writerbaby--> journal

updated when I feel like it

Monday, August 28, 2000

Okay...this isn't really me. It's my other half, so to speak. He just fixed the code so anyone using Netscape 4.0x should be able to scroll. And, it won't explode on this page. Now that was a stupid fix. Standard code and Netscape was puking on it. Go figure. Works now though. You should go visit his website. Though, if you don't like roleplaying games, it probably won't be as interesting. Though, the additional hits would really boost his ego.

Sunday, July 23, 2000

Here I am, back to the journal after wandering off to various lands of distraction.

I’ve been up to an assortment of interesting things. First off, working hard on the Velveteen Rabbit adaptation. A challenging task, especially lyric writing, which is always a struggle even with my favorite Clement Wood Rhyming Dictionary. The rough draft (lovingly dubbed “The Burlap Lagomorph” because I can’t imagine it being any rougher) is now finished, and we had our first read-through last Monday night. It went quite well, much to my great relief, especially since that meant I could spend the following day -- my birthday -- relaxing.

So, we relaxed at the zoo, watching Grizzly bears eat lunch, sea lions play in their new tank, wolves chase each other around the embankment and lorikeets perch on our arms and shoulders while drinking nectar out of dixie cups.

The first week of July brought a different sort of diversion -- a film project. Working on a film set was something I hadn’t done in quite some time, so I just couldn’t pass up this opportunity. The film is called “Will” and it’s a ten-minute piece about a boy who is part of a cloning experiment. Here’s a peek at some stills from the project.

I also took quite a lot of great behind the scenes shots (in between my tasks as Script Supervisor & 2nd AD, so maybe after I get the scanner up and running again, I’ll toss a few more up here somewhere.

The final diversion for this past month has been the creation of the new writing community over at Holly Lisle’s site. We were all on Vicinities, but too many people wrote too many interesting pieces of fiction and the site just exploded with unwieldiness. So, now we’re at Network54. Come on down! I’ve started a critique circle for stage and screen writers and would love to have another member or two. No, I’m not going to subject them to my bunny lyrics. That would be evil.

Linkasaurus:

Story guidelines for the magazine Weird Tales. Some good advice here for submitting anywhere...

Two guys, a Jeep Cherokee and some amazing special effects work -- all on home computers! It's 405themovie.com. And it's damn funny, too.

Sunday, June 25, 2000

Back when I was in kindergarten, I had a diary. I wrote in it every day, but each entry was usually only a sentence or two long. A typical entry went like this: “I played with my trols. It was fun.” Or like this: “I wached Star Trak. It was fun.” Life was so much simpler then. In fact I envy those days so much that I think I will emulate them in my attempt to catch up with the last week’s worth of activity.

Friday, June 16th: I ate salmon today. It was tasty.
Saturday, June 17th: I went to my class reunion. I tried to play soccer for ten minutes. It was hot. I ate salmon again. It wasn’t quite as tasty.
Sunday, June 18th: I recovered from playing soccer. It took all day. Then I ate salmon again. It was raw.
Monday, June 19th: I ached from playing soccer. I ate more raw salmon. I sat in front of the computer and stared at my script notes.
Tuesday, June 20th: I went to my critique group today. It was fun, but I didn’t eat any salmon.
Wednesday, June 21st: I wanted to run away to join the circus today.
Thursday, June 22nd: I worked on my script outline today. It wasn’t fun.
Friday, June 23rd: Today I ate Indian food. It was yummy, but it gave me a tummy ache. I should have had salmon.
Saturday, June 24th: I wrote one scene of my play. It was slow.

Hmm... Somehow, it just isn’t quite the same.

Linkasaurus for the week:

Now that scientists have broken the light speed barrier perhaps I can get back to work on that time travel story that’s been burning a hole in my bottom desk drawer. Lots of good research sites on the subject, including this FAQ.

“Brutus the literary computer stabs human authors in the back.” Yikes.

Here’s one massive on-line research site

Hmm… Move over George Sand? Tough call on the ethics of this one.

A good straightforward column on screenplay style.

The granddaddy of glossary sites.

Thursday, June 15, 2000

Where have I been all week? I keep asking myself that, but the only answer I can possibly give is well, right here, of course. It’s not like I can be elsewhere. Not in the Buckaroo Banzai sense of things anyway.

I’m just lazy, that’s all. No, not lazy. I’ve been working hard, see, on a number of projects. Story critiques, updating my old web playground deedop so that it links to this place, fixing the graphics on the Willamette Writers Conference site so that they match this year’s brochure. Marc and I are doing a workshop at the conference this year -- two hours on how writers can benefit from the web. I almost just typed take advantage of, but somehow that suggests sneaky tactics like spamming newsgroups with fake rave reviews of your book, or starting flame wars with experts just to make an impression. Nope. None of that.

Instead, I’m gathering a wealth of valuable resources, thanks to the kind and generous people who gather over at my on-line writer friend Zette’s newsgroup. That’s Zette, who updates her writing journal every day, unlike some people. And on top of that, she’s got EIGHT cats to feed. Me? I’ve just got one cat and a rather rambunctious guinea pig that lives in a cage just two feet behind my office chair. Oh, wait. Did I mention the morning glory that’s taking over the back yard? Yeah. That’s it. That’s what’s stopping me from writing in my journal.

That and this fact: I just returned from a really terrific short story workshop at the coast, taught by Nebula/Bram Stoker award winning author Bruce Holland Rogers. What does this mean? It means I learned amazingly useful things. It means I spent a full weekend working on my craft. It means I’ve no excuse for writing a crappy journal entry. It means…

Aw hell, just shoot the internal critic and get on with it!

Friday, June 9, 2000

Just when I started this thing... In about two hours I'm going to be heading out to the coast and away from the web for a weekend short story writing workshop sponsored by the Oregon Writers Colony. I may return jazzed to write dozens and dozens of short stories, or I may return dismayed at my lack of story writing discipline while in the confines of a beautiful beach house with far too many birds to watch, waves to stroll past and shops filled with 97 varieties of salt water taffy to visit. If it's the latter, I'll really need to think about re-naming this website.

In keeping with the Australian entertainment theme (see side bar of latest films and music, including two gorgeous soundtracks from one of my favorite artists, Lisa Gerrard), we discovered an Australian Black Swan at the park yesterday evening. I went back today, photographed it in the pouring rain, and would have pictures to post if it weren't for the fact that my camera is the shockingly old-fashioned kind with real 35mm film. Remember film? It comes in rolls and has sprocket holes on the edges?

And in film news (how's that for a cheap segue?) I am jazzed to discover the film version of a favorite book of mine, Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, is in development, and will be directed by Terry Gilliam. I can't think of a better choice for this wonderfully comic telling of the apocalypse. More details at Sci Fi Wire. Of course, once the film goes into production, get ready for the anti-Dogma brigade to repaint their protest signs and show up in droves...

Thursday, June 8, 2000

Well, I'm finally here. Writerbaby is up on line, so now I can get back to the actual world of writing. Or so I might think. A large list of things to do (large because it's written with a sharpie on a full sheet of paper) looms by the side of the computer, just next to the lukewarm ginger tea. The good news is, most of these things are writing-related. Well, except for paying the bills and a few web design related odds and ends.

So... on with the journal and the news of the writing world.

Harlan Ellison, who happens to think the internet is contributing to the decline of civilization, is suing AOL among others for illegal distribution of his stories. Sometimes USA Today has acticles actually worth reading. Go get 'em, Harl.

I went to a Harlan Ellison book signing years and years ago. I was dressed in the height of punk fashion - spiked hair, lots of studded objects attached to my person. I stepped up to the signing table. He looked up at me and said "Hi, do you fool around?" After a good 30 seconds of dumbfounded silence on my part (hell, I was a wee tyke meeting this Big Famous Author), he then laughed, said "just kidding" and signed my book. Oh, and then he threw a tantrum at the bookstore clerk for putting copies of Spider Kiss in the science fiction section. Ah, the genre curse....

Speaking of which, I like this interview quote from Neal Stephenson:
"I'm not that conscious of the whole "science fiction ghetto" thing. The only people I ever hear that from are people who are really in the science fiction world — maybe a little too much."
Read the whole Neal Stephenson interview at time.com's digital daily. Now if I can just find the time to read Cryptonomicon...

June 6th

I think I'm almost ready to upload this puppy. I've got a few features to add later, plus I've barely scratched the surface of my massive list of literary links, but what the heck -- better to launch now and futz with the details later.

Oh, in case you are trying to figure out who the heck you're looking at, that's me. Eighth Grade. Yes, it's an Elton John costume. Don't ask.

So, about this journal. I'm probably not going to write in it every day. Nope. I may even skip a week at a time, though I doubt it. What I do want to do is get my thoughts down on my travels through the worlds of writing, theater & film, and include the occasional interesting link as I happen upon it.

Most of all though, this'll be a place for reviews, opinions, rants, musings and the occasional piece of interesting literary or theatrical news. And of course it's a cheap ploy to get readers back to the site with ever-changing content. Gotta love that.