Blog – Page 304 – Sharon Lee, Writer

Still life with Mozart

As I mentioned elsewhere, yesterday, I need to write eight scenes (now seven-and-a-half) and a wrap-up in order to finish a Compleat Draft of Carousel Seas. I spent some time yesterday mapping out those scenes (which is how I know that the number is eight), and everything seems solid, all the way to the finish line.

In other news, we need to go to town today, to take on groceries. We had been going to go to breakfast, but suddenly! realized! that? Today is Mother’s Day. So, Steve is prepping for Omelets at Home, which will be very pleasant, and then we’ll go grocery shopping.

Fans of Mozart will be pleased to know that he’s back on the case. Here he is, already at work on the pages I wrote yesterday:

Mozart is on the job May 12 2013 — Mozart is on the job
May 12 2013

* * *

Progress on Carousel Seas

67,842/100,000 words OR 67.84% complete

I felt it then, the weight on the land. The same weight, I was certain, that I’d felt before. Slowly, I turned toward it. As before he-or-she was located in the blackness of the alley between the Sun Wheel and the carousel’s storm wall.

“I’m glad you came back,” I said softly, while I sent warm tidings and promises of safety through the land. “Please don’t run away. I’m Kate Archer, the guardian. I’d like to see you, and to get to know you; to serve you, if I may.”

As on the previous occasion, the weight shifted on the land. I had the impression that whoever it was had come one or even two cautious steps in my direction.

Which was approximately when all hell broke loose.

Books read in 2013

You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack, Tom Gauld
Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, Lois McMaster Bujold (e)
Hellspark, Janet Kagan (re-re-re-re-re-re-&c-read)
The Year of the Dog, Grace Lin
The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi (e)
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (a mostly true memoir), Jenny Lawson
How Dark the World Becomes, Frank Chadwick (e)
Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal
French Fried, Chris Dolley (e)
My Father’s Dragon, Ruth Stiles Gannett (read aloud w/Steve)
Fair Game, Patricia Briggs (e)
Nymph, Francesca Lia Block (read aloud w/Steve)
Oh, Myyy, George Takei (e)
Hunting Ground, Patricia Briggs (e)
Cry Wolf, Patriacia Briggs (e)
Alpha and Omega, Patricia Briggs (e)
Miss Buncle, Married, D.E. Stevenson (read aloud w/Steve)
Agatha Heterodyne and the Hammerless Bell, Phil & Kaja Foglio
Moonrise Kingdom screenplay, Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola (e)

Internet ON

So, 3501 not-anywhere-near-perfect words written today on Carousel Seas. Amazing what you can do when you turn the internet OFF.

Tomorrow, we have an early business phone call, then I will once again turn the internet OFF and see what happens.

I did skip over a scene because I need to think about where and how it supports the rest of the narrative. God, She knows, I already have too many extraneous scenes in this book. Or maybe not. A cold read of a complete draft will tell me for sure.

Hope everyone had a good and productive day.

* * *

Progress on Carousel Seas

64,279/100,000 OR 64.28% complete

“And just who the hell are you?”

Blowing through

My intention is to be off the interwebs today, so that I may beat feet on Carousel Seas.

However, it occurred to me that I failed to update Mozart’s Fans regarding the results of his blood work, yesterday.

Everything is normal, normal, normal. Kidney values are high normal, which means Keeping A Close Eye, but even these aren’t unexpected in a fifteen year old cat.

The sadness is probably just that; he misses having another guy around to help him “know his place,” as the vet put it. We pointed out that Scrabble keeps him in his place, but apparently that wasn’t exactly what he meant.

I did just drop by the cat hammock to ask if Mozart had a few words for his fans, but Mozart is not granting interviews today. Below is a picture, illicitly taken by a paparazzi.

And, now? I’m turning the internet OFF.

Born on a mountain top in Tennessee

So, yesterday was a previously-arranged Day in the South to do the accumulated Southern errands, and, ohbytheway to stop by Pine Point and Old Orchard Beach, Camp Ellis and the Great City of Saco, to make sure everything there was all right and tight.

I’m pleased to report that we look to be in good shape to meet the summer.

Tide's REALLY out. Old Orchard Beach May 7, 2013, about 4 p.m. — Tide’s REALLY out. Old Orchard Beach
May 7, 2013, about 4 p.m.

This morning, we took Mozart to the vet. He has not recovered his spirits since Socks left us, and even though we’re giving him lots of Mozart time and flying mouse (Mozart is not a fan of the Red Dot; Scrabble, however, is a Mighty Red Dot Hunter), he clings and cries and is clearly unhappy about something.

On examination, the vet finds him to be in pretty good shape, for an Elder Cat; his teeth are good, his heart sounds strong, lungs clear. There’s what might be a touch of arthritis in his right hip, but, really, at 15, you can expect to be a touch stiff.

The vet did do blood work, and we’ll hear back about those results this afternoon.

In the meantime, we have an email interview to finish up for the BEA, and I’ve gotta get some work done.

Hope everyone is having a reasonably enjoyable day.

Books read in 2013

Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, Lois McMaster Bujold (e)
Hellspark, Janet Kagan (re-re-re-re-re-re-&c-read)
The Year of the Dog, Grace Lin
The Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi (e)
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (a mostly true memoir), Jenny Lawson
How Dark the World Becomes, Frank Chadwick (e)
Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal
French Fried, Chris Dolley (e)
My Father’s Dragon, Ruth Stiles Gannett (read aloud w/Steve)
Fair Game, Patricia Briggs (e)
Nymph, Francesca Lia Block (read aloud w/Steve)
Oh, Myyy, George Takei (e)
Hunting Ground, Patricia Briggs (e)
Cry Wolf, Patriacia Briggs (e)
Alpha and Omega, Patricia Briggs (e)
Miss Buncle, Married, D.E. Stevenson (read aloud w/Steve)
Agatha Heterodyne and the Hammerless Bell, Phil & Kaja Foglio
Moonrise Kingdom screenplay, Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola (e)

Of jewels rare and old, and coaches filled with gold

I’m afraid there’s not much to see here, as I make a dash for the end of the book. Insert Snapshot of The Author tipped forward in her chair, fingers on the keyboard, glaring at the screen

(It’s funny, Agent of Change was written very much at a dash, and so was Conflict of Honors. Carpe Diem wanted to dash — indeed, we did dash, and wrote a whole wrong book. So, then we had to write the correct book, but at a slower pace, and paying close attention to the rules we’d laid down in the previous two books. Continuity is hard. It was then, I think, that we got into the habit of thinking things out in-between the writing, and things went from dash to dogged.)

So! What’re y’all doing or thinking about or reading that’s fun and interesting?

* * *

Progress on Carousel Seas

57,347/100,000 OR 57.35% complete

“The customs of a strange land are often confusing, I am told. One may make errors of naivety, and be forgiven. Other errors, I fear, Daughter, are not so easily forgiven.”

Kaw-liga was a wooden Indian standing by the door. He fell in love with an Indian maiden over in the antique store

I was out early (for values of early that include “before noon”) today in the garden, doing what I could for the roses and the hosta and the day lilies. The bugs finally drove me inside. I hate me some bugs, I do.

Yesterday was mostly about the writing and today will be, too. The Plan had been to turn this book in before August 15, if at all possible, so I could get some down-time between Archers Beach Thought and Liaden Universe® Thought.

I just realized, though, that we’ll be traveling at the end of May/beginning of June (by which I mean, I knew that, but I didn’t KNOW it) so, argh. In theory, if I write just 2,000 words every day (which we know is more than possible, if Things will just stop Happening. *glares at Things and dares them to Happen*) I have available to me before we leave for BEA, then I’ll have a complete draft done. It can then sit and percolate for a week while we glam around New York, and I can come home ready to ~~slash and burn~~ edit and revise. Get the book outta here by the end of June. Have July to ~~lie on the couch sipping wine and reading trashy novels~~ move on the various tasks necessary to get the house ready for sale…

Hmm.

It hangs together as a plan, anyhow. Let’s see how it implements. *Pulls on typing gloves and settles her glasses*

From The Internet Is Endlessly Fascinating folder, we have the following:

How our brains process language

What the statues of ancient Greece looked like with their paint on

Harper Lee alleges former agent tricked her into assigning her copyright to him

And, a daughter’s tribute to her deceased mother, a photo-tour of Wonderland

Progress on Carousel Seas

53,006/100,000 OR 53% complete

“Not a glamor-user, yourself?” Felsic inquired.

“What you see is what you get,” I answered, just as the light snapped out in the back room.

Whenever the trees are crying aloud, and ships are tossed at sea

Slow-moving morning, here at the Cat Farm.

Mozart is dozing on the blanket-covered box at the kitchen-end of the hall. Scrabble has mounted a watch in the window, and she’s keeping a Very Close Eye on the bird feeders. Especially the woodpecker block, which has been the center of a number of antics this morning.

Bird discursion:

I mean, I know woodpeckers aren’t terribly bright. By my observation, this usually works for them, because they don’t tend to notice scary stuff. But this morning, we have a visitor who can’t figure out the chain from which the woodpecker feeder is suspended, and it’s distracting him something terrible. He’d come in, start whacking at the seeds, see the chain, and forget to eat, as he looked at This Strange (and Shiny) Device, first from one eye, then from the other. It was sad, in an amusing sort of way.

He has finally seemed to have figured out that, if he hangs upside down from the bottom of the feeder-cage, he doesn’t have to see the chain, and he can eat in peace. Which is what he’s doing now.

In publishing news. . .

For those who do not tweet, last evening it was Revealed that Carousel Sun (the sequel to Carousel Tides) will be published in early-ish 2014.

So! This is what we now know about the Lee/Miller and Lee publication schedules for the next little while:

Liaden Universe® Constellation Volume I: July 2013
Dragon Ship mass market: August 2013
Dragonwriter: A Tribute to Anne McCaffrey & Pern: August 2013
Trade Secret: November 2013
Liaden Universe® Constellation Volume II: January 2014
Carousel Sun: Early-ish 2014

From the hey, that’s cool pile. . .

We hear from Madame the Agent, who gets her Locus before we get ours, that Necessity’s Child has hit the Locus Bestselling Hardcover list at Number Two. Not too shabby — and you did it yourselves! Well done, and thank you.

And! Under the topic Discussions Worth Having:

Kyle Cassidy, photographer extraordinaire, muses on pockets and women’s clothes, here

. . .and there’s a follow-up, here

This is a useful and thought-provoking discussion about what pockets (or the lack of pockets) says about autonomy. Really worth a read.

Eye Candy:

Really interesting series of pictures of the remains of plane wrecks (all wrecks depicted are non-fatal) in remote places, right here.

In writing news:

Today! Is the day! That I will break 50K. I know this because I’m only 172 words short of the goal as I start my work day. It’s nice to occasionally have some certainty in life.

* * *

Progress on Carousel Seas

49,828/100,000 words OR 49.83% complete

“You kill that shark?”

She raised disdainful eyebrows. “Must you ask?”

“In fact, I don’t have to ask. I’m curious about your motivation.”

Here there be catastrophes

This has been a rather trying day, compounded by the fact that not! one! single! word! has gotten from my head to my manuscript, not for lack of trying, but for lack of knowing which of three pivotal scenes that set up the next half of the book need to happen first. Anybody got a three-sided coin I can flip?

I began my day by stepping on Scrabble, hard. Completely by accident, of course, but tell her that. I am a Bad, Evil Catmom, so I am, and I fully expect to hear from the CommitteeCat down to Boston in a couple days. It used to be that these matters were handled immediately by the Portland CommitteeCat, but in these thin-stretched times, the union has had to consolidate territories. That means a week or so lag time, by which point both Scrabble and I will have forgotten this Unfortunate Incident, but the paperwork will still need to be satisfied.

I also spent a lot of time on the phone today learning the difference between “free” and “free” when applied to health insurance coverage, and what coding means to me. I’m better informed, but more depressed, now.

In relation to catastrophes, my colleague D.B. Jackson is doing a fundraiser for the victims of the Boston Marathon Bombing victims. Read all about it here and please help if you can.

The capping catastrophe of the day is the news that Andy Offutt (andrew j. offutt) has died. I was fond of Andy; as a beginning writer, he welcomed me unreservedly into the profession and he was, in our all-too-few dealings, kind and generous.

. . .I believe that I’ll take a walk, now, and listen to the peepers.

Everybody have a good evening.

* * *

Progress on Carousel Seas

48,825/100,000 OR 48.83% complete

I looked at him in horror.

“Tell me I didn’t kill Daknowyth.”

“Katie. . .” Mr. Ignat’ took my hands in his. His smile was fond, which didn’t necessarily mean that I hadn’t killed Daknowyth.