Like Being An Agent

I just stumbled onto a fun website called Webook. It's got an interesting premise based on the idea of book selection by consensus. You can play with it two different ways:

1. Read 1st pages submitted by randomly selected authors. Rate them. Then you can move on to rating the 1st chapter, then 1st 50 pages of books that are rated well.

2. Submit your own work to be rated, and perhaps advanced, by the readers on the site.

The principle is that the books which are advanced and rated well then come to the attention of professional literary agents. It's kind of neat. I've signed up just for giggles, and I tried reading one 1st page. I read it, then I rated it, then I got to see the average ratings from other readers, broken down by percentage of ratings. That part was cool. As it turns out, my rating was the same as the majority rating. Fun, huh?

Resolution Vid.

Here's a bit of New Year's spirit for you, courtesy of Lolcats.

Oh Yeah, It's Halloween

It's not that I forgot what day it is. I even spent the last couple of days working on scrounging a costume for a Halloween party tonight, so it's certainly not that I forgot. It's just that the realization of today has been rather on the periphery of my mind.

This morning, as I was writing some more of a Cass story in my notebook, I had an "Oh yeah," moment where I thought it was kind of relevant to be writing a supernatural story on Halloween. That's when the connection between the two actually clicked in my mind. Last night I was reading a Vodoo book, and it didn't connect then. Earlier this morning I sat down next to a book titled "Voodoo, Devils, and the New Invisible World," and it didn't click then. I guess I'm a little slow on the up-take today. At least, Halloween or not, it's Friday.

In other news: In honor of the day, I'm passing along an article I just read, "Why We Believe" which is interesting because it gives scientific rationale for why our brains are hardwired in a way that makes us likely to believe in the paranormal. Fun stuff, and very cool.

Otherwise, happy Trick-or-Treating tonight, I hope you get nothing but good candy.

I'll Take The One About Demonic Forces, Please

In order to aid my work on the new stories, I've started to hit the library. Today I went to the branch by campus and picked up a few to get me started. I've gotta say that checking out a handful of books with things like "voodoo" and "witchcraft" in the titles made me feel like I was an angsty goth teen. I was slightly embarrassed.

I had to fight the impulse to loudly announce to everyone in earshot, "It's not what you think! I'm a writer. It's research."

I'm hitting the main branch tomorrow to pick up a copy of a nifty book called Lucifer Ascending. I should wear black lipstick to do it, don't you think?

Because It's Friday, That's Why

With Time To Spare

I made my 15 pages, and e-mailed them to John for proof. Of course, now that he knows how much I've done, I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to outdo me on page/word count. But, I say I get a time bonus for getting mine done first.

Alright, alright, enough with the posturing.

I got my 15 pages done on time, and hit my goal. That adds up to 4,200 new words for the novel that I did not have a week ago. All competition aside, I'm feeling good about that.

Sometimes a friendly wager can be really productive. Add in the chance of having to make a public admission... and watch the fingers fly!

A Gentleperson's Wager

Once upon a time, John gave me grief about getting 15 pages done in a week. So, I said, "Care to make a bet?" I mean, he needs to get his own pages done, after all, so why not make things interesting?

The rules: 15 pages by midnight Sunday. They must be double spaced, Times New Roman font, and with standard margins. If we do it, then we've got the pages. But, if either of us fails, there will be an allusion to the third episode of the fifth season of the X-Files.

Now, of course, he's already talking big, but it remains to be seen where all that talking is going to get him.

I'm up to six pages, John. What've you got?

I Think I'm Over a Threshold

I've been on a music kick of late, this much is pretty apparent. However, my recent preoccupation has expressed itself in a new and unexpected way. Unless you were already expecting me to go there.

Yesterday, I spent some time on Pandora refining my stations and doing some exploring. This turned into creating a couple new stations. This, in turn, led to finding The Rogue's Gallery on Pandora, which, in turn led me to the following thought:

You know, if my whole thing this month is about putting music and writing together, and if I could make a soundtrack for my Scottish Lit. paper... why not do it for my thesis too?

Thus, I made a station for my thesis. Which works in a fun way, because by refining what does and does not belong on that station, I practice refining what my thesis is and is not.

Now, the real question is whether or not I've just crossed the line into a whole new territory of nerd-dom.

Anthology CDs

Sometime this coming week, I'm expecting new music in the mail. New music compiled not by a company, but by a person. In the spirit of reciprocity, I decided I would make a CD or two of my own to send.

It took no time at all to decide which bands I'd be featuring (GBS and TOFOG, of course) but then I had to pause. In theory, a mixed CD is not just throwing stuff on at random, but actually organized with some thought as to how one song from one album fits in with another song on another album, which should come first, and so forth. Like I said, I had to pause. It's been a while since I've made any kind of mixed CD, thanks to my burner being on the fritz.

Then I remembered that organizing a mixed CD was the same thing as organizing the Hungry Eye. Duh. Identical process, just a different media. You've got the same considerations for both, the only difference is that font is less important with a CD.

Now I've got a couple made and am working on another for my Scottish Lit. professor. I've been writing about songs the whole semester, it seems fitting to offer a soundtrack to my papers. Then, of course, I ought to make a couple new mixes for listening to in my car, and I should make a big compiled CD of The Church for my car, and...

3rd Annual April WM

Somehow, the weather has worked out beautifully for all of the writing marathons I've done and yesterday was no exception. It was a good one - I was in a good group (even if I was the only gal and the only one with a name that didn't begin with "J"), we hung out in some cool places, and I got some writing done.

We wrapped up with some free goodies - Wireworks has rockin' carrot cake cupcakes - and now I'm that much further on the first draft of a new thesis story.

Theory of Relevance: It's All About Poetry

There's this idea that says when something becomes significant to you, you become more aware of it and therefore notice it everywhere. It's like when I got my car last year and suddenly I was seeing Chevy Cavaliers all around me.

This month, after making the conscious decision to free up my writing, I started writing poetry.

E-mail announcement a couple days ago: it's time for the annual Southern Colorado Women's Poetry Contest, now accepting entries from university students and the community at large.

Shawn stopped by the SCWP office today to pick up some things and we got to talking about her thesis. She's doing a creative one - poetry.

Flyer in the Psych. building: Poetry Slam on campus Wednesday night, open mic.

I can't open my eyes without seeing poetry somewhere. It's got me surrounded! I just may have to check out the Poetry Slam, though. Could be fun... or painful, we'll see.

Shoulda Been a Cowboy/girl

I've been craving country music lately, and I just found Playlist. I've spent far too much time already, searching for more and more songs to add to an ever-growing number of playlists. Thus far, my country playlist is the only one that's "complete," so I thought I'd share it with y'all on my sidebar. It's been great to dig up some bands/singers from a few years ago who're fantastic, but not so popular any more - Blackhawk, anyone?

Once again, I noticed that my tastes run decidedly along masculine lines. All of the songs I compiled are sung by guys, and only part of that was intentional (after I had most of them and realized what was going on, I figured I might as well see it through).

More importantly, playing with music reminded me of something. I used to have arguments with my dad when I was in middle school because I turned the radio on while I did my homework. He believed I needed quiet to concentrate, and in reality, silence was what distracted me.

When you're writing, or doing anything else where you're concentrating, do you need quiet? Or, do you find that you work best with background noise? If you need background noise, what works best for you?

January Doldrums? Bar Book?

I just got off from the bar about an hour ago and I'm not quite unwound enough to try to sleep. My hope was to make the rounds and catch up on everybody's blog. Imagine my disappointment in finding out that nobody's updated lately. What slackers!

It seems the only way I can catch up on the latest blog updates is by updating my own. So unfair.

A month or so ago, one of the bar regulars told me I ought to write a book about the bar. I must admit, the thought intrigues me. Thanks to my new habit of jotting down notes and quotes during my shifts, I've accumulated over a dozen pages of material already and I can't help but think that there must be some way to assemble it all into something. I wonder... is it a non-fiction book? I could compile all the quotes and divide them into sections titled things like, "Unclear on the Concept" and "Gender Politics."

Maybe I ought to sit down with Juan and tell him I've decided to throw out my original thesis plan and replace it with the bar book. It'd be rather more humorous and significantly less bloody.

Joking aside, I'm beginning to think more seriously about the bar book, if simply because it would be gratifying to put it all together in writing. I'll keep you posted.

I'm Back, Now Quit Harassing Me

At the end of my vacation, I come home exhausted after a day of traveling by taxi, ferry, taxi, plane, and minivan and find out that I have apparently been slacking by not updating my blog from Mexico. Well, you know what I have to say to that? Get over it :)

At least I was neglecting the blog because I was out of the country, which cannot be said for certain other slackers.

Also, I did make somewhat productive use of time on the plane by reading some essays to use for Comp. and by finishing the last bit of FJR. Otherwise, while on the island I made my best effort to avoid productivity of any kind, and managed pretty dang well with that goal.

I'm not sure what I have in mind reading & writing-wise for this month, but I'll keep you posted. I'm still adjusting back to winter in Colorado instead of winter in the tropics, and it seems far too cold to be doing anything much.

You Must Be *This* Smart To Read This Blog

I just found a fun test for all bloggers out there in cyberspace. It's the blog readability test and it tells you how smart your blog readers need to be. So, if you're reading this blog, pat yourself on the back.

Beginnings: Literacy Portfolio, Part 2

I'm finally just about done. The hard part wasn't writing it, per say. The hard part was beginning it, knowing where to start. I tried to start in the most logical place, my position paper wherein I articulate my argument for the whole portfolio. As soon as I got that part figured out, I could just plug the rest in where it went, right?

As so often happens with this whole writing thing, it turned out that the beginning wasn't really the beginning after all. Instead the beginning was more in the middle part with my book study. To get more specific, it really began with Stardust. I should've known that Neil would save me.

Don't you just love how sometimes the best place to start things is nowhere near the beginning of it all? Sometimes you have to walk backwards before you know where you're headed.

So, what's come out of two semesters of theory? Here's a paragraph that's come out of this portfolio (though I'm now no longer sure it'll even be in the portfolio - another funny part about this writing thing) and says it in a way that makes sense in my head:

"In the end, it’s not always easy to articulate the ways reading and writing connect to each other in the same way it’s not so easy to describe the way fingers connect to the palm. Is the connection where the bones meet? The tendons between the bones? Or, is it the skin that covers both?"

So, ultimately what I know about the reading-writing connection is that it's like fingers. Three words to sum it all up. Not bad for a few semesters' work.

Ali-Demon Incorporated

At one point last night during the Rogues' meeting, the conversation turned to picking on me (as it is wont to do). The idea came up that there should be Ali-demon branded gear, including bracelets (WWAD?), T-shirts(front: "Why?", back: "Because Ali-demon made me"), mousepads, coffee mugs, and key chains.

I'm now in the planning stages for overtaking the world with branded accessories.

Step one: Develop logo.
Step Two: Get a celebrity to wear Ali-demon gear.
Step Three: Sit back and count money.

The moral of the story: nagging your friends to write more can sometimes lead to fame and fortune.

Shocked and Amazed: Some People are Clueless (and Sometimes They Are Teachers)

Today I see an e-mail one of the SCWP alum sent to the e-mail group. I'm stupefied. This alum received a message from a college professor, some of which read as follows:
"I have a strange request. I teach community colege English, and I have my students write essays about ----. Because your essay comes up so easily through a Google search, students plagiarize from it every semester. Any chance you could take your essay down from the web, or publish it somewhere else?"

You got that? Since this professor's students pliagarize, it'd really be helpful if she'd take down her article so they could stop pliagarizing from it. Ooh, shame on her for having a well-written essay that's easily accessible. She should take it down immediately!

Okay, a few points:

• It's spelled "college"
• If this professor's students keep pliagarizing, this professor needs to address it with the students, not the author, because...
• Even if she removes this article, they can find others online
• Even if she publishes it somewhere else, it may still be available online, and it's not impossible to pliagarize from books - it just takes more typing

The funny thing, is it's more a compliment than anything else, right? Or, it's a chance for this professor to nip this whole thing in the bud and do something proactive. If all the professor's students are reading her essay already, what with the pliagarizing and all, why not beat them to the punch and assign it as part of the class reading?

Okay, so here's the question, it's a two parter:

1. Are you as entertained, and horrified (this is the one who's teaching our "colege" students?), as I?

2. If you found out college students were pliagarizing an essay you wrote, what would your reaction be? Me? I think I'd be a little flattered.

Which Brain Are You?

I just took a quiz for painters, http://painting.about.com/library/quiz/blquiz-rightbrain2.htm, and while I'm not much of a painter, the questions are easy to translate into whatever it is you do creatively.

My results:
You answered 11 items out of 20 as right brained.
Your score is 55%. Your right and left brain work together equally.

Another quiz:

Brain Lateralization Test Results

Right Brain (56%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain. Left Brain (56%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain

Are You Right or Left Brained?
personality tests by similarminds.com

How about you? Are you going to take the quiz - or do you know of another good right/left brain quiz? What're your results? Does that shed any light on your process?

Success

"Which is the greatest compliment for your writing?"
-Jenny, for her poll

I said Oprah, but the truth is I'd be most impressed with a fan convention. When a big bunch of people are geeky and excited enough about my work to assemble all together wearing homemade costumes to try and look like my charcters, that's when I'll know I've made it. Being a writer, that's a pretty unlikely dream, but there's always the potential of a movie deal. Even better, the potential that a programming developer from some cable network will pick up something of mine and make a show of it. Something like Dexter, for instance. The real success will be having said show run for multiple seasons.

The greatest compliment? People so excited about my work that they're not afraid of being branded as geeks. Say what you will about the Pulitzer, but there's no risk in being a fan of a Pulizter prize book, who's going to argue that it's not worth your time? Wear your brown coat out in public, though, and you might get a look or two. That's real love.