16 Feb 2005
I need to write
I got an alasogram (rejection letter) from Analog yesterday. It's the first one from a batch of stories I sent out last month. I got a form letter, which is pretty much what Analog sends out. I hope my other stories do better.
I submitted my fiction sales history to the OWW Sales List. I only had seven. I thought I had more. I guess I'm not as prolific a writer as I thought I was. Two pregnancies may have had something to do with it.
I need to write more. I need to sell more. I've still got "Let Sleeping Goddesses Lie" I'd like to complete by May, but I don't think it'll be ready for walking. I'm toying with the idea of sending in a script to Two Twisted, but I'm having trouble coming up with a suitable idea with a twist at the end. I'd like to improve my chances of selling, but can't do that unless I know what sorts of stories they're looking for. And wouldn't you know it, I tried to find plot summaries online from the first series, but I can't. I can write what they want, if only I knew exactly what they wanted. "A story with a twist at the end" is a rather vague statement.
What I would really like is a steady writing gig, like a column or a series or something. Right now, I wouldn't mind pretty much any writing assignment. Feel free to ask me for clips if you think you would like to offer me a paying assignment.
As for fiction, I have a suspicion that my previous stories aren't quite up to scratch. The plots are nice, but I think it's my execution. I'm going to have to sit down and write some new stories. I have an idea for one, involving a woman who fears aliens reading her mind. I should write it up this week. The longer I delay, the longer it'll be until I sell it. (I did toy with this idea for Twisted, but it's better executed in a short story.)
12 Feb 2005
I have my house back!
The tiles have been laid, the grout sealed and the all-clear given by the contractor. I can resume my life. This morning I first moved in my computer desk and set up my computer. (I had some eBay business I had to take care of.) The dining table has been moved in so we can have someplace to eat. This afternoon we moved in a few other pieces, such as my filing cabinets, the bamboo settee and the sproglets' TV. Other than that, everything is pretty much still out in the shed, including my piano. I'll have to move that in by next week, as all my music students are starting again.
Most of the small stuff, packed in boxes, is still in the shed. I don't see a need to move all that stuff back in until I really need it. Even then, I'm only going to move in the one item I need. The rest can stay in the shed. If, after a year or so, I find I have not used it, I will determine it's value and use thusly:
- Do I have a legitimate, specific, foreseeable use for this item? (If so, find a home for it in the house or shed.
- If no, would this item have any monetary value? (If so, sell on eBay or at a garage sale.)
- If no, would this item have any useful value to someone else? (if so, give to other person)
- If no, recycle item, if recyclable. Toss if not.
My theory is to reduce the amount of sheer stuff in my house. While mine is a four-bedroom house, it's a small (128m2) four-bedroom house. I love my stuff; I don't have the space for it.
The less stuff I have, the easier it is to keep my house clean.
5 Feb 2005
Sometimes Pain Isn't So Bad
Just a quick though from yesterday: As I was sitting on the edge of the bed because it hurt too much to lay down, I took a moment to objectively look at my pain. Sure, it hurt, but I could *deal* with it.
I compared it with the pain of emotional heartbreak, of depression, of severe loneliness. I've suffered all extensively in the past.
I would much rather suffer the headache.
4 Feb 2005
Tiling and Headaches
Yesterday we started preparing our house for new tiling. This involves
cleaning the house then packing everything up and moving it out. Think of
moving house without the fifteen trips in the back of a ute. We've shuffled
our Worldly Possessions into cardboard boxes cheerfully donated from the
grocery store, and have moved the furniture out from the walls in
preparation to moving it outside. To my surprise, we had less than half the
junk I thought we did. All our W.P. took less than ten cardboard boxes, and
will easily fit in the shed with room to spare.
We have a gravelled-over side yard where the sprinklers don't reach, and
we'll be storing our furniture there (not much of that either). Our W.P.
will be stored out in the lockable shed. The furniture will be fine, as
it'll be hot and dry for the rest of the week, but perhaps I should move my
sensitives (CDs, etc) from the shed into somewhere else.
Damian took the day off to help move out all the heavy furniture out. Today
should have been set. And what happens? I woke up with a screaming
headache (possibly a migrane) and nausea. So much for being able to move
furniture. Whenever I took drugs for the headache, I'd throw them right
back up. My nausea wouldn't go away unless the headache did. So, in a fit
of misery, I dropped the girls off at daycare (for I was to go to work today
as well) and then returned home to crawl back into bed. Eventually I passed
out from the pain and slept until 1 pm. Without me, there wasn't much
heavy lifting Damian could do, so he contented himself with moving all the
small stuff out to the shed and cleaning off (and out ) the fridge.
Once I woke up, I felt marginally better. My headache had reduced to a dull
roar and my nausea ebbed to a niggly delicateness. One plain potato and a
panadol washed down with a sip of orangejuice, and I was ready to crawl my
miserable self out into the world--or at least, into an air-conditioned
library. It's after school, so the few public patrons that come in (it's a
joint-use library) will be quiet and I can work in peace. All the computers
need reloading of the library software, as we'll be completing the migration
from the text-based Innopac to windows-based Millennium.
Millennium has given us all headaches in the past. (I guess it's appropriate
that I load it today. ) It takes forever to load and is delicate
on most our systems. We have one computer on which it runs perfectly all
the time. Alas, this is not true for the rest of them.
I've been working out a short story in my head for a while. I got the idea
a few weeks ago and the Listmind at the OWW Zoo thinks it's a
plausible idea, as long as I can make the science convincing. Damian came
up with some really good ideas on how tin foil can interfere with telepathic
reception. As soon as I get my computer back and some time, I'll have to
write this story out and see if the Workshop thinks it's ready
to walk.