Sunday, December 30, 2012

Hiatus Journal #1


Floating

So, I’ve spent the last couple of days wondering around trying to figure out exactly what to do during this little break. Typically, I like to sit and work on another project, I don’t really like to take breaks, and I just like to focus on something different, to keep my ADD satisfied. If I work on one thing to long my brain will shut down, I won’t be able to continue to process the project I want to work on.

Like I said, I’ve been trying to figure out what to do. I looked…

I couldn’t even focus long enough to get a blog post even. Lol.

Like I was saying earlier, I’ve been looking around for something to work on, and I’ve been distracted by nothing but my iPad and video games. Lol. But, I have considered a couple of options. One is finding my outline for a middle grade novel I’ve wanted to work on. Problem with that is we’re packing, so nothing is where I remember it being, and I’d had a complete outline for the story written, and it was ready for me to pick up and dive right into the novel.

Without the outline, that’s not happening.

The other option I’ve been playing with is a novel I started writing earlier this year. I set it down, for some reason or another, might have been when I went into the hospital, and never picked it back up. Now, I’m looking at it, reading what I wrote at the beginning. And, wondering if I should do a little more work on it.

Also, is it normal for you to read what you wrote, and think: Damn, this is better than I thought it was? Mainly, because I thought when I got to the end of what I wrote: Why isn’t there more of this? Lol. Maybe it’s just an ego trip on my part. I dunno.

Anywho, the novel is a little under half done, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to pick it up where I left off. Or if it’s even part of a genre that I still want to write. I dunno.

What do you do when you feel like you’re floating?

Ryan

Advertisement: The new chapter of In the Morning Light is up.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Cold Lunch project journal #26


1/4

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to announce to you that I have reached the end of the first quarter of Cold Lunch, and it is now time for my second hiatus. Lol. I didn’t mean to take one so early in the first quarter, I prefer to wait till the end of each quarter to take a little break. But, last time I was running dangerously close to the end of my prewritten material on In the Morning Light. So, now comes time to decide what I’m going to do during the second hiatus, and I don’t know. I’ll worry about that tomorrow.

Anyway, I’m excited. I’m one-fourth of the way through my novel. Any writer of whatever will understand that this is an accomplishment, and for me it feels like a thousand times that. I don’t concentrate well, so sticking with something this long is a wonderful feeling. Sort of. Lol.

I was sitting there, and I hand write everything, and I was writing the chapter. It’s two-ish pages long (college ruled paper) and I flew through it. I felt it flow from me like water from a cleft rock, and I got to the end of the scene. I set down the notebook, and my first thought was ‘is that it?’ It felt like there should be more to it, like I should have put more effort into the scene, struggled more to get through it. But, I don’t know. I mean, I’ve read the scene, twice, and it’s got absolutely everything I needed for it to have in it. It’s very smoothly written, and felt like it was some of my best work writing it, but I don’t know.

I guess it might be where I was looking forward to the end of the first quarter, to the accomplishment, just getting that far. And, when I did it, I felt just like I did at the end of every other scene. No fireworks went off, there were no explosions, and millions of people didn’t proclaim their love for me. It was just the end of another scene, at the end of another day’s writing. And, putting the pen down, knowing I could have kept writing, could have kept going for another scene or two, but I also knew that I was going to stop working on it for the next week. It felt like I was abandoning it. But, rationally, I know that I’m going to come right back to it, and when I do, I’m going to work straight through to the end of the second quarter, putting me at the halfway point.

So, yeah, I think I’m rambling a bit.

Anywho, let’s go over the stats at the end of the first quarter:
                Cold Lunch: Part One
                Pages Written: 64
                Pages Typed: 118
                Number of Chapters: 23
                Total Word Count: 31,737

And, with that, I’m out of stuff to say today.

What achievement points do you find when working on your book?

Ryan

Advertisement: Thinking about making a facebook page for myself. Think it might be nice for the ego.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Cold Lunch project journal #25


The day after.

That sounds like a title for a post apocalyptic novel, or short story, and I’m probably not the only person that thinks that. I’m sure if I did a little looking I’d find it attached to a great many stories about that same exact topic. But, what I’m talking about is the day after Christmas. If the day after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year, then the day after Christmas is probably the busiest day regarding returns, or something like that.

And, I have no idea why I’m even talking about this. My head is kind of swimming, and I can’t really find anything else to talk about, other than how hot it is in here.

I’m melting.

Melting.

But, beyond that, yesterday was Christmas, last month was Thanksgiving, the month before that was Halloween. Nobody really needs me to tell them that. But, what I think is lost each holiday season, something that’s buried beneath the PC Happy Holiday stuff, and the commercialism, and all that happy crappy. What the real message is, the message of any holiday, is happiness. It’s a time to embrace the happiness and the things that make you happy. Embrace happiness.

And, I’m not sure if I’m making any coherent sense at all.

I wrote scene/chapter 22 of Cold Lunch. I wanted to write and type scene/chapter 23 too, because that would be the end of this first quarter. And, I could take another short break and maybe get the outline for another novel cooked up. Or work on typing one of my other novels. I dunno.

I dunno.

What do you do on The Day After Christmas?

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: Done
                Pages Written Today: 3
                Pages Written Total: 61
                Pages Typed Today: 4
                Pages Typed Total: 113
                Word Count Today: 1,195
                Word Count Total: 30,537

Advertisement: Become a second hand vegetarian today :)

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Cold Lunch project journal #24


Merry Christmas

Howdy folks, it is Christmas Day, the most joyous occasion that occurs once every year. Or something like that.

Anyway, I’m not a particularly religious person, but even I can’t pass up the commercialism of the season. No really, I can. I don’t want have anything to give out, and hopefully by this time next year the Cold Lunch ARCs will be ready to be circulated, and that would be awesome as hell. But, other than that, this is supposed to be a happy time of year, a peaceful time of year. When midnight rolled around I made a post on facebook listing the three major holidays that happen around this time of year. And, I ended it by saying, ‘whatever it is you have to be happy for. Just be happy.’

I think that’s a good way to think of it. This is a happy time of year. Look for those things that make you smile, and make those around you smile. Just be happy.

Progress on Cold Lunch was pretty good today, btw. Earlier in the day I got the last four scenes typed, and just before going to bed I got scene number twenty-one written/typed. I feel pretty damn productive today, and I think I’ll sleep well.

Anywho, that’s enough from me.

What did you decide to stuff your face with this holiday season?

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: Done
                Pages Written Today: 2
                Pages Written Total: 58
                Pages Typed Today: 4
                Pages Typed Total: 108
                Word Count Today: 1,329
                Word Count Total: 29,342

Advertisement: See if you can make one person smile today.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Cold Lunch project journal #23


The Day Before Christmas

I finally got all my typing done from like the last three days. It came out to four scenes I think, or something like that. And, most of this post will probably be dedicated to catching up my stats. But, I wanted to talk a little bit about good news.

I will no longer be employed by PTI on Wednesday December 26th 2012. I am happy about this, namely because this company has royally screwed me (and all of its employees) over. That doesn’t change the fact that I enjoyed the job, what did change was the rate of pay. Prior to Dec or Nov 7th (can’t remember which) PTI was paying us a guaranteed amount of money per week, that way, if we didn’t have a lot of runs that week we would still be able to make a living off of it. Now, mind you the guarantee wasn’t a great deal of money ($350 per week), but it’s a whole hell of a lot better than I’ve made on the last two paychecks. Both of which, for two weeks worth of work, were well below the $350 mark. So, yeah, a man can’t provide for his family when he’s barely scraping in $200 dollars. That situation, and a couple of others, that I don’t want to discuss in a public forum, made me decide it was time to find a new job.

I did find a new job, one at the McDonalds in Logan WV. It’s another minimum wage, dead end job, but it’s guaranteed five days a week and at least thirty-two hours a week. I’ve worked at McDonalds before, and I’m not sure if that guarantee is going to pan out or not. But, fear not, I’m going to keep looking for a job, hopefully one that I can call a career, and if that falls through, then I’m going to go back to school and get a degree in counseling or something. I have some vested interest in the field of mental health, so counseling might be right up my alley.

As for Cold Lunch and my stats I typed four scenes today: 17, 18, 19, and 20. 17 was 2 hand written pages long, 5 typed pages, and 1,220 words long. 18 was 2 hand written pages long, 5 typed pages, and 1,257 words long. 19 was 3 hand written pages long, 5 typed pages, and 1,388 words long. 20 was 3 hand written pages, 5 typed, and 1,307 words long.

And, yeah, that is progress ladies and gentlemen.

Now, I’m going to get out of your hair.

What are you doing the day before Christmas?

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: Done
                Pages Written Today: 0
                Pages Written Total: 56
                Pages Typed Today: 20
                Pages Typed Total: 104
                Word Count Today: 5,175
                Word Count Total: 28,012

Advertisement: Everybody eat at Sheetz…now.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Cold Lunch project journal #22


Flaky

So, yesterday I didn’t make a post, and I feel bad about that. I feel bad about a lot of things right now, but that’s one of the big ones. It’s not the fact that I didn’t post yesterday; it’s the reason I didn’t post that bothers me.

I just didn’t feel like it.

Yeah, some people might be well, don’t post then. But, that’s a problem for me. I don’t feel like doing a lot of things. That’s why it takes the laundry forever to get done, or the cat litter changed, or whatever else actually needs to get done. I can think, well I need to do this, or this, or this, but the motivation doesn’t come with the thought. Usually, I think about what I need to do, and then I sit there and do nothing. Like yesterday, I wanted to catch up on some writing on Cold Lunch, instead I wrote 1 scene (wanted to do 2 1/2), and played Mah Jong on my iPad for almost two hours. I didn’t even type what I’d written.

Oh, good lord.

Yeah, motivation is a major issue for me. I keep looking for ways to break through that, but I’ve found nothing so far (except my wife practically beating me over the head with a wooden spoon) that helps it. I don’t know.

Anywho, I don’t have any stats for today, since I didn’t type what I’d written, and I’m going to go and try to pick up some of the crap I didn’t do yesterday. Playing catch up is impossible.

What do you do to motivate yourself?

Ryan

Advertisement: I did manage to put up the new chapter of In the Morning Light yesterday. I remembered to put it up at like midnight. Lol.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Cold Lunch project journal #21


We’re back.

Howdy ladies and gentlemen, how are you all doing today? Me? Not too bad. I just got back to working on Cold Lunch, and damn does it feel great. I feel so refreshed, even after all the worry and heart ache of the last week or so, I came back to Cold Lunch with a great pile of positive energy, and I’m ready to rocket to the end of the first quarter.

The breakup of the novel is simple. I’ve got the novel split into four quarters to make the work feel less daunting than it is. And, then I have each of the quarters split up into 23 scenes/chapters. Today I finished writing Chapter 16 leaving me 7 chapters left before I hit the end of the first quarter.

I am sad that I’m not going to get the first quarter done by the time the world ends (which is tomorrow btw), but if the world doesn’t end then I’ll just keep working on my novel, get through the end of the first quarter, and maybe take another little hiatus there. The first one was good for me, I don’t see why another one wouldn’t be.

Plus we’ll be starting to move here shortly, and that’s going to cut into writing time. I need to find a job that doesn’t have sucky hours so I can get everything I want to get done in a day, well, done. Lol. Otherwise this novel will take a long time to get written.

Anywho, time is short, and I’ve got places to be.

How do you feel when you start back on a project?

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: Done
                Pages Written Today: 3
                Pages Written Total: 46
                Pages Typed Today: 6
                Pages Typed Total: 84
                Word Count Today: 1,916
                Word Count Total: 22,836

No advertising today, just spreading good vibes :)

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Typing project In the Beginning #5


We’ve got a new place!

So, things worked out alright this week. I thought it was going to be a terrible one, what with all the drama and the thinking that maybe we were going to be homeless, and all that wonderful fun shit. Yeah, and my head hurts right now. The TV seems to be running, and that’s distracting.

Anyway, we’ve got a new place to move into. We’ll be signing the lease agreement and paying the deposit and what not tomorrow, and we won’t have to worry about losing our hot water, or the place burning down because of a bad breaker box (its brand spanking new in the new place). It will be nice. The only thing I don’t like about it is that it’s two bedrooms. With our roommate (my best friend since like fifth grade), I won’t have a writing room. This is something I can deal with, because the kitchen is separate from the living room. So, when I want to write without the TV I can just move to the kitchen table, or set up a corner in my and Mel’s room.

We’ll also have room for a treadmill, either in the living room, or in one of the bedrooms, and getting the treadmill is going to be free (roommate’s parents are giving it to us), so there’s going to be no excuse for us not to get exercise. And, I think that will be good for us. Getting in shape, getting healthy, that’s important. I don’t want to get into my thirties and forties and have to worry about a heart attack taking me away from my family. Yeah, I don’t know where I was going with that.

Anywho, I’ve got the line edits done for In the Beginning, and I still don’t know what to do with it. Do I try and sell it to a traditional publisher like Harlequin, or do I self-publish it? I don’t know. I really don’t know. I guess I could try to sell it first, and if that doesn’t work out I can self-publish it. I’m a poor decision maker. A very poor decision maker.

So yeah, I guess I’m just going to do something, about something, and maybe something else, then say ‘Good Lord, why did I do that?’

What sort of good news do you have this week?

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: N/A
                Pages Written Today: 0
                Pages Written Total: 18
                Pages Typed Today: 0 (single spacing)
                Pages Typed Total: 28 (single spacing)
                Word Count Today: 106
                Word Count Total: 14,328
                Line Edits: Done
                Final Word Count: 14,328
(Missed a paragraph in the original typing. Lol.)

Advertisement: Read more Stephen King, and R.A. Salvatore, and Lawrence Block, and Hell, just read more in general. Lol. Then buy a lot of my books, whenever they start coming out in stores.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Typing project In the Beginning #4


Dilemma

So, I’ve got a problem.

I have a story coming out in the critters.org queue tomorrow, and I’m fighting with myself about whether I should let it go out.

To be upfront about the problem it’s a story called Widowmaker: Shadows of Insanity, and to be blunt it’s about child abuse, the mental problems that causes, and the lengths that the instability created by the abuse can push a child’s mind too.

A little boy is visited by the “shadow man” and forced to relive the moments in which his father was most abusive, including sexual abuse. The “shadow man” convinces the little boy to take his father’s gun, and kill the abusive parent. The ending to the story is left open. But, the prospects for the little boy are grim.

The whole damn story is grim and gruesome, and I’m afraid that it will upset people in light of current events.

So it comes down to two questions:

Do I play the part of the artist, and let the story go out, saying damn the consequences and hope people accept the story for what it is, a work of fiction?

Or do I pull it out, and feel like a coward down the road, afraid to show my work because it might not be PC?

Neither option looks good as it’s going to leave me feeling like shit in the end. Upset that I upset people, or upset that I didn’t have the balls to go through with it. It’s like something I was talking to my wife about the other day. 

She asked me if I was 100 percent certain I wanted to do something. 

I told her I was 99.95 percent certain. 

What’s the 0.05 percent? She asked. 

Room for me to go, ‘why in God’s name did I do that?’  

And, that’s where I’m at right now. Stuck between the do I, don’t I, and how much am I going to regret that decision.

I really don’t know what to do here.

Ryan

Monday, December 17, 2012

Typing project In the Beginning #3


High Hopes

Going to be looking at a new place today, hopefully it will pass inspection and we’ll be moving in the next couple of days. There was a trailer we wanted to buy a while back, a really frigging nice one, but that fell through, and the last place we looked at fell through (almost literally, the roof caved in). So, yeah, really hoping this place will turn out just right.

I also hope to make a million dollars in the next two weeks, just so I can afford to buy Christmas presents. Lol.

I’m sitting here, and I really can’t think of anything to say at all. I’m just drawing a blank. How do people blog like this? Lol.

It’s funny how Microsoft Word recognizes Lol as a word. I can’t remember adding it to my dictionary (doesn’t mean I didn’t), the red squiggly stopped showing up under it. And, that made me think of text speech, and text speech made me think of this one meme (?) cupcake showed me: I know when your texting in class. You don’t just look down at your crotch and smile. Or something like that.

I think I need more sleep.

I don’t even think coffee would help right now.

Anywho, I finished typing In the Beginning this morning. I was hoping to get it all done on Saturday, and do the line edits yesterday. But, it looks like I’ll be doing the line edits later today. Then I’ll be done with it. And, I’m at the point where I don’t really know if I want to self-publish it. I think it’s really good, and in some way I feel like self-publishing it would be demeaning to the story in some way. Like I didn’t try hard enough to get it published.

Le sigh.

I don’t know. If anybody has any advice, send it my way please. I’m alone in the dark here. Lol.

What do you have high hopes for?

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: N/A
                Pages Written Today: 0
                Pages Written Total: 18
                Pages Typed Today: 2 (single spacing)
                Pages Typed Total: 28 (single spacing)
                Word Count Today: 1,059
                Word Count Total: 14,222

Check out critters.org, if things work out, and I don’t mess something up, I should have a short story coming through the queue this week. Speaking of critters, I really need to do my critiques. Lol.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Typing project In the Beginning #2


Hot Water At Last

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to announce to you, and your sensitive little noses, that we have hot water back.

And, according to my typical writing schedule, this post is late. I should have written it last night, and had it posted at seven something PDT. That didn’t happen though because of the mood I was in yesterday. It was a crappy mood, much like today has been. I don’t know why, but I just get into these stretches of feeling like I’m worthless. And, I could go on and on about this, but I really don’t think it’s something you want to hear. If you do, please say so in the comments, and I’ll be happy to put up a post that is nothing but me whining.

Today however is not that day.

Today we’re talking about hot water. We got our hot water back exactly one hour ago, and my wife has already taken a shower. I however, took a hot shower yesterday at our neighbor’s house. But, since the hot water was not back on yesterday, then we still get to add another 10k to Cold Shower. 80-90 thousand words, and I’m thinking it’s going to be a psychological horror story, focusing on a “powerful” figure in small town politics. The town will rise up against him, and torment him in small ways, that grow larger and larger and larger, until the man and his families’ lives are at risk.

Donna Hole commented on one of the other posts that it should be like a slumlord sort of thing, and that’s exactly what I’m going for. So, thank you :) Next, I will probably blow her blog up with questions about this sort of thing.

Anywho, In the Beginning, I’ve got another scene typed on it (not what I wanted to get done), but I’ve only got one more scene to type. Then the polish. And, then the final decision on whether I should self-publish it, or if I should try to do it traditionally first. I’m not sure. And, I’m not good at making decisions. Not good at making decisions at all.

Well, I’ve talked enough today, I’ll chew your ear off some more tomorrow.

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: N/A
                Pages Written Today: 0
                Pages Written Total: 18
                Pages Typed Today: 3 (single spacing)
                Pages Typed Total: 26 (single spacing)
                Word Count Today: 1,703
                Word Count Total: 13,170

Today’s advertisement: … … … … pepsi…

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Typing project In the Beginning #1


The One in which I whine a lot. 

I don’t know what to say today.

Today, has just been one of the most draining days I’ve ever had. We were trying to get a new place, it wasn’t a great place, mind you, but (in my opinion) it was a better place than we’re staying right now. And, it was only going to be a temporary solution while we wait for another place to open up. One we know that we’re going to get.

But…

I think I typed this line in one of my In the Morning Light chapters.

There’s always a ‘but’ isn’t there.

Well, yeah, mother-in-law hated it. She flat out hated it, and pointed out a few things I’m not going to post here. And, it wasn’t a pleasant conversation at all.

Now, I feel lost, by what she said about me, not too me, about me, I feel lost. I know I’m not the best person in the world, and I don’t know what to do to fix that. I don’t know what’s broken inside of me that just makes the world feel heavier than it is. I don’t know what to do. I really don’t.

My typical answer is to turn to writing, to try and fix my problems by burying them under the troubles of people that only exist in my head. I run away, and I hope (using that word loosely) that my writing will pan out, and be successful, and I won’t have to worry about the damn bill collectors, or if I’m not providing enough for my family. Hell, I just want to feel like I’m pulling my own weight. I want to make the ends meet.

People will tell me, and maybe it’ll show up in the comments section, that it gets better. All I ask is when? When does it get better? When can I stop worrying about all these things? When can I stop worrying and enjoy life? Because, right now I just want to quit the game.

Eh…

I shouldn’t be unloading this on you all, and it would probably be better if I deleted this post right now. But. But. I don’t know.

On a lighter note, our water is still out, so Cold Shower is up to 70-80k words. Maybe it will make it to the epic level. Personally I hope not. At the rate I’m going it would take almost 12 more days to get to the definition of an Epic novel. And, I can’t go without hot water that long, not to mention that I don’t know if I can write something 200,000 words long.

Eh…

Typing is going good on In the Beginning. If I keep it up I’ll be done with it tomorrow. Then I’ll use Sunday to make corrections to it, and get the cover design off to my artist. Then I’ll work on Cold Lunch for awhile, and when it gets closer to January I’ll start to freak out, and try to get the formatting done, the formatting for each of the major retailers (putting it up personally at Amazon, B&N, and iBooks), then using Smashwords to get it out to the rest of the retailers.

Hopefully, I’ll make some money off of it. I sound like a hack, but I really want this to work out. I really do. I want life to work out.

Sorry about whining so much.

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: N/A
                Pages Written Today: 0
                Pages Written Total: 18
                Pages Typed Today: 7 (single spacing)
                Pages Typed Total: 24 (single spacing)
                Word Count Today: 3,914
                Word Count Total: 11,472

Advertising: Today I’m sticking with the name of this blog. Crazy people are a blast to be around, sometimes, find some crazy friends, or one friend who’s really crazy, and have a party. And, drink a beer or two for me.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Random Ego Booster

So, today I decided to do some searching, and I found the following things:

1. In the Morning Light is number one on Google search when searching for In the Morning Light Fanfiction.net

2. In the Morning Light is on page three on Google search when just searching for the title.

3. A Writer's Psychosis is on page two on Google search when searching for Writers Psychosis.

I just wish I knew how to do screen shots to show proof of this. Well, I think I know how to do screen shots, as for uploading and posting those screen shots here is beyond me. As for finding myself on a Google search, it hasn't happened yet. :(

Anywho, that's all from me :)

FanFiction project In the Morning Light #5


Still Grodie

That’s right ladies and gents, still no hot water, but there is a light on the horizon. When it finally gets over to me I’ll let you know what it is.

Anywho, today officially makes Cold Shower a novel and I’m gonna say it’ll be a 60-70k novel. That’s what, about the average length of a mystery, or a Harlequin romance. I might shoot for one of those two types. I might even try and work it so that it’s a young adult novel, which I think falls in that area. Who knows, we’ll have to wait and see how long it is before the hot water comes back.

As for In the Morning Light, I got the second quarter done today. And, as I write the story, I find myself thinking more and more that I should delete it off of FF.net and rewrite it, pump up the word count a bit, and try to sell it as a paranormal romance novel. That’s kind of the way it’s coming off to me. I dunno. I plan on leaving it, but I might keep it in mind as a platform for a future novel. And, at least I change more than just the characters names if I do rewrite it. (Sorry about that shot, for the people that like Fifty Shades of Grey.)

As for any other news, I got nothing. Just saying, there are seven more weeks of In the Morning Light ready to go. Hope you kids enjoy.

And, now I shall start catching up on my typing for my self-pub thing. I hope to get it done before Monday, so I can get back to writing Cold Lunch, but I’m not sure if that’s going to happen.

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: Done
                Pages Written Today: 7 (wide ruled pages)
                Pages Written Total: 58 (wide ruled pages)
                Pages Typed Today: 5 (single spacing)
                Pages Typed Total: 48 (single spacing)
                Word Count Today: 3,032
                Word Count Total: 23,276

As for an advertisement…eat more beef.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

FanFiction project In the Morning Light #4


No Cold Shower

Alright, there wasn’t a cold shower today, but that’s just because I refused to take one. It might be a little grody, but yeah. No.

That doesn’t mean, however, that Cold Shower (yes, that’s what I actually decided to call the project) is staying where it was in length. It is moving up to a novella, and if there’s no hot water tomorrow it will finally be a novel. I am going to give the landlord the benefit of the doubt (I really shouldn’t), and do the novel in degrees. Like tomorrow it will be a novel, but it will only be 60-70k words. The day after it will move up to 70-80k, and so on and so forth, if it passes 110k then I will be up-ing it to an epic novel, I’m just not sure how to sell something that long. Lol. It will be more like a door stop than a book.

Anyway, I didn’t get as much writing done as I wanted too. I didn’t get a lot of sleep night before last, and had to get up really friggin early to go to a work meeting. And, thus didn’t have the get up and go to get a lot of writing done. I am back to work tonight, which means I’ll be sitting around doing a lot of nothing waiting for the phone to ring. So, I’ll have plenty of writing time, and I will get the second quarter of In the Morning Light finished.

When it comes to typing, I do have some stats to report. I’ve only typed one scene for the last couple of days, being lazy, but that did leave me with some typing to do earlier. Therefore, I have stats. For today.

That’s it for me.

When do you say no to a cold shower?

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: Done
                Pages Written Today: 2 (wide ruled pages)
                Pages Written Total: 51 (wide ruled pages)
                Pages Typed Today: 3 (single spacing)
                Pages Typed Total: 42 (single spacing)
                Word Count Today: 1,399
                Word Count Total: 20,243

Advertisement is the same as yesterday. It would be very very very much appreciated if someone would come and fix my water heater. 

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

FanFiction project In the Morning Light #3

Really Cold Shower


So, I just took a colder shower than I did last night. I didn’t think, that with it being 22 degrees outside that the water temperature would be the same as it was yesterday. This is why I’m not writing this post while sitting in front of one of the heaters in the house. And, I wish I had another heater to set in front of me so more than my ass would get warm. Just sayin, I’m really effing cold. Really effing cold.

Anyway, unlike last night, I wasn’t really able to think much past how cold the shower was, and how quickly I needed to get out of there before I started losing body parts. But, now that I’m out, I’m feeling a little more thoughtful, and I’m thinking that, maybe, my Cold Shower short story is going to become a novelette. And, if I have to take another cold shower tomorrow, it might become a novella, and so on and so forth. Basically, if this goes on much longer I’m going to be writing an epic about a small town turning on the one with all the power and all the money, and I am going to put the main character through so much shit he’s going to want to kill himself by the end of the book. And, guess what, I’m not even going to give him that release.

But…

I can’t think about anything else right now.

I just want a hot shower.

In the Morning Light is coming along nicely. I only got one scene written today, but that’s my own fault. I took a nap through my early morning writing time, and thus ran out of time. The good news is, however, that I’ve only got one more seen to go before I’ve completed the quarter. Then, I can get In the Beginning, and the character descriptions typed up, and get that train rolling towards publication.

Other than that, I really don’t have any news for the day. So… talk at you kids later.

If you were inspired to write a story about a cold shower, what would it be about?

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: Done
                Pages Written Today: 4 (wide ruled pages)
                Pages Written Total: 49 (wide ruled pages)
                Pages Typed Today: 4 (single spacing)
                Pages Typed Total: 39 (single spacing)
                Word Count Today: 1,611
                Word Count Total: 18,843

Someone please come fix my water heater :(

Also of note, today is the last time the date will repeat (12-12-12) for another 89 years. Here's hoping to still be blogging on 12-12-2112. Lol.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Fanfiction project In the Morning Light #2


Cold Shower

I just took what was literally the coldest shower of my entire life. And, it was all for my art. Lol.

But, no, seriously, not going to go into detail, but we’ve been having problems with our water heater, and our landlord (not going to mention any names, this isn’t topics) has been taking his sweet time getting it fixed. I want to strangle him, point blank. But, I’m going to be rational about it. I’m not going to do anything at all negative to my landlord. Hell, I just want the water heater fixed, after that I’ll happily go back to paying my rent. But, the cold shower got me thinking. Yes, even beyond my nerve endings screaming: IT’S EFFING COLD WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

It got me thinking about small towns, and the power people with money have over those small towns. How things always seem to go their way, and that got me wondering. What happens when the small town turns against the people with money, and… I’m not exactly blank past there, but it’s my idea no one else can have it. Lol. But, yeah, I really don’t have much past that. Other than thinking it’s a lot like some of the material I’ve read from Stephen King. The whole small town thing. He kind of specializes in it.

So, who really knows where that story is going to go, except into the hopper. I’ve got a good idea as to where the story is going, and who the main character is going to be, but the rest of it needs to smooth itself out. Don’t worry, you guys will hear about it. I just need time.

As for In the Morning Light, I got two more scenes done, and am nearing the end of this quarter. (Yeah, they’re short quarters, it’s not meant to be more than a novella.) And, I still haven’t decided what I’m going to do after that. Typing the rest of In the Beginning is probably a good idea, since I plan on publishing it in January. But, who knows. My new story might take precedence.

Anywho, that’s all for me tonight. Err today. Or whatever time of day this shows up in your feed.

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: Done
                Pages Written Today: 6 (wide ruled pages)
                Pages Written Total: 45 (wide ruled pages)
                Pages Typed Today: 3 (single spacing)
                Pages Typed Total: 36 (single spacing)
                Word Count Today: 1,744
                Word Count Total: 17,231
                (Got lazy and only typed half of what I wrote.)

As for an advertisement. Sleep. I want to put up a huge billboard relating to sleep.

Monday, December 10, 2012

FanFiction project In the Morning Light #1


Way up past my bed time.

So, I’ve had a wonderful day. The breaker to my hot water heater keeps getting hot and flipping itself off. Thus, there is no warm water for a shower. That’s a good way to make me cranky. And, two, said hot water heater has sprung a leak, and has ruined about half of me and my wife’s wardrobe. It just so happens that it’s the half we don’t normally wear, but the loss is still unpleasant. And, my wife is particularly upset about the loss of her festive toe socks. It’s a collection she’s been putting together since before I knew here. And, I hate it too, because life is just too short for boring socks.

Besides that wonderful mess, I’ve managed to kill two chairs in as many days. One was a nice red fuzzy fluffy chair, the other was a walmart brand saucer chair. My fat ass destroyed them. Of course, I’m am particularly hard on chairs, as I like to cross my legs in them, sit Indian style, and just sit on my legs. I find it comfy, but chairs don’t like it.

On a note involving writing, I got almost three scenes of the new quarter done. I’ve got the bulk of those typed, and now they’re just sitting on my computer waiting to be posted. It’s probably cruel to talk about it like this. But, yeah, I’ve got most of the story on my computer right now. And, my lovely wonderful readers will have to wait until they’re posted.

I’m a bastard. I know. Lol.

Anywho, that’s it for me. It’s nappy time.

Why do you stay up past your bed time?

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: Done
                Pages Written Today: 11 (wide ruled pages)
                Pages Written Total: 39 (wide ruled pages)
                Pages Typed Today: 9 (single spacing)
                Pages Typed Total: 33 (single spacing)
                Word Count Today: 4,902
                Word Count Total: 15,486

And, in the interests of self interest, I think I’m going to add a donation widget to the blog, that way everybody who loves reading my rambling day in and day out, will get to help me buy a new chair. Yes, a very nice new chair. Lol. :)

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Cold Lunch Draft 2 project journal #20


Hiatus.

I don’t have a random topic today. I could pick one out of the jar, but right now I’m feeling too lazy to move. So, instead of having a long rambling topic, we’re going to skip straight to the meat and potatoes.

I’m putting Cold Lunch on a hiatus. It’s not going to be a long one, don’t worry. I just realized that I’m about out of material I have written for In the Morning Light. I have one more post left, and I figure it’s time to write some more. It’s not going to take very long. Three or four days max. So the next title you’ll see on the blog is FanFiction project In the Morning Light, and I’ll have a random topic, then a little chat about what progress I’m making on the writing of that.

Then, I might take the rest of the week to finish typing up In the Beginning. This is the story I’m prepping for self-publication. Since I plan on releasing it just after the first of the year, I need to get it typed and polished. I don’t want to half ass my first sort of book. Lol.

As for Cold Lunch, I wrote the half of the scene I didn’t quite finish yesterday. Wanted to do that, so when I got back into it I’d be starting on a fresh scene.

Anywho, I guess that’s it for me today.

For what reasons do you feel like you need to take a hiatus from work?

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: Done
                Pages Written Today: 2
                Pages Written Total: 43
                Pages Typed Today: 3
                Pages Typed Total: 77
                Word Count Today: 935
                Word Count Total: 20,919

Eh, I don’t really have anything to advertise today, so, yeah, I’m just going to check out.

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Cold Lunch Draft 2 project journal #19


Why the west wasn’t won.

I don’t know what the hell I was thinking when I wrote this sentence. It’s kind of like yesterday, one of those things I heard somewhere, and decided to repeat while I was working on my list of random topics. As for something to say about it, I actually have quite a bit. I studied a lot of history in college, it was my major right up until graduation, and so I’ve had a few ideological discussions about the “wild west” and its significance in human civilization, especially in American culture. I’ll spare you a lot of it, and use a Star Trek reference to explain it.

‘To boldy go where no man has gone before.’

That is the idea of the west. It’s the idea of the frontier, going further than anyone else, exploring further than anyone else, and, according to manifest destiny, taking it away from whoever was there first because it’s our God given right.

As for why it wasn’t won. You can’t win something if you can never quite reach it. If the west represents the frontier, and the frontier represents the unknown, then you can’t win the west. There is always something new to explore. Space. Time. The bottom of the ocean. The human genome. There is always something to point the telescope at, and guess what. We can’t learn everything about everything. It’s an impossibility, mathematically, there will always be something unknown.

Thus, the west cannot be won.

As for winning battles, I won another small one today. Another scene and a half of Cold Lunch written, and another two thousand words or so punched into the computer. Earlier I was feeling better about this, but things have slid downhill since then. Just a bunch of personal problems really, but it dragging me down will probably drag my writing down with me. I dunno. We’ll just have to see where life goes.

Anywho, that’s all from me. Sorry, this post wasn’t all bright and cheery.

Do you think the west was won?

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: Done
                Pages Written Today: 4
                Pages Written Total: 41
                Pages Typed Today: 8
                Pages Typed Total: 74
                Word Count Today: 2,067
                Word Count Total: 19,984

As for an advertisement, I think I’m just going to ask if anybody knows any legal way to make some money real quick. Gotta buy those Christmas presents after all.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Cold Lunch Draft 2 project journal #18


In the pale moonlight.

What kind of topic is that? I wrote it down for my random topics list, and I have no idea what I was thinking. It’s possible I was thinking of my Fanfiction.net story In the Morning Light, like maybe I was thinking of a follow up story. Wouldn’t be a bad title for a follow up, but I hadn’t planned on doing a follow up.

I don’t know.

My head hurts.

Maybe I should go lay down.

That might be nice.

Anyway, in the pale moonlight. I figured out where it came from. I’m pretty sure it’s from Tim Burton’s Batman. “Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?” And, that question actually seems to cover what I think of my own writing. Whether I’m trying to write a romance or a children’s novel or trying to get all literary, or well, anything, there’s a horrific element to it, like the dancing devil. It’s sort of like a nice big theme. And, though I haven’t noticed it before, I guess that’s what branding is. A common thread or theme that runs through your work no matter what genre you’re writing.

And, right now, I’m actually writing a horror novel, which happens to be another scene and a half towards completion. Surprisingly I don’t feel the weight I did yesterday. Then I wanted to collapse under the immensity of the project. Today, I’m going much more along the way with the one day at a time thing. And, with certain personality issues, it’s probably going to flip flop between those extremes for the entire length of the novel. And, you guys will be right there to enjoy the roller coaster ride with me.

Anywho, I’m going to shut up now.

But, tell me, have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?

Ryan

 Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: Done
                Pages Written Today: 5
                Pages Written Total: 37
                Pages Typed Today: 10
                Pages Typed Total: 66
                Word Count Today: 2,537
                Word Count Total: 17,916

As for my typical advertisement, check out the newest chapter of In the Morning Light

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Cold Lunch Draft 2 progress journal #17


Fanfiction, today. My POV anyway.

Fanfiction, I like to write fanfiction. I’ve written here before about it, but I’m too lazy to look and see what I said. Anyway, fanfiction seems to be drastically different than it was when I was scribbling about Naruto in high school. Now, it seems to be a gateway into traditional publishing, at least for Twilight fanfiction. (Fifty Shades of Grey makes me want to throw up, and do violent things.) And, if I had known that way back when, I’d have kept writing.

I was fifteen or sixteen when I started writing fanfiction. I’m twenty-six now. Could you imagine the sheer size of the audience I would have if I kept writing fanfiction.

Le sigh.

Yeah.

Anyway, now that I realize a large audience is a selling point in the new publishing world, I’ve returned to writing fanfiction. And, no matter how practical the decision seems, I’m doing it because I’m having fun doing it.

Just like writing Cold Lunch. As for progress on it I wrote a scene and a half, just like I planned. And, unfortunately, I did some math. It’s going to take fifty some odd days to get it done at that rate.

Le sigh.

Anywho, I’m going to go lay down or something, and cry myself to sleep.

What do you think of today’s version of Fanfiction?

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: Done
                Pages Written Today: 4
                Pages Written Total: 32
                Pages Typed Today: 6
                Pages Typed Total: 56
                Word Count Today: 1,923
                Word Count Total: 15,379

As for advertisements, I feel that this is a good time to advertise my fanfiction. Lol. Check it out on fanfiction.net The Mad Habberdasher.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Cold Lunch Draft 2 project journal #16


Motorcycles

So, yesterday was a pretty lazy day, far beyond the sort of day I had on Monday. All I really had to do was worry about getting a few pages of Cold Lunch written, and laze around. I figured I might as well use one of my random topics for the bulk of this post.

Motorcycles.

They’re dangerous.

That said, they’re also cool as hell. I’ve never gotten to ride on or drive a motorcycle, but it’s something I really want to do. And, not just that, but I want to learn how to turn motorcycles and automotives into a hobby. I want to learn to work on them, rebuild engines, restore old cars, and maybe even do a little modification to them to make them go just a little bit faster.

As for how to go about that, I need money. Money I don’t have. (And, my wife isn’t too hot on the motorcycle idea.) So, what I’m looking to do at some point is hunt down a junked dirt bike, cruiser, or crotch rocket, that somebody’s willing to get rid of for next to nothing. Then take that junked bike and learn how to put it back together. Then, I could learn how to ride it. Get a license. All that fun stuff. And, when my book hits big, I can do a cross-country motorcycle book signing tour, just like Stephen King did a few years back.

Anyway, right now, all of that’s a pipe dream. Again with the money. (I’m thinking about putting a donate button here on the blog, let me know your thoughts on that. Lol.) So, whilst I try to find a way to make money, I’ll just have to Google pictures of motorcycles I currently can’t afford.

As for progress on Cold Lunch, I did much better today. I finished the scene I started last night, and I wrote another scene (I think I’m going to start shooting for a scene and a half a day, it’ll take longer to finish the project, but I don’t think the writing will wipe me out as much as it has been). Then I got both of those scenes typed. And, I’m considering another scene, but I’m trying my best not to give into that desire. I know it will just end badly for me.

Anywho, that’s all from me.

What do you think about motorcycles, and hobbies?

Ryan

Stats:
                Snowflake Completion: Done
                Pages Written Today: 3
                Pages Written Total: 28 1/2
                Pages Typed Today: 9
                Pages Typed Total: 49
                Word Count Today: 2,453
                Word Count Total: 13,455

As for advertisements… I got nothing. Have a good day.