Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Beginning in 2012

"Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop." - LEWIS CARROLL, Alice in Wonderland


Good advice, Mr. Carroll.

So. Ahem. It's been a while. How have ya'll been? Busy I suppose. I know I say this all the time, that I've been busy and bla bla bla. No, this time I'm chalking it up to sheer laziness. I looked at the blog. I said to myself "I should update." Then I decided to do other things.

Admittedly, that other thing would be working on my novel, but that's a different story.

....You see what I did there? I can be punny.

And for that one, I shall be shot.

But I'm exceptionally proud of what I've been doing with this idea. Funnily enough, it started in 2010, when I was chatting with Jim and he asked me "If you were a superhero, what would your power be?"

And thus it began. My friends and I talked and collaborated and characters emerged. I was slow to the game, and by the time I got asked the question, the characters of Aercheia, Alice, Gabriel, and Tychus were formed and developing. I thought it would be easy; I'd created characters before and it wasn't hard.

Then I met Tara. She was a pain in the ass. I had an idea of what she looked like, but no name until a week later. I chatted with Jim and my friend Ashlyn and eventually we all got a better idea of who this mysterious woman in my mind was. My friends spoke of how these people developed in their adventures together - adventures I listened in on and smiled at.

And one day I woke up and asked myself: What would happen if this woman entered their lives? And that was the beginning of a writing frenzy that lasted a few months. Chapters were short and choppy, the characters under developed and the plot sketchy at best. But it was my baby. I loved it. I even started work on a sequel. By the time NaNoWriMo rolled around in 2011, I was looking back at the first one and thinking "This could be better."

Which leads us to now. The original document was a measly 34,000 words, and that's including some small edits and author's notes. The new one? It's already at close to double the word count and nowhere near being done. Characters have life and are so very real to me. The few people who have seen it so far have said that they love the characters and while I admit, these people are biased, but I agree. That's what I think the strength of this book is in a way. I hope that readers can look at these characters and see themselves or a friend or a family member in their words or actions.

I'm still finishing up with a few more chapters (at the very least three more substantial chapters) but then it goes out to some brave volunteers for edits before the final phase. If you want to help me edit, say so. And if you do edit and like it (despite the errors I'm sure are in there), tell your friends. Have them tell their friends. Spread the word. I'll make it available for official purchase.

But I ramble. I get excited when I talk about projects like this.

School is back in swing and I'm already swamped. Taking six 400 level classes was not exactly my brightest move. But I like them, so it's not all work. Sometimes it's fun. Still stressful and maddening and makes me want to kick something into a pit This-is-SPARTAAAA style. You know...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZeYVIWz99I

That one.

Thanks Gerard Butler.

Also getting back to running. I was bad and didn't do a lot over break (it was cold so sue me), but with the half marathon coming up, I have to get back to it. Training starts in a week and a half! I'll be keeping everyone updated on how that's going and other things relating to the half. If you want to support me (no, I'm not asking for your monies...yet.), I've made a facebook event. Check it out and RSVP!

https://www.facebook.com/events/351673041510074/

Soon I'll probably work on a T-shirt design, so that'll be kinda fun to have. The race isn't until April, but keep the calendar clear. Just coming out and supporting me by cheering is amazing. I've never run a half marathon before, but we'll see how this goes. If it's not so bad, I might upgrade and do the Chicago Marathon in the fall. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I need to start by getting back into running.

I'm doing a few miles at a time, usually two but I think this week or next I'll work up to three. Not much, but it counts. Every bit counts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT50eLLxPco

Yes, it's a lot of videos. Shush you, you signed up for this when you started reading.

In the meantime, finish novel, survive school, knit my heart out, not freeze to death down here, do not lose sanity. Not necessarily in that order.

Oh frick, I've got to get to class soon. Cheers all. See you whenever I decide not to be a lazy person, pull myself away from the novel, and write to ya'll.

Song of the Day - Arms by Christina Perri


<3 Erin