tilting, tilting, tilting until she was no longer leaning but falling. Her breath caught. The ground seemed to open beneath her feet–or maybe just vanish–and she fell for what seemed an age. Then, quite suddenly, she was sitting on a low mud-brick wall once again. Only this time the wall wasn’t a ruin. The ancient city of Ur spread around her, hushed as if under some spell. Moonlight glanced off worn cobble streets and dark alleys wound away in every direction.”

IMG_6332

Keeping me company: Mr. Ramses, as usual, is my biggest cheerleader. He’s been spending a lot of time snuggled in his Tower of Terror, which is situated right behind my office chair.

On the iTunes: I’ve been listening to a lot of cheery music lately. The Lumineers’ Ho Hey is playing now.

In my mug: Royal English Breakfast. Hot.

Out the window: undifferentiated wintertime. Grey sky. Bare branches. Garbage blowing in the uncaring breeze. Yuck.

…and, that’s my workspace update for today. No time to waste on procrastinatory links, I’m sorry to say.

But I always have time for you – so leave a note in the comments and let me know what you’re up to today!

Writer’s Workspace: 10/17

Welcome to this writer’s workspace.  Here’s what’s happening liiiiiiiiiiiiiive at Miranda’s desk:

What I’m working on:  This month is my finish-ABSENT-come-hell-or-high-water month.  So, that’s what I’m trying to do.  Based on feedback from all my fabulous Beta readers, I’m working on the third (and hopefully final) round of revisions.  Honestly, progress is a little slower than I’d like, though–probably cause I’ve got a huge stack of midterm exams to grade 😦

Snippet from the screen:  “Reid Rencher stood in the hallway, the flickering bulb casting his handsome face half in shadow.  Emily stared at him, horrifically aware she’d neither brushed her hair nor changed out of the I heart New York T-shirt and pair of old boxers she’d slept in the night before.  Reid grinned, taking in the half-empty glass clutched in her hand.  “I know you’ve been avoiding me, but I braved the G train to get here and I didn’t come empty-handed.”  He waggled the wine bottle he carried.  Like Reid himself, it looked expensive.  “Can I come in?”

Keeping me company: Mr. Ramses has been surly lately and retreated to the bedroom.  At least it looks like he’s having sweet dreams 😉

https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/?ui=2&ik=9e4adc5084&view=att&th=13a702f1487bcb0c&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=44b189efbced48d4_0.1&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8VIlAPcHFKXrogtX_FxaC5&sadet=1350501906138&sads=NqvT0HQXc6N0K8BsioiOlnL763A&sadssc=1

On the iTunes: Tangled up in Blue by Bob Dylan

In my mug: a cup of Harrods #14 tea

Out the window: Fall.  It’s officially arrived in Brooklyn, replete with browning leaves, a chilly wind, and cloudy skies.  Sigh.

A little procrastination never hurt anyone:  well, that’s not really true, but whatevs!  Here’s a post from Amy Sundberg taking a frank look at social media and writer priorities.  Check it out.  Also, an interesting look at the whole Reddit thing from John Scalzi over at Whatever.  And, finally, because who doesn’t like a cookie that’s really a brownie (or a brownie that’s really a cookie?) a yummy looking recipe from Food and Wine.  If you’re going to waste time and procrastinate, at least you can have some baked goods to show for it.

What’s up?

As regular readers know, I recently returned from a trip abroad (to Spain).  It was a wild ride, full of plenty of highlights, a few lows, and no small amount of ineffably delicious food and drink.  I’ll try to get some reviews, photos, and thoughts online soon.  In the meantime, I shall just say that Spain remains one of my favorite places to visit and the trip was relaxing and restorative enough to send me home with a major yen to get back to work on my writing projects.  So, mission accomplished.

Being a traveling fool, I’m actually heading out again on Friday.  This time?  A trip to Seattle to visit family.  I’ll be spending time with my little nieces, helping my mom with a tour she’s hosting in her amazing garden, going camping at Mount Rainier (if the weather holds), and doing a little research for my current novel project, which takes places in the Pacific NW.

Between now and then, I plan to write like a maniac.  I’ve got a new short story — the first I’ve written in some time, actually — that I’d like to put finishing touches on and send out, plus forward motion on the Urban Fantasy novel I’m drafting.  I owe a few crits, too.  So that’s on this week’s agenda as well.  Reader feedback on ABSENT has been trickling in, so by the time I return from Seattle, I hope to take some time to sit down and sort it all out, make a plan, and start revising.

Then, if I’m not sick of traveling, I’ll head up to Boston for Readercon.

That’s my forecast for late June/early July.  What does the next month hold for you?

Everybody says…

…that chocolate is the best cure for the blues.  Everybody knows, though, that the real answer is exercise.  I woke up in a remarkably black mood this morning, so I’m trying both.  I flung myself around on the treadmill at the YMCA until I was too tired to maintain a crabby attitude.  Now I’m sitting at my favorite neighborhood cafe with a steamy, frothy mug of hot chocolate.  The special alchemy of endorphins + chocolate + Friday seems to be working.

So, on to some writerly updates.

I’ve punched out about 7K this week on the second draft of my archaeological time travel novel ABSENT.  For me, this is heavy-duty progress and I feel about 80% confident I can make my self-imposed deadline of April 1st to finish the damn thing and send it off to my writing group.

I submitted a few short stories that had been on the back burner to various markets, which felt good.  I’ve really stopped writing short fiction lately (the two novels I’m cooking up are more than enough to be getting on with), but it’s nice to have the shorter-term gratification that comes with knowing you’ve got a few things out to market.

The other big project on the docket is plowing through approximately 80K of submissions for the writer’s retreat I’m attending in Dallas at the end of next week.  I’ve skimmed over almost everything and started in on a more thorough read-through of two of the subs.  There’s a wide range of material and it’s nice to get out of my own head for awhile and see what other people have been working on.  Still, it is a lot of words, so I’d better get serious…and soon.

In non-writerly news, “the upheaval” continues (and will no doubt do so for quite a while).  My attitude on the whole thing changes with the wind, but right now I’m hopeful some hail Mary passes sprinkled liberally with fairy dust may bring the whole situation to a happy conclusion.  More to follow.

On a more cheerful note, our downstairs neighbors finally moved in yesterday. We are no longer the sole occupants of the 4 unit Brownstone in which we live!  The new neighbors seem nice — charming even.  They appear to have sufficient fingers and toes about them and no sign of horns.  All in all, a very positive development.

Well, there’s lots of reading and writing to be done and my hot chocolate is getting cold.  If you feel so inclined, please share your recent writing goals, accomplishments, and plans in the comments.  It’s always nice to know what everyone else is up to — makes you feel less alone, you know?