Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Ah, frustration!

So here I am: empty in-box that should last a couple more days, taxes figured out (I hope) enough to turn in to the accountant tomorrow, cash in hand to pay the painter who said he'd probably finish up today (at last the house won't look like an abandoned haunted shack any more!)... Nothing left but tune up the ol' wip (work in progress) so I can query Cerridwen with it, right?

Wishful thinking. I'd forgotten that whatever they're using up there in Ohio doesn't work with my work Mac. It barely works with my home Mac. Every time I open it I find yet another section of 127 point type, though the last time I closed everything was a sedate 12 pt. (I'll have to set up an entirely new document at home and reprogram all the styles, etc.) So all this useful time will go to pot, unless I decide to watch my Dreamweaver or Photoshop training videos which would actually positively affect my 9-to-5 job. You know, the one that pays the bills.

Sigh. I just want to finish this book and get it OUT so I can pick up my work on "Nothing Personal" again.

"Star-Crossed" has been a bit of a bear. It was originally written waaaay back when I only thought I could write. I've been wrestling with it for that, and also because it's the rising action of the overall story arc, a tough nut to make stand-alone. But it's been pruned and zinged-up and I like to think reads pretty well.

"Nothing Personal" was begun in mid-2007. It was my attempt to do a quick book. I got bogged down fairly quickly when I didn't know where things were going. Oh, I knew the ending, just as I knew the midpoint (whew! Hot zero-G naked action!), but people's motivations kept changing. That evil gang of kids on the space station just didn't interest me.

But as time has passed I've gotten glimpses of Tam Yusuf's space home, friends, acquaintances and enemies. The theme of non-biological family has grown stronger and stronger. I really want to write this thing now but I've got to finish what's on my plate first.

Darned document. Maybe I'll be able to get the query at least done tonight. (Does that mean I can skip going to the gym?)

4 comments:

EilisFlynn said...

You can skip going to the gym, but sooner or later you're going to regret it!

Good luck on Star-Crossed -- and keep in mind that the title is easily changed, so always concentrate on the story! (My ECHOES OF NEOTIA PRIME quickly changed when my editor told me that the former didn't mean anything, let alone romantic, and had to have pop. So it quickly became ECHOES OF PASSION, and overall, it's a MUCH better title!

Martin Gray said...

Is Tam related to Hassan?

Carol A. Strickland said...

Yes, she is! I needed a solid ethnic name and recalled Hass. (I mentioned it to him in an Xmas card.) Tam's father is Muslim; mother, Jewish. Tam's boyfriend when we meet her on her space station is Muslim and wants her to convert from her lackadaisical Judaism, but her new boyfriend is Anglican, sorta, when he remembers to think about it.

It's intended to be a part of the theme that we're all one big family, a lesson that New Boyfriend has to learn in his character arc.

Carol A. Strickland said...

Eilis/Liz, I like the new title much better. Hope it sells like crazy!