the write stuff: End of October

Friday, October 30, 2009

End of October

Tomorrow is Halloween. For the first time in a lot of years, I don't really care. I'm not dressing up, not throwing a party for the kids, and don't have any one to bring trick-or-treating. What shall I do with myself?

Well, I'll probably work on homework, since I have a 4 page paper due next Wed that hasn't been started, a whole website that has barely been started, and 2 chapters in anatomy that need read. Blah. Oh, and then I'll be getting ready for NaNo, which starts at midnight on November 1st.

Mandy and I have a midnight NaNo date ☺ Of course, midnight for her is 1am for me. I'll still be there.

I'll also be worrying myself to a tizzy about graduate school. Just when I thought I had it all figured out (psycholinguistics at the University of Florida -- go Gators!!) it was brought to my attention that a theoretical/research degree is only really good for one thing -- research. Oh, and teaching. Which is fun, but not necessarily good for a lifetime career. Possibly, but not necessarily. So, I've been e-mailing some experts at the U of F to see if there is something better suited for me. So far, I have thought about:

cognitive psychology
speech-language pathology
psycholinguistics

None of them are 100% what I want. SLP is the closest to a practical solution as I can get, but I don't want to be JUST a speech-language pathologist. Actually, I don't really want to be one at all. I just want to know some of the stuff an SLP knows so I can use it for research. If I could get a clinical license with cognitive psych, I might go that route, but it's even more theory-based than psycholinguistics. Oh, psh. Just when I thought I was set.... plenty more to think about.

Then there's my NaNo novel. All I know so far is that my protag, Quinn, is a struggling full-time romance writer who gets dumped by her long-term boyfriend and high-tails it to the ocean for inspiration, where she somehow runs into the paranormal side of life. I think my mMC's name will be Joss. I even had a last name for Joss, but I have forgotten it.

Oh, in good news, I wrote a poem. And I won 3rd place in a poetry contest! Which entitles me to a $100 gift certificate at Barnes and Noble! Wooo!!!

Maybe I should by some books about choosing a grad program/career....

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WIPs (Works in Progress)

Providence - My Alpha, in editing status currently. Providence introduces Quinn Johanning and Joss Merrick, two normal people who stop in to visit the idyllic beachside town of Providence, Florida, and discover that it's full of all sorts of secrets - and so are they. Providence is currently my Alpha-revision, and I plan to have her polished sometime in 2011.
Haven - My NaNoWriMo 2010 novel - shelved for now, but not for long.. Haven is the sequel to Providence, 2009's NaNo novel. At this point, I have my old characters and setting from Providence, a few new people to throw into the mix, and a couple of concepts I want to try out. I am busy editing Prov, though, so Haven and all it's vagueness will have to wait.
Isaac's Eyes - My Beta-revision. IE follows Sophia Ramsey as she evaluates decisions she's made in life and love - decisions which are complicated when her former sweetheart moves home after years in the Army. Sophia must decide if the life she's settled for in his absence is worth throwing away on the chance her fantasies of adventure and passion are real. IE started as a short story, but 5,000 words was not enough to hear the whole story. I lived and breathed Sophia, Trent, and Isaac for two years (until NaNo 2008 and IE was relegated to Beta status). She currently sits at about 92K and is halfway through a complete overhaul of a second draft. My love of fantasy and the supernatural has kept me from finishing the revisions, because without any ghosts, sirens, or vampires, Sophia's world seems a little small. But IE will get finished - soon - because Sophia's story is one that still plagues my thoughts daily.
Sawyer - My SuNoWriMos 2009 novel about a genius psychologist with an affinity for criminology. She stumbles across a ghost problem that may or may not have something to do with the hunky mechanic she's just met. And her detective friends really need her help solving this case... which may or may not have to do with her ghost. And her mechanic. Sawyer is currently only 10K long because life got in the way and I realized I needed a plot overhaul. But she and her friends will have their story told!
Vaampyr - The Beta novel-turned-Alpha during NaNo 2008-turned, uh, Deltaish after that. I wrote 50,302 words in 30 days and now have roughly 40-50K more. This untitled novel is a futuristic sci-fi about genetically altered vampires and werewolves. The history of the world is complex and fascinating, but bringing that to life without backstory dumps has been a challenge.
Home Sweet Home - a supernatural story I began in collaboration with my dad in August 2008. We got about 50K into it and hit some major plot holes. Dad and I discussed it often but didn't make much progress, and now that he's gone I keep telling myself I'd like to finish it. Given that I've learned a lot and my writing style has evolved and improved, I don't know how much of the current draft is usable - but I plan on finding out. Soon.
Then & Now - The one that got away. This is the working title for a psychological drama I started working on in late 2006. I wrote like crazy for 30K words then ran out of steam. I think about her sometimes - waiting for me, restlessly, to come and save her from the emtpiness of Unfinished First Draftland. We will meet again, T&H.

Friday, October 30, 2009

End of October

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