Mindseas

Sodden

Sun, 18 May 2008 23:55:11 GMT

My day began with a series of squawks--Pif was bringing me a present, a live gray catbird. I was able to catch it and release it before it could flutter around inside the house. Scared, it grabbed one of my fingers in its beak and didn't want to let go.

Then I worked on my program, Xox, and felt that I was making some progress, though I didn't test it again. After the delivery of some planting soil and cedar chips ordered by Louise, I did some gardening until I was chased inside by the rain.

Then I read Mark Twain's Joan of Arc. If this story was not historical, it would surely be fantasy--the story of a young woman destined to free her people from their oppressors. But I think readers would find Joan's accomplishment hard to believe, if they weren't historical. And the tragic ending would be hard to sell, I think. I also seem to recall reading (Wikipedia corroborates) that this was the work Twain himself thought most highly of, even though it's not the public's favorite. All in all, the book leaves me with many things to ponder.

The empty nothingness crushs the empire

Sat, 17 May 2008 14:12:29 GMT

My cold persists, and I spent a miserable day huddling inside from the rain yesterday, not doing any gardening. I felt that my progress on my program has been very slow. I revamped the whole dictionary and renamed the program Xox, though I'm still planning to use the idea of miniarcs. Impatient to examine its progress, even though some of the functions are just empty placeholders, I thought I'd test it this morning, and this came out:

The moonless sky ceases without the black basin of Planet Athmthm.The moonless sky freezes .The moonless sky sinks .The moonless sky rests .The empire of Athmthm is empty.The empire of Athmthm is destructive.The empire of Athmthm is black.The empire of Athmthm is vacuous.

That's the scene setting. Then the protagonist is supposed to come in, but no protagonist appeared, and a lot of sentence fragments followed. Also, from the blackness and emptiness, I have the feeling that all the values in the program are zero. (A second test confirmed this.) So much work remains to be done before the program will sketch out brief histories of imperial worlds.

The Promised Land

Thu, 15 May 2008 01:43:14 GMT

Still feeling a bit off this morning, I read the Bhagavad Gita upon arising, then I finished The Silicon Dagger by Jack Williamson, then I dug in the garden for a couple of hours, and finally worked on my program toward evening.

After reading the Gita, I felt annoyed at myself for being so burdened by possessions. I'm surrounded by mementos and family heirlooms, and when something is damaged or lost, it bothers me. I wish I could rise above that. Who said that we can do as we will, but not will as we will?

I also shouldn't worry so much about getting my novels and stories published. Not that I shouldn't submit things, of course. But I wish that I could be more philosophical, rather than panting after publication like it was the promised land.

I wonder if it is the promised land to other aspiriing writers as well...

The Wonderfully Creative Number Galp

Fri, 09 May 2008 17:57:14 GMT

Last night I dreamed I was looking at a math textbook. The preface of the book told about this number, describing it as "the wonderfully creative number galp," and gave the page where it could be found. The example demonstrating galp involved the surface area of Susie's divided cookie with all four pieces "turned away from God."

On the conscious front, the garden plans are moving along, though it's raining today and I am neither digging nor running. I plan to spend most of the day working on my program. (Although I did brave the rain for a walk to the library for a book by Jack Williamson. That will be tempting.)

Weeding

Mon, 05 May 2008 23:12:13 GMT

Today I went out for a run, then spent a couple hours weeding, saved Louise from a wasp nest, and helped her replace a broken hose fitting. Now I'm wanting to rest. I'll have a busy day gardening tomorrow too.

Turkeys were gobbling in the woods all day. Louise said they started at 5:20 in the morning. I also hear lots of woodpeckers and cardinals calling, and many others I don't recognize.

I made some small changes on my website, following indigo_room's suggestions. Dread Drama is still needing work, but I'd really like to get my program Arcettes doing its thing. Perhaps I'll find room (temporally speaking) to concentrate on it for a while.

I've been very inactive on OWW recently. I should really do a review or two, but so many other things swallow my time.

Forgot to mention that we had our first morning glory a while back. It had reseeded itself in a hanging pot indoors.

Inspiration

Sun, 04 May 2008 00:09:13 GMT

Today Louise went to the Sakura festival at the Brooklyn Botannical Gardens, but Ben didn't go because Vikke was busy with an art project all day.

I didn't go either, but I had a nice run along the tow path. Saw one fuzzy gosling paddling in the canal with its parents, and a Baltimore Oriole. I've always thought black and orange made a beautiful combination.

The wild turkeys were in the wooded part of the backyard, the tom display on a fallen tree while the hen investigated the ground with the same two-steps-forward-scratch, two-steps-back-look routine as a chicken.

I worked on a new short story, "Book of Fire," which was inspired by my reading about Philip K. Dick in Wikipedia after someone mentioned "what happened to him" on OWW, along with the ideographic language in Walter Jon Williams' Aristoi and my own childhood fantasy that my father had a special book with a flaming cover.

Ordinary Times

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:59:44 GMT

Today was breezy and cool. I went out for my run and made giant artichokes for dinner. Across the street, a wild turkey tom is displaying for a hen.

Most of the day I spent working on my website, having fun picking through a bunch of old drawings for things to include.

Finally have the tune for "Flight of the Silverlance" all worked out. Next, I'll concentrate on the lyrics, and then maybe I'll know what the story is about. I'm sure that everything is contained in the tune, I just don't understand it yet.

Pacing

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:51:42 GMT

Since I've been running every other day and gardening on the not running days, I've been feeling pretty good. This morning the maple trees lining the tow path had dusted it with tiny flowers, lending it a pale yellow-green glow.

Over the past few days I've been immersed in revamping my complex website. I want it to be done now, but there's still so much to do. Each evening I realize that even were I to work all night, I couldn't get it all done before tomorrow--especially as I'd be falling asleep over my webpages, my mind lost in the labyrinth of folders and files on three computers in three different rooms of the house. I must be patient.

The only story active in my mind at the moment is Dread Drama, but I've only just started to work the unifying thread through it.

My "Silverlance" song is developing, but I'm still not sure when the story will take place. Last night I dreamt about a character descended from Morning Glory, the MC of Timeweavers. Maybe the Silverlance is his story.

Mindwind Redux

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:24:53 GMT

I went through the Mindwind, Soulfire manuscript and tweaked the ending again. For some reason, the end is the most problematic part of that story, while Timeweavers had more of a midlife crisis.

I'm also trying to fix up Dread Drama, my 20k piece, and actually seeing some changes that would make it more like a story rather than a string of events. I may finally have learned to implement what I learned in Taos. Yay!

Soon, I sense that I'll want to plunge into a new project. Perhaps I'll pick up Playing the Goddess (the sequel to Mindwind) again.

Or maybe something new. I've composed a little piece on my viola, which I call "Flight of the Silverlance." I feel that it needs to become a story. Perhaps when I finish the rest of the lyrics I'll have an inkling what it's about...

CPAC and Dream

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:44:47 GMT

All day yesterday was spent at the Castle Point Anime Convention. In the morning Louise and I did a panel on traveling to Japan. The rest of the day I spent at my table with my horses. I didn't sell anything, but while I was at the panel, Vikke sold a Heaven and Hell pair.

Here's Vikke at my table:

I got home a bit before midnight very hungry (because I missed dinner) and tired (because I'd been up since 5 am). I woke up at my regular time this morning, but my cat Pif convinced me to get back into bed for a nap after breakfast, and I had an excellent dream:

Someone was telling me that I should use my strength for heroic action now, because I'd be all shriveled up by the time I was ninety. I replied that when I was ninety I'd be playing an online game and I'd have a game body to make myself young and strong again. I predicted that the game's virtual world would include all the senses, and that game real estate would cost real money.

Of course, I went on, this future would only hold true if the next thirty years like the last thirty went into computers. The thirty years before that, up until the sixties, had gone into war. (My dream self was a bit confused here, thinking that the sixties had been only thirty years ago.)

Solar Quest

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:02:04 GMT

This morning I dreamt I was going to play solar quest, a Monopoly-type board game that involves taking your spaceship around to different planets and moons and selling fuel from your properties to other spaceships that land on them. I had a new gameboard with all of the most recently discovered moons and asteroids. It was huge, about the size of a bedsheet, and made out of paper. My cat had chewed one corner, but nothing important had been lost. I tacked it up onto the wall, and told my daughter that we would have to stand on a ladder when we played.

In real life, a fox visited our backyard at about 7:30 am. I had been doing some digging because I hope to create a pool and fountain this year, and the cats have enjoyed all the nice dirt. When I first looked out, one of the neighborhood cats, not ours, was investigating the dirt; then along came the fox.

The cat fled...

and the fox had the dirt all to itself.

Poof-Jiggle

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:28:08 GMT

In my dream last night I was in Manhattan, visiting some people who had an aquarium built around their apartment with a big, fierce fish swimming round and round. (The kids assured me it wasn't as ferocious as it looked.) I had noticed something odd that indicated someone was trying to take advantage of the family, and my first ex-husband was investigating, but going about it in an inefficient way, buying up fantasy theme parks and the like.

The family nevertheless placed their trust in me, and they all toasted me with a non-alcoholic beverage. "Poof-jiggle!" said the matriarch. That was the traditional family toast.

In real life, I'm doing revisions on Timeweavers, but moving slowly. My car passed inspection, so I won't have to get rid of it yet. I took a celebratory run in the park, and my new running shoes didn't hurt my feet.

Then I found out that my housemate, Deb, got an Editor's Choice on OWW for the first chapter of her novel, but she hasn't read Karin Lowachee's review.

The Finish Line

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:50:40 GMT

I finished Timeweavers a little before midnight last night. Having tried NaNoWriMo sucessfully with Mindwind, I thought I'd try out the LJ community Novel_in_90 for encouragement and enthusiasm for this one, and it was a lot of fun. I probably wouldn't have stuck to Timeweavers without the fellowship.

I greatly enjoyed writing the end of the novel, as I went directly from the big four-part battle plus one last final battle straight into the final reveal/reverse and wrap up of all the threads which I fit neatly into 3-1/2 pages. Whoop! I've stuck the thing into a bucket of water to quench it, and will take a look at what I've wrought in a couple of days, and hopefully it won't dissolve like a dream.

Around noon today I took a victory run in the park through a light mist--but at least it's finally gotten warm around here. Saw only one of the Egyptian geese, and it was standing on one leg. Now I'm worried about its mate.

Writing Faster than Thought

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:34:50 GMT

Today I finally started my four-part final battle scene and had a good time. Usually when I write I have a few pages worked out in my head, sometimes almost word for word. I prepare this material when I'm walking, napping, driving--just about any old time. I've been doing this for so long it seems automatic. So generally when I sit down at the computer, I feel like I'm just transcribing from my head notebook.

Today, I got up to the place I hadn't worked out in advance, and I was just writing. It felt wonderful. Things were happening, bubbling up. Kahee revealed something about himself that made so much sense, and I realized I'd hinted at it when I first introduced him in this novel--my subconscious can be quite the virtuoso with the foreshadowing stuff--and it might have implications for what is to come, but I don't know that yet, but for a few moments I was just going with it.

Then the scene ended, and I went back to stuff I'd worked out or sketched out beforehand.

Temperature

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:41:30 GMT

After working on my 25k thing with the tentative title DREAD DRAMA last night, I did a bit of thinking about my novel, TIMEWEAVERS, which had stalled just before the big battle. The only thing that came to my mind was a bit of speculation about what the characters were wearing, and it occurred to me that Glory, having just come from a cold world, would be overdressed on Lal, but her boyfriend would be cold if they went someplace that would be comfortable for her. So they would go for a change of clothing. And they would split up. This would be perfect for what I have in mind next. Apparently that was all my subconscious wanted me to figure out, and I started writing again.

To celebrate, I went on a long walk to the park--if I get rid of my car I'll have to walk there. It takes me about forty minutes. At the park I saw the pair of Egyptian Geese again. Here's one, with the wind ruffling its feathers so it looks like it has a crest:

The Snow Goose was with a pair of Canada geese:

I didn't see the white horse, but I've made a new icon with him.

Almost There

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:57:33 GMT

Had a short run in the park today. Didn't see the pair of Egyptian geese I've spotted a couple of times, but there was one snow goose, and lots of Canada geese, one of which flew up onto a bridge pylon, where they've nested in the past.

I was out celebrating my finishing of chapter 32 of TIMEWEAVERS. I'm at about 90k words, with only the big four-part final battle and the wrap-up left to write. So what do I do? I sit down at the computer and start revising the 25k story inspired by tcastleb's Lizard Story.

What's up with my subconscious?

Cute Animal Pix

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 02:05:00 GMT

mnfaure and tcastleb have been posting some great animal pictures, and I wanted to get into the act.

Here's a tree full of squirrels. They acted like young ones just out of the nest. I think there are three in this picture.

And here's one poking its head out.

Dreaming the Metaphor

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 01:54:50 GMT

Last night I had a dream that seemed a perfect metaphor for my struggle to get published.

I was walking along the path leading to a temple on a mountaintop in Kathmandu. I had been in the temple previously (when I sold a novel to a small publisher) but had come back down for supplies (after the small publisher went belly up).

A golden curtain I hadn't seen before barred the next part of the trail. I thought that I probably shouldn't go through it, but I did. I was then told that I couldn't continue to the temple today. Only the Japanese could. In dismay I watched them happily set out. Then I was told that I would have to wait... until tomorrow.

I couldn't believe this. I began to rant and rave and carry on like an idiot (exactly how I feel when those rejections come).

How could this happen to me when all of my friends were already up there in the temple! In my confusion I forgot to drop the name of some important personage we all knew up there (not as good at networking as I could be), but luckily my friends had dropped the name for me (I have some great friends), and so I was treated to dinner and dancing.

Haiku² for mindseas
horse was out trotting around the track i also walked around the
@

Created by Grahame

Morning Glory, Daughter of Dawn

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 20:13:20 GMT

More crazy things are happening in TIMEWEAVERS today. Among other things, I've changed my MC's name yet again. She had started out as Little Flower, then had her named changed to Nettle by people who thought her unflowerlike. Now she starts out being called Morning Glory by her mother, and having her named changed to Weed. But as soon as she's free again she calls herself Glory. This is a nod toward one of my father's stories where the heroine was named Glory.

The developments haven't much to do with the name-change, I don't think, but I feel they'll work out very well in setting up my whole galactic empire series. My character feels happier today, more empowered. What a relief. Wheee! I love first drafts!

Down in the Dumps

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 22:13:06 GMT

Deb says she's going to move out in June or July, and has started to pack her things.

Louise and Ben and I have discussed our plans for a concert at Castle Point Anime Convention and we've decided to put it off until next year, as we've only practiced two songs, and we should know a dozen for a real concert. I will still be showing my horses at an art table.

It's been a nice day today, but I feel sad. My MC in DAUGHTER OF DAWN (I've changed the title to TIMEWEAVERS since working on the synopsis) has just realized the futility of struggling against the bad guy, who has demonstrated his mastery of her emotions, and I guess I feel a bit like she does.

Birds in the Sky

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:32:26 GMT

It's a nice day here, so I went out for a short run in the park. The path was plowed, so I had the pleasure of running between snow banks. The white horse was out trotting around the track. I also saw a snow goose preening among the Canada geese. Then there was a very noisy kingfisher, so all in all, it was a good birdwatching day for me. I also walked around the zoo and looked at the coyote's tracks in his snowy enclosure to see if they looked the same as the ones in my backyard, but they weren't very clear.

My new novel idea isn't in focus yet, so I'm working on Daughter of Dawn again. I did a lot of thinking about it during the week I was working on the short story, so it's heading in a different direction now, and, as usual, I'm not sure where it's going.

Playing the Goddess (formerly Princess Wulf) is still being mulled over.

New Thoughts

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 20:28:37 GMT

Now, having completed a second draft of Mindwind, Soulfire and a frist draft of an old story I'm reviving -- Project Fish, I feel ready to take on some new project.

The two novels I've worked on recently--Playing the Goddess and Daughter of Dawn aren't inspiring me much, although I've had thoughts about both of them recently. But I've had a couple flashes of something else that seems to be bobbing about in my subconscious. It feels pretty nifty, and I wish it would come to the fore. So far I can't say much about it except that it seems to involve a journey seeking a god.

Coyote Tracks

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 02:05:18 GMT

Last night Deb spotted a coyote near the edge of the woods, and this morning I went out to look for tracks and found these:

I wouldn't know how to tell coyote from dog tracks, even if they were clearer. She saw one in the snow last year too, so I've begun to think maybe they're around a lot, but just aren't visible in the dark except against a snowy background. We do live next to a few acres of woods full of other critters, so I guess it's no surprise. They keep building more houses, and I guess all the wildlife in the area is getting squeezed into these woods, which are zoned as wetlands.

In other news, I decided that the problem with Ax not being the character I envision with Wulf is that she's going to marry J. in the first place. Ax can marry some other princess and have his procession on the Way with her. The whole Code intrigue will provide the historical backdrop for the novel, but the emphasis will be on who's playing the goddess.

This insight made me feel a lot better about my current WiP about Wulf's great-grandmother too.

Model Horses

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:23:25 GMT

My Arcettes program was writing its little arcs today--but I still have a lot of honing of its dictionary before I get anything nice from it.

I also did some more work on my model horses for Castle Point Anime Convention.

The other day I did a skeletal and a cosmic horse:

Today I finished a demon colt and an angel foal:

Arcettes

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:20:58 GMT

Today I did the first test run of the new form of my program which I conceived at OzCon. I call it "Arcettes," because it was inspired that a novel should have a fractal form: mini arcs in each scene forming the larger chapter plot arc, and chapter arcs fitting together into the entire novel arc, each with its own something at stake, suspense, and resolution.

This was the entire story: Boog wants to leaves the dying body.

The program goes into a recursive function that should produce many sentences, but for some reason it only produced one. Well, tomorrow when programming hour rolls around again, I can do some more debugging.

I'm feeling down today because I lost a little piece of memorabilia, something my son made when he was little. Some items fell in my trash can a couple weeks back and it must have become dislodged from its holder and left in the trash.