By: Cate Gardner,
on 8/21/2011
By: Cate Gardner,
on 11/18/2010
16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing?
Romance has been lacking in my fiction lately (if you discount the girl who sorta dissolved). I desperately tried to shoe-horn a romance (and failed) into my YA 'Grim Glass Vein'. My first books though were all about the kissing and other things. Oh yes, once upon a time my characters went far.
17. Favorite protagonist and why!
Right now, Meg (from 'The Museum of Impossible Artefacts') because she's awesome and so much braver than me.
18. Favorite antagonist and why!
Right now, Derek Winters (from 'The Museum of Impossible Artefacts') because he's despicable.
19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!
Serena Tierney in 'The Maiden Phoenix' (how embarrassing - another unpublished novel). One minute she was a small love-interest part slated to die, the next she was doing the killing (and enjoying it).
20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?
I love it when they're verbally sparring with a tinge of sarcasm in the air.
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In other news, Poe Little Thing have accepted my story 'The Quiet of the Hour Glass'. And it's pro-pay. So happy. Ignoring the fact my book, 'Theatre of Curious Acts' was accepted in July by Hadley Rille (because that's a book not a short story) and that in the meantime I've placed stories with two markets where I was invited to submit (Spectral Press and Red Penny Papers), I haven't had an actual slush pile sale since May 8th. Me, panic? You betcha.
NaNoWriMo Catch up:
Yesterday's word count: 1711
Today's word count: 2047
Total Word Count: 36,297 + 3350 (other projects)
Fun Times: Meg and Jake (though in this draft I'm still referring to him as Ben - don't ask) are at the wall at the end of the world. It's mighty high and mighty wide and if they linger there too long, they'll end too.
By: Cate Gardner,
on 5/19/2010
The edits for Grim Glass Vein are complete, my poor red pen is exhausted and almost out of ink and my head is spinning so much the remaining words are blurring. She (seems my novel is a girl) now stands at a little over 57,000 words. I guess it's time to let her stew before the final read through (or complete re-edit) and then let the hideous querying process begin.
Here be the beginning of the first chapter. Oh, and it's long, so feel free to skip.
By: Cate Gardner,
on 4/7/2010
...in the making of the mess that is my desk.
One was happily working on her YA book in early March (according to my diary, it was last seen in action on the 1st - cripes) when the Shock Totem competition came along, and that was swiftly followed by the compiling of certain Strange Men, which in turn was followed by decorating... Short detour here...
...I bought a wonderful colour called 'Soft Stone' for my walls, a nice creamish-brown and I was going to buy all lovely green accessories, only the lovely creamish-brown turns out to be lilac or in the words of one nephew, purple!!!...
...all of which have left my desk buried beneath short story contracts, notes, edits, several drafts of a short story, critiques, blah, blah, blah. So no WIP for me (unless you count cleaning my desk as a WIP - and yep, it could take as long as the novel). I may, but then again may not, get back into Grim Glass Vein tomorrow, or (expecting a rejection here) do a rework on something else (may do it anyway just so I'm good to go), or maybe I'll actually finish the sequel/prequel/set in same universe short story that is a follow up to my Shock Totem entry.
I'm knackered now, must lie down for several weeks.
Oh, but first, if you head over to Strange Publications, you can pre-order The Final Study of Cooper M. Reid by Barry Napier for $8.
By: Cate Gardner,
on 3/3/2010
Posted on 2/24/2010
Only 10,000 words of Grim Glass Vein this week - the deflatedness of this sentence is brought to you by last week's rocking word count and not by the writer who is all woot about it and currently shining her writer's medal.
After a good few days, I've been lax today, probably because I've shifted heads and I'm not certain it works. I want it to - especially as this character is more of a troubled airhead than the first draft suggested. However, she may suffer the dreaded curse of the delete button in the final edit.I'm now about half-way through this draft and for the most part I'm happy with it. I'm hoping to send it out in April. I'm hoping it will crawl over the 60,000 word mark (YA). I'm hoping it's email folder doesn't start to smell too quickly. I'm hoping this one is the one. That's a lot of hope for one little book to carry.
*The blog post title is sponsored by my need to use the word, dastardly and the deletion of all adverbs from the first draft.
By: Cate Gardner,
on 2/23/2010
So someone is suing Ms. Rowling for a billion dollars (or some other ridiculous amount) again because they think, 'The Goblet of Fire' rips off some unknown book from the 1990s. That and a line in my current WIP made me wonder if we'll see more of these claims now that so many writers are blogging excerpts from their WIPs - obviously, I don't mean the wonderful people who visit my blog because we're all sane. Well most of us are and those who aren't, well you know who you are. Okay, must stop looking at myself in the mirror, anyway...
I read a line on an LJ blog a week or so ago and I thought, 'not bad' and a few people commented on this person's rather cool line/idea. Cue a few days later, while redrafting Grim Glass Vein, I read a similar line (not the same words but running along the same theme) in the second draft. Now, I am the sort of person who worries about things that most (rational) people would ignore. So, I went into a spin as to whether I should remove this line - after all, it's one sentence - but it is kind of pivotal to the story line and it's good and well, I came by it honestly about three to six months (the previous draft was composed sometime between Aug 09 and Nov 09) before reading this other person's line. The crux is though, prove it...
And thus, I worry.
*The wardens shouldn't unlock my cell door and let my thoughts escape, but I pay them very well.
**Thank goodness I'll never make squillions and no one will ever want to sue me. Oops, shouldn't really tempt the gods, my bad.
By: Cate Gardner,
on 2/17/2010
Phew! I have words. I have many, many, many words. I'm sitting here, shining my writer's badge and wondering how my head will fit through the doorway. I am -- drum roll please -- 17,057 words into the final(ish) draft of Grim Glass Vein. I'm all shiny and happy, and...
By: Cate Gardner,
on 2/10/2010
I feel as if I should whisper this post just in case I wake the internet fairies who are sleeping behind my wastepaper basket. They've been dozing for a couple of days now, and their hibernation has allowed me to restart my YA, Grim Glass Vein. I spent the weekend reminding myself of the plot and cringing at the story threads that led nowhere. I'm grateful for the time away from the book and the things I learned while rewriting Theatre at the end of last year. I'm going to set myself a daily goal sheet later, they normally help me stay on track and I do like to compete against what I thought I could do and win. I'm aiming to finish this draft by March 31st and then I'll put it aside while we decorate--groan--and do a final edit in April.**
I've also started a rough draft - handwritten, gulp! - of my next YA, Cobweb Strings of the Rotting House, which needs a catchier title, but that will do for now. So far, I've written a massive two pages. Try not to be jealous. Originally, Cobwebs was supposed to be a novelette that I wanted to send to a spectacular editor who is planning a chapbook line. Alas, 'twas not to be... Until of course, my plans swerve. Because plans always swerve.
**Note to Carrie Harris, please do a synopsis give-backery competition thingy in April and let me win. I am willing to bribe.
By: Cate Gardner,
on 12/16/2009
By: Cate Gardner,
on 11/23/2009
I've always been a one corkboard girl for no reason other than I was testing the stability of my wall by placing as many things as possible on one corkboard and then, a few weeks ago, Danielle Ferries posted a picture of her Engine Room and I was transfixed (I kid you not) by her three corkboards. Wait a minute, I could have more than one? No one sent me the memo. Or if they did it was buried beneath all the crap on my old board.
Now that I'm all organised, I'll be far more productive. Ahem! Possibly. There's a board dedicated to my WIP novel (which would be a WIP if I was actually working on it), and another dedicated to short stories, with details of the next four stories that I expect to write, and my old board is littered with anthology guidelines that I'll never get around to.
I guess I should write now. Or perhaps, organise the rest of my room. Or twitter. Or... Find food.
By: Cate Gardner,
on 10/4/2009
I wasn't certain if I was going to blog about this - tempting fate and all that, but I figured it's all part of the process and the journey and that I should. I also figured if I maintained radio silence for a month, I'd go insane and then I'd drag you all to the lunatic asylum with me. Though maybe Jack Nicholson's there, and we'd all have a wild time.
So, here's what I like to title, 'The Reason I won't be participating in NaNoWriMo this year'.
Up until last Monday, I was working on Grim Glass Vein and scratching out some plans for my NaNo project (I had several ideas and couldn't decide which to go with - not a bad thing), I was also jotting down ideas for a story for the Cafe Doom competition and starting to wonder about ideas for flash stories for 52 Stitches when it reopens. Life was good, and then life got complicated and a little bit exciting.
Parties, who shall remain unnamed, have been reading my book Theatre of Curious Acts (publisher not agent) over the past couple of months. On Monday evening they asked if I would consider doing a substantial rewrite, and the following morning I received the rewrite details. Oh my god! I may have panicked for about thirty minutes, but once I got my head around what was needed and what wasn't I decided, I could do this. I made sure I had a full plan of what was to be removed and what I wanted to add and started the rewrite yesterday. Scratching out unnecessary characters is far more fun than I expected.
When it all falls apart - I joined PessimistsRus (they require only a bleak outlook) at the weekend as well as the SFWA - I know I'll be left with a much better book and the experience of tearing a book apart is proving invaluable. I'm even looking at Grim Glass Vein with new eyes.
By: Cate Gardner,
on 9/23/2009
By: Cate Gardner,
on 9/16/2009
We're having so much fun and our ego's are growing so large and wonderful, in fact I have to be careful not to stand up too quickly or all the blood in my very large head sloshes about. Word count is 7,403 out of a projected 60,000. What am I saying? Projected? I am doing such a wonderful job, I can have any word count I like. I feel that good. Nothing can go wrong. Right?
I think I'll make a cup of tea, eat some cake, and plan my Nebula speech.
Ooh, desk accessories. I've also been distracted by school supplies. The countdown to the first day of school may be hellish to the kids but it stokes my want of shiny new pens, notebooks and other such goodies :)
When I went shopping for a desk, they were all so plain and cheaply made. Found a lovely old writer's desk on Kijiji.
If you only knew the things I become obsessed with that keep me from working. Oh...good idea for a blog post. :-)
I don't know how many hours I've spent looking at other writer's desks online :) Tis fun.
I always give myself deadlines - I don't always meet them but they are something to work towards and in a way they keep me on track.
Mary, I've almost made the decision to keep my old desk because, even though its made of MDF, I don't think I'll find one as handy. It has shelves and drawers and is a decent size.
Would one of them be home brew, Tony
Deadlines do help, Danielle.
Yay for new office stuff!
I really, really want to see Liverpool. Some day I am going to come and visit you and beg you to take me to the museum.