A day or two late . . .

Wasn't a bad Yuletide this year. Got to spend time with the love of my life, hanging out in our pjs all day as we watched movies and Discovery show specials. Stuffed our faces with turkey and all the trimmings, and fed the eager cats their share. (They won't get people food again until next Thanksgiving's turkey.)

Many thanks to all who sent cards. It was really cool to get them. Unfortunately, work interrupted my preparations and, by the time I realized the date, I didn't have time to send out cards from us! My goal next year is to do these during Thanksgiving week when I have free time from work. Then I can mail 'em out in plenty of advance. The three weeks before Yule were quite busy with holiday parties and coatchecks. Maybe next year will be the same.

I'm still rocking on NoteTaker. I've got eight notebooks up and am about halfway through organizing all my writing notes for different genres. I spent all day yesterday working on the cyberpunk notebook, combining information from my story, CyberEpic, and the one I'm halfway through and stalled on – Kou Itten. Had to read through both of them to pick up language (Spanish, Brazillian, cyberpunk lingo, Japanese) and characters (Nomads, Military, Techies, Netrunners.) I also dug out my old Cyberpunk RPG game notebook, found mucho weapons online for the mayhem loving people, and drew up lists of gear, cybernetics, and drugs for the mid 21st century.

I've got enough in the cyberpunk genre already to have a series. Wow.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

At least I've been there the last three days as far as computer programs go. blissful sigh

You see, I currently use Word to write. I have documents for the current chapter I'm working on, the full novel as it's written, my notes, an encylopedia, AND a Sanguire dictionary. Then I have Omni Outliner for the character document and the plot line. Then, if I feel the need, I have an Architecture program to put together floor plans and maps. So, in one folder for one book, I have as many as nine or ten files. And if I have pictures of my characters, those files go into the same folder.

I've found a Mac program called NoteTaker that's knocking my socks off, man! I can literally have a virtual spiral notebook full of everything I need. I can put in tabs, pages, sections, move 'em around wherever I want 'em. I can even create the cover how I want!

So, that's what I've been doing the last three days. World building the Sanguire using NoteTaker. I've got a tab for books holding all the finished outlines and links to the documents themselves. I've got a tab for Sanguire characters alone, another for Human characters, and a third for Halfbreeds (which will be coming up in the distant future.) I've got a tab for my Sanguire Encyclopedia . . . and I even have the ability to link between entries, documenets, and pages within the notebook!

And the program automatically creates and maintains a backup of the notebook! If one is screwy, the other will survive!

If you have a Mac and are using OS X, I highly recommend this program!

Still writing that Slow Movin' story. I've figured out why writing sex scenes is so difficult. In any other scene, you've got description, dialogue, etc . . . you don't really need to get down to the teensy little details. In an erotic scene, however, you have to micro manage the entire thing to keep the mood flowing, without losing the reader with an inadvertant word or absolutely ridiculous activity. ("She put what where? I didn't know she was a contortionist!")

sigh

Only 500 words a day for the last four days. I hope to be finished with this soon. Then I'll post it to my mailing list. It's already longer than any of the other Slow stories. I'll have to go back and beef up those tales. Rather than ten short Plot What Plot tales, Slow's character is developing far too much for just a little 'slap and tickle.' The previous three stories definitely will need revamping to give a better idea of what type of person she is.

Surprising, too. She's already so much of a character!

Gotta love it. Didn't get any writing done, per se, but I got lots of other stuff done instead. Dishes are done, the floor's been vacuumed, the cat perches have been combed (O, the joy of long hair kitties,) and I got some errands finished.

Tomorrow Office Depot is delivering my wife's Yuletide present – her own computer desk. Right now she's using a card table. It'll look very nice once it's up, and leave her all sorts of nooks and crannies to squirrel things away in.

Also updated my website. I’m only putting links to five short stories at a time. Figured it was about time I changed ‘em. Plus I added a new one that I wrote a couple of weeks ago, Rude Awakenings. Don’t read this at work, or you’ll be mighty uncomfortable.

I’m just about done with the fourth Slow Movin’ short, entitled Bleedin’ Hearts. Then I’ve got the Valentine Slow Movin’ to finish writing. Once those are finished, I begin work on the third Sanguire novel, The False Side of Shadow. Should be on to that by the end of next week.

Five more days of work before a three day weekend.

...and off to the publisher! WOOT!

And yet so far. sigh I've only got about 5k left of editing. And it looks like work is going to be a bear for another two weeks. Only one day off next week.

(On the up side, however, there are SEVERAL nights of coat check. Which means TIPS! Gotta love cold weather and holiday parties!)

Plus I wrote another new scene – this one was because of a friend who insisted I should have written about Kathleen's fight with her parents before she decided to return to Anpo's side. Mama and Papa ain't happy, especially since little brother is going along for the ride.

I've only 10,378 words of the original edition to go! YAY!

A total of 10,802 words edited today! WOOT! Five chapters done and I'm into the last 18k to edit before this puppy's finished.

YAY ME!

1014 words of scene added. Enjoy…

In context, Anpo has returned Kathleen to her parents' homestead for a visit. Through miscommunication and cultural differences, it's thought she's returning Kathleen to her home permanently. In the native culture, however, the two women are married. It's just been very difficult for Kathleen to get that across to her family due to the stigma of homosexual relationships. Hence, no one knows but the women, and Kathleen has been less than supportive in her joy at seeing her family.

In native culture, 'throwing away' a woman meant divorce.

Stewart waited until he was on the porch to put on his boots, not wanting to rouse the rest of the family from slumber. False dawn crept across the sky, as he slipped his feet into the cold leather, stomping into the yard as he settled into them. Regardless of the early hour, he could not sleep, the excitement of having his sister home coupled with the unusual sounds of someone sleeping in the loft nearby. It had been far too long since he had had to share the space; five years or more since Kathleen had married and left for Stephen’s homestead.


He stretched with an audible groan, and hiked his suspenders over his shoulders before heading toward the barn. Da said the night before he had told that Indian to sleep there. He wondered if she had, or if she bunked down elsewhere. Besides, Stewart was eager to get a closer look at the ponies.


As he walked, he considered his sister’s odd behavior whenever the subject of Anpo came up. He had heard her words, plain as day, when the native said they were joined. He would be damned if he knew what that meant, but whatever it was could not be good. Kathleen blushed furiously, and changed the subject to something else. Stewart kind of felt sorry for the Indian, though. She seemed to be put out by his sister’s tactics.


Wonder what that means, though? Joined? Maybe it just meant they lived together to raise the boy. Or how about adopted? Now there was a thought, Kathleen adopted into an Indian family and all. And who was the father of Teca, anyway, some member of Anpo’s tribe? He discounted that thought almost as soon as it surfaced. The woman dressed in no recognizable style; she obviously came from far away.


The barn door stood slightly ajar, and Stewart pulled it further open. Just like a heathen, he mused. Not even enough sense to close the damned door. He shook the uncharitable thought from his mind. It was not Anpo’s fault she was an Indian, just an accident of birth. Besides, she had Kathleen’s friendship, so she could not be all bad.


The interior was murky, and he stood still to allow his eyes to adjust. Soon, he made out the stalls where the ponies stayed, and he eased closer. Somewhere in here was Anpo, and he did not want to scare her into something rash.


His fears were baseless, however, when he saw her watching him from the last stall. Her horse was saddled with one of those uncomfortable looking contraptions, her belongings tied in place. As his sight grew better, he realized she looked pretty ragged. Doesn’t look like she’s slept at all.


“Where is Ketlin?”


It took a moment before he recognized his sister’s name. “She’s still asleep,” he said, wondering at the hoarseness of her voice. If he did not know better, it appeared Anpo had had a really difficult night. Her eyes were reddened, her face looking gaunt and drawn. “Want me to wake her?”


“Hiya.” She made a sharp gesture with her thumb, and turned away.


Deciding her response was negative, Stewart leaned against one of the stalls and watched. Her movements were rigid, hard edged. He had no experience with her people, but he could almost swear the Indian was close to tears. Scoffing to himself, he put that thought out of his mind. From what he had heard over the years, these people did not cry or mourn, at least not in a way he was familiar with.


She bundled up a fur, lashing it tight to her saddle. Then she backed the pony out of the stall, leading it toward the door.


Stewart frowned and followed. “You going for a ride?” he asked. He would have thought she would stay around a little longer, at least to say good-bye to Kathleen.


“I am going back to my people.”


Not for the first time, he considered that these people were bizarre. Didn’t they have emotions like everybody else? Stewart could tell that Kathleen thought highly of Anpo; it was evident every time she looked at the native the day before. He had assumed Anpo felt the same way. If she did, she sure had a funny way of showing it, though.


They came out of the barn together. Stewart saw the yard clearly, the sky beginning to turn pink with dawn. Without further discussion, Anpo mounted her pony, pausing to stare at the cabin.


“Are you sure you don’t need anything? I know da wouldn’t mind giving you supplies for your trip.”


“You have nothing I need.”


The voice was icy, and Stewart felt a wave of anger. Ungrateful animal, he thought. “Then maybe you have a message for Kathleen?” he asked, his voice echoing Anpo’s. He must have hit a nerve because she froze, hardly breathing, and her dark skin paled. Shocked, he wondered if she was going to faint.


“Tell her-” Anpo’s voice broke.


Stewart stared at the emotion running just beneath the stoic surface. Good heavens, she’s really torn up about leaving. He urged himself to step forward, to offer consolation to this stranger who had helped his sister survive.


Before he could act, Anpo regained control of herself. She dug into a pouch attached to her saddle, pulling out a tin whistle. The instrument had been decorated with leather and feathers. She held it out to Stewart.


He stepped forward, reaching for the toy, barely catching it as it tumbled from Anpo’s hand.


“Tell her I throw her away,” she said, jaw clenching.


Before Stewart could get her to clarify her statement, she wheeled her pony and rode away from the cabin.


“Throw her away?” he questioned the empty dooryard. “What the hell does that mean?” A horse nickered in the barn, and he shook his head. He would ask Kathleen when she woke. For now, he pocketed the whistle and returned to the animals, remembering his desire to get a closer look at the ponies left behind.

I'm at the scene where Kathleen wakes up in her parents' cabin, wanders out to the barn, and speaks with her brother Stewart. This is where she discovers Anpo has left her there, divorced her.

The scene is only just over 1k long and I need to stretch it to 2k to make it chapter length. (Yeah, I know. It doesn't have to be 2k by anybody's standards but my own.) Should I add the scene of Stewart meeting Anpo in the morning? Show the scene where she tells him she throws Kathleen away?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Hope everybody who celebrated the holiday had a good one. Those of you who don’t, hope you had a good couple of days, regardless.

Thursday, ‘dinner’ was on the table by 10am. Spent the entire day munching down and watching movies. It was a mellow day.

I also finished reading Of Drag Kings and the Wheel of Fate, and it’s sequel, Drag King: The Burning Dream. Good stuff, Maynard. Smitty rocks. It’s been awhile since I’ve read either, and I’d forgotten the quality of the writing. (My bad!) I just might have to buy the books. She’s a major poet in her prose with a heavy mystical bent that just flat out makes sense. Love it!

I was fortunate to meet Smitty a couple of years ago at the first Orlando Bardcon. She did a reading at a lesbian bar where we had a signing. She’s a sweetheart.

Friday was leftover day where we ate pretty much everything from the day before that hadn’t been finished. Nummy! Another day spent watching movies and reading. Rented … from Netflix. It was fun.

I also listened to my editor’s advice. I had picked up and put aside Lorimal’s Chalice by Jane Fletcher. Looked like a typical ‘woman from female dominated society forced into a male dominated society’ kinda thing. Promptly put it down before I’d gotten through the first chapter. (This isn’t the first time I’ve tried to read that one, either.) Cindy told me it wasn’t like that at all, that Fletcher goes in a completely different direction than what you expect. So I picked it up again.

DAY-UUUMM! I’m not even halfway through the thing and I love it! I really recommend it! (Oh, and Cindy was right! LOL!)

Today, just finished editing two chapters of Tiopa Ki Lakota. Tomorrow I’ll be working on the first meeting between brother Stewart and the strange Indian woman his sister’s gotten involved with. The end is in sight!

5602 words today, three chapters done. I'm almost to the end of section 8 with only four more to go! YAY!

Just checked the remainder of the old manuscript . . . I've only got 29k left to slog through.

3156 words of editing, over three quarters finished with Tiopa Ki Lakota!

About 1k in plot for the next Sanguire novel. Forty scenes right now, and I'm filling in the details I want to visit in each scene.

Not a bad day for my first day off! Here's hoping the next three or just as productive!

I've got the next 4 days off. Woot!

Wrote a smutlet the other night. Couldn't get the damned thing out of my mind all day, so I had to toss it out there. Everybody on my mailing list got a welcome (and very warm) surprise.

Am cruising the Academy (actually the Uber list) for . . . stuff. Just finished reading Linda Crist's Bluest Eyes of Texas and Meg Ryan's 'The Deal.' Don't know where I'll end up next. I'm going alphabetically, of course.

Also completed a rousing discussion about politics from my poli sci wife. Getting a keener picture of the Sanguire's political structure. And the issues Jenna's going to have to deal with as she gains control. Whew! I think there's a lot more fodder for stories after I finish this trilogy. Criminy!

Another story idea came to mind. You know my MC? Jenna? Orphan, foster child, street kid, suddenly shoved into the limelight as vasilissa of the Sanguire? The only thing that's made the transition easier is the extra memories (past life recollections) of her predecessor, Elisibet the Tyrannos. Well, a thought occurred to me the other day . . .

What if Jenna got injured and lost her memory? Yet, the memories of Elisibet were just fine?

Jenna the Tyrannos, anyone?

cackle

The responses regarding the Roman Senate were helpful. After I had some sleep (and my eyes uncrossed,) I read the posts. I think I've got this Sanguire political structure licked.

My problem is that they're so spread out. With Human law (and the need to blend in with Human prey) I couldn't see Sanguire having laws all that dissimilar to Humans. On the other hand, they're hunters, predators. There are several manners of behavior that wouldn't be punished or even though of as odd.

The Vasilissa (Empress) runs the show. She has her privately picked advisors (Margaurethe, Valmont, Castillo) and the Symbouhera (Lionel, Aiden, Ernst, Bertrada, and Samuel.) Additionally, the world will be divided into regions. One Sanguire (Senator?) is chosen for these regions to keep things on an even keel in relation to Sanguire law. (Haven't come up with a title for that person yet.) They'll run things as they see fit, whether it be democratically or a bit more tyranical.

Now I've got to figure out some sort of police force for the Vasilissa. Not just the Royal Guard, but a military arm that can sneak in and sneak out to take care of Sanguire law breakers. It can't be a standing army. Humans would notice it far too easily. It has to be a Special Ops sort of thing.

And Reynhard Dorst's spy ring will be the eyes and ears of the Vasilissa.

Does all that make sense? Am I forgetting something?

Originally, Elisibet the Tyrannos' laws were restrictive and violent. Of course, she lived in medieval times and the Sanguire had their own base, so to speak, a homeland. Since Elisibet's assassination, the Symbouhera has rescinded many of the 'laws' she put into effect. Hence, it'll be a softer and gentler Sanguire nation . . . LOL! So long as you don't cross 'em, anyway.