Romance Through Time and Age

School's Out - Almost

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:59:00 +0000

I took summer classes this year - Microbiology and American Lit. Both were interesting, but the lit class didn't cover some of the writer's I wanted to cover. Micro was fun - sort of. I have one of those profs who says right in the beginning it's your responsibility to study and learn this, not mine. Which after having professors who have strict attendance policies and do a lot of hand holding, was definitely different.

My friend Simone, sold her book - Finding Love - and it comes out September 7th. Since, I'm waiting to hear from an editor and an agent about Gateway, I started working on a different book - more of a Sci-fi/Space Opera sort of deal - blood, guts, explosions, betrayal, deception, sex, and a happily ever after - it has a way different feel to it - pacing and world wise, so it's been a nice change. With September though, I'll go back to the Gateway books. Need to polish it up and send it out.

Promises and Smart Ass Kids

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 03:41:00 +0000

I can see this happening - (me being a writer and gifted with an imagination - besides it's my blog)

Prof: For today you were to read FBR, one of the most popular books by Caley Greene. Aside from vivid imagery, exciting characters, and three-dimensional cultures, the book is full of symbolism that can be applied to real life.

Kid (back of class out of 60 kids): Bull shit.

Prof: Care to explain your comment?

Kid: sure - your claim of symbolism in FBR is bull shit. FBR is one of Ms. Greene's best books, but there is no symbolism. It is entertaining.

Prof: Entertaining yes, but there is plenty of symbolism present.

Kid: I can back up my claim, can you?

Prof: It is well proven that 21st genre fiction is full of symbolism, and Ms. Greene's books have some of the best examples.

Kid: Bullshit. There is no symbolism. And I quote "There was no symbolism real or otherwise stuck into FBR or any other book. Genre fiction, especially anything I wrote was meant soley as a basis of entertaining and escapism. Anything more than that was picked up by the reader themselves and I am not responsible for that. Nor do I want to be."

Prof: Where did you hear that?

Kid: I asked.

Prof: Who did you ask and when?

Kid: Caley Greene herself, over the weekend. She just about had a fit when she found out I was reading it for class.

Prof: It is well known Ms. Greene stopped making public appearances years ago. So, again, how did you speak with her when she doesn't make appearances.

Kid: Well, duh.

Prof: And you know all this how?

Kid: I was at her birthday party.

Prof: How did you manage that?

Kid: She's my grandma and she'd have been pissed if I wasn't there. I'm not active duty anymore, so I'd better be there. She can be bloody scary.

Prof: she's your -

Grandkids - gotta love 'em. :) lol

Seriously though, this was prompted by a conversation I had with my Sister-in-law's mother, who thinks my books could be on Lifetime Movie Network. I looked at her, laughed and said no, probably not. I don't write literature - anything that would ever be in Oprah's book club because they aren't real-to-life stories of depression and misery where a happy ending is a rarity but extreme personal growth and sacrifice or learning is a requirement. I write genre fiction - science fiction, fantasy, and romance. My only hope is that for the 400 - 500 pages you've invested with me, you've escaped whatever is bogging you down and vanquished whatever bad guys there are to fourth realm of never because you know that with out a doubt at the end of those 400 - 500 pages the good guys will win and there will be a happily-ever-after. Any preaching, soul-searing revalations, or mystical symbolism you've uncovered is completely your own doing, because without a doubt, I didn't put it there. At least not intentially or consiously.

Bad Timing

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 10:08:00 +0000

Ever have one of those days when you realize that the person you've been talking with and consider one of your greatest friends is the person you love? Maybe not until the end of the world love, because you haven't actually explored that part of anything, but you love him none-the-less. And then you learn he's taken. You have to give him your best wishes for happiness right. He's your friend, he's been hurt before, he deserves to be happy right? Of course, right. And that part doesn't hurt as bad because you really haven't explore the until-end-of-eternity-love that you and Hotstuff could actually have between each other. So you wish him happiness, pray for his safety, and give honest helpful suggestions on things concerning him, the chick he's seeing, and their relationship.

Memorial Day

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:42:00 +0000

THANK YOU VETERANS AND MILITARY
FOR YOUR
DUTY, SACRIFICE, AND HONOR!!!!

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE, IT IS PAID BY THE BLOOD OF SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN.

THANK YOU!!!!

Simply Amazing!

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:22:00 +0000

My Joy and I are moving this week, so things are more than a little chaotic. I have found stuff that I'd been looking for and other stuff that I never knew I had. It's amazing how much stuff you can accrue in a matter of a couple of years.

And as we are taking box after box out of the apartment and hauling it to storage, since the new place isn't ready but the lease runs out before hand, I am simply amazed by the sheer number of boxes and amount of stuff we have in this place. My kitchen alone is about the size of a full bath in the average home, but I love to cook, so I found ways to get everything I needed into it.

Now the next part of this of course is the fact that we have unpack everything at the new place and try and find room for it. Yeah. The fun never ends. :) Actually, I don't mind moving. I just prefer a bit smoother transition.

School's Out!

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:56:00 +0000

School's out until July 1st-ish. I finished the semester about where I thought I would. I'm still waffling over what I want to be when I grow up, but I figure it's okay since a) I'm paying for it and b) I'm too far into this degree not to get it. It's a bachelor's, I can use it.

My summer entails summer classes, motorcycle rally, the beach, a lighthouse, a couple of ren faires, and hopefully some more genealogy.

And writing. Plenty of writing! I'm excited for my summer.

The Hard Part

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:29:00 +0000

I've been so wrapped up with school, I've hardly had time to write, which is bothersome to say the least. So last night, after a fraternity event, I sat down at my friend's place since My Joy is with her Godparents for an extended visit, and wrote. Or tried to. Not edit, but write. And not to start anything new, for which you have (well, I do) the built in excitement of starting something completely new. No, I pulled out something I've been working on and started to pick threw it again. I erased and changed a few things, and admittedly there is a bolded line that says "insert description here" because my internet was down - again - and I didn't have the necessary details. I did however manage to write 1,036 words - completely new from where I stopped the last time. Doesn't include the edits in previous paragraphs or pages. And the hardest part of the whole thing, the first 500 words. It was almost easier to take the GRE than to write those few pages. Ugh. But I did get them done, and I will try to hit at least 500 words tonight, so that the first few pages aren't that hard again. Not that I'm not going to go back through and cut about half of it, but this run is to write it ugly, not pretty it up. That's what revisions are for.

OOps...Again?

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:47:00 +0000

So I said I would participate in this writing challenge of Brynn's, and I said I would write 5K words a week, which isn't even 1000 a day. This should have been easy. It was suppose to be after mid-terms and major projects. Not so much. And then what did I do this weekend since I didn't have gobs of homework and projects that needed to be done? Visited friends in the hospital, participated in Relay for Life with Teams Med-Head and Phi Sigma Pi, and took My Joy to the school carnival where among other things we have acquired a new goldfish named Goldie - that was Saturday. Sunday, I was supposed to go a movie night, but didn't. Instead I spent several hours Saturday night and most of Sunday working on my genealogy. I did find about forty new people and tons of info and several dozen brick-walls for my effort though. Today, was meetings with my advisor and financial aid and classes. I'll write tonight. After the last meetings. I only have a one thing due tomorrow and a quiz, so that's good to go. Now I'm battle school burn out and trying to find a job to salvage lost hours. Small steps. Submission to agent. Letter to editor. 2 NEW pages. Yes the new is important, since I'm editing right now too. Or trying to. Did find out grad school is only 24 months at one of my schools of choice not 36 months.

Soap Box

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:37:00 +0000

The Chris Brown - Rhianna story is all over the tv right now, and everyone is condemning Rhianna for returning to the man who beat her. It's easy to sit here, on the other side of the table and say leave, and destroy cd's, remove posters and songs, and say "because you're a star, you're suppose to think of me and the message you're sending me first" or "leave, he's never going to change, just leave". THe thing is, if you've been there - think about when you were there, would those things have worked on you? Why would you think they would work on anyone else? And why are you only now saying something about your abuse? Why not work consistantly towards educating people?

I am a survivor of abuse. I am no longer a victim, but I was. And I didn't leave and I didn't leave and I didn't leave. I was told by the church, by society, by my family, that good girls don't get a divorce. That divorce is always wrong. My child and I will go to hell because I failed at my marriage. I. I failed it. Not him, not his actions, but me. I failed because I wasn't good enough. The thing is, I would never have been good enough. Never. And I still didn't leave. These same people would have turned a blind eye to the motherless child who would have been raped and abused by the person who should've protected her unless presented with her image. And then they would have scorned and shamed and condemned my dead body for not leaving this same man.

I finally got the courage to leave when my child was threatened. It took that threat to finally get me out of there. His indifference to her severe illness. I couldn't leave for me, I could leave for her. And I did. It's taken years for me to work through things. I have deliberately chosen abuse as a topic in speeches and papers for school with the hope that the signs will be recogonized, that behaviors will be seen, that courage will be gained and help saught. I hope it has helped, I think it has. It will make things uncomfortable, because it's a dirty little secret that everyone will know. But, it's time. Just as soldiers should no longer be punished for seeking help for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), abuse survivors shouldn't hide in closets, afraid to speak out because they don't want to continue to be seen as a victim, or are ashamed, or whatever.

When the abuse just happens, you aren't necessarily capable thinking about anyone else and what their perception of you and your situation is. Yes, Rhianna, needs help, she needs counseling.

Another Friday Night ---

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 04:29:00 +0000

But this time ---

I'm in Chicago.

And what am I doing? Sitting at the hotel, surfing the Internet for a few more minutes before I go upstairs to my room and write. All of the homework that needed to be done before I went on Spring Break, is done. I do have several papers and projects to do, but I don't want to do them, even if I had brought them with me, which I didn't. Well, aside from the paper that was due at midnight last night. :)

Why am I in Chicago? For a MidWest Regional Conference for the SVA. My university sent me as a delegate, and while my fellow vets are still out and about, I returned to the hotel a couple hours after dinner. It was loud, and I need to keep what remains of my hearing.

There are differences in conferences, I guess I knew that, but I didn't really think about it until after we were here. I packed for a business conference, a writer's conference, which is mostly business all of the time. Not so much here. Not that it's a bad thing, it's not, it's the best way to network for us, and to discuss the highs and lows of what was heard throughout the day. It's different. At a writer's conference, aside from still milling around whereever we were at, if I wanted to bring my laptop down to the lobby, I was guarenteed to find at least one writer, usually three or four hanging out, writing, brainstorming, or just talking about anything and everything. Now it's quiet. My Joy is safe with Grandma, and I feel a little lost and a bit lonely. It's just a different feeling. Again, not one I thought I'd be feeling, but life is nothing if not an adventure. This to will pass, and all will be well. Needless to say I didn't pack exactly right, but not bad.

As far as the writing goes -

I'm .... inspired. :)

A lot.

NEW LOOK!!!!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:27:00 +0000

Spring is almost here - hey it's trying - and with it a new look. Less plain, and very cool. Many, humongous amounts of thanks to Brynn Paulin for the cool new design.

I'm feeling re-energized and can't wait until spring break where I think I'm going to try writing 20 pages a day, since I will have very little homework - yeah - gotta love this semester. I listened to a woman speak the other day at one of the meetings I went to and she was a single mom from a blue collar family like me when she started med school, and it made me realize, I could probably go to med school and become a doctor. There is a group of people I would like to work with specifically, but we'll see.

Enjoy the site, I have a paper to write. Sigh. Again. Still. But this one is interesting, perhaps controversial, but interesting none-the-less - the effects of the Contemporary American diet on different races.

Numbers

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:07:00 +0000

Numbers are a funny thing - liberating and restrictive, forbidding, wavering and demanding. They freak us out if we think we aren't in the right size or weight (like there is one). They break down the day into bits and pieces we think can control, but are controlled by. They break the cycles of earth down into months and days marking the passing of time. They remind us how little time we have had or will have with those we love. They mark milestones.

A lot can happen in nine years. Parents and friends die. Children are born. The Towers were destroyed. False security implemented. Fear mongering increased. The state economy tanked.

1.30.2000. A normal day - the second to last day of January of the new century depending on your view of when the centuries and millennium shifted. In nine years jobs have been won and lost. WArs have started or continued. People are born and others have died. Some, sadly, have done both. People have married, others divorced. Abuse has happened. And it has stopped.

On that day, nine years ago. It stopped. At 5:30 that dark morning, I bundled up my recently declared "in good health" 15 month old daughter and took a cab to a Podunk airport and flew out of Florida. I had $25 in my pocket when I left that house. It all went to the cab driver. I had the cloths I'd packed and whatever food and formula was in the diaper bag. And a car seat. Nothing else. We missed the flight. The airline gave us a voucher for food and a seat on the next flight out. It was after 11 that night when we flew into the city. My family met us.

I was condemned. How dare I take a father's child away from him. How dare I leave him. I was going to hell. HOw dare I.

How dare I? HOw dare I? Yes, how dare I take a child away from an abusive man who looked at his child with contempt and scorn and thought of both of us as objects he could control, own, and step on. How dare I take a child away from a father who thinks it's okay for his infant daughter to be taught to be submissive in ALL ways (that includes sex). How dare I? How dare they judge.

Nine years later. I have money - a little. I'm in college. I'm succeeding. I'm happy. I've got friends - real friends and I'm following my dreams - all of them. Teaching her to go after hers.

She doesn't remember him. She knows what he looks like - or looked like on our wedding day. He never calls. Never visits. It's his choice, only his. He made it clear that he never wanted kids - after she was born, when I nearly lost her. I've been condemned. How dare I want my child to survive, to thrive, to live, to love. How dare I want my child to succeed and be a wonderful woman who can stand on her own feet with out standing on anyone. How dare I want to live. How dare I.

Numbers are funny. It's the anniversary of my escape into freedom. She is My Joy. We are happy and succeeding. And that is the best revenge.

Happy Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 23:10:00 +0000

A Soldier's Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas,
he lived all alone,
in a one bedroom house made of
plaster and stone.

I had come down the chimney
with presents to give,
and to see just who
in this home did live.

I looked all about,
a strange sight i did see,
no tinsel, no presents,
not even a tree.

No stocking by mantle,
just boots filled with sand,
on the wall hung pictures
of far distant lands.

With medals and badges,
awards of all kinds,
a sober thought
came through my mind.

For this house was different,
it was dark and dreary,
I found the home of a soldier,
once I could see clearly.

The soldier lay sleeping,
silent, alone,
curled up on the floor
in this one bedroom home.

The face was so gentle,
the room in such disorder,
not how I pictured
a United States soldier.

Was this the hero
of whom I'd just read?
curled up on a poncho,
the floor for a bed?

I realized the families
that I saw this night,
owed their lives to these soldiers
who were willing to fight.

Soon round the world,
the children would play,
and grownups would celebrate
a bright Christmas Day.

They all enjoyed freedom
each month of the year,
because of the soldiers,
like the one lying here.

I couldn't help wonder
how many lay alone,
on a cold Christmas Eve
in a land far from home.

The very thought
brought a tear to my eye,
I dropped to my knees
and started to cry.

The soldier awakened
and I heard a rough voice,
"Santa don't cry,
this life is my choice;

I fight for freedom,
I don't ask for more,
my life is my God,
my Country, my Corps."

The soldier rolled over
and drifted to sleep,
I couldn't control it,
I continued to weep.

I kept watch for hours,
so silent and still
and we both shivered
from the cold night's chill.

I didn't want to leave
on that cold, dark, night,
this guardian of honor
so willing to fight.

Then the soldier rolled over,
with a voice soft and pure,
whispered, "Carry on Santa,
it's Christmas Day, all is secure."

One look at my watch,
and I knew he was right.
"Merry Christmas my friend,
and to all a good night."

Back Through The Gateway

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:23:00 +0000

So, I took the semester off from writing so I could concentrate on my studies and graduate in the spring. Well, things being what they are graduation will probably be postponed until next winter and at least finals are done. And I'm thrilled with that fact!

Either way, I pulled Gateway to Faerie out to polish it up and work some of the kinks out. When I started writing it, it was one story. THen it became two - because well, the heroine's sister didn't want to remain on earth and then there was this hot prince of the fae who refused to leave me alone and then it became 4. I wanted to make them stand-a-lone, because I don't like having to start at the beginning of the series for the current story to make sense.

But then, I got smacked upside the head from either the muse or one of her harem (male harem) and figured out a tie in for all of them, that still doesn't require the books to be read in order because it shouldn't be obvious - well it might be know. And it only requires a few extra lines here and there while I'm revising. WHich needs to be done anyway.

I'm back in faerie with that ancient book in my hands just waiting to be opened.

Temporarily Interupted By Life. Again.

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:31:00 +0000

It's finals week. Find me next week. Right now I'm buried under text books, papers, tests, pop bottles, water bottles, chips, and chocolate. Finals need to end soon. I'm almost out of chocolate!

World Building

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:31:00 +0000

Since this is supposed to be a writer's blog, and while life influences writing, some time should be devoted to well...writing... So without further ado....

Depending on the genre you write, world building can have different meanings. When I attend conferences, usually romance oriented, because I write mainly romance - with my own twist, but romance nonetheless, there is sometimes topics about world building and giddily I go, hoping to learn the secrets of quick, sure fire techniques of world building, but invariably these 'world building' workshops are actually focusing on the complete setting of your novel...for example - if your novel takes place in Battle Creek, Mi near Fort Custer during WWI, then the world is all the pieces and parts of the setting - the place(s), language, clothing, expectations, assumptions, and characteristics that are accurate for that story at that time.

On the other hand, the 'world-building' in the Sci-Fi books (because I have not attended one of these conferences) is literally world building - deciding on planet size, class, moons, gravitational pull, suns, and atmospheric content - among other things. Which is fine, and it could be considered a more accurate definition or example of world building, though both are technically correct, as the setting in any book is the world in which your characters live, regardless of the actual scope or milage of the world. The entire world in a novel could be the three acres that make up the grounds/compound the characters live in or it could be several hundred galaxies as the characters zoom from one place to another in some attempt at something or other.

However, to me, world-building is more than the physical plane on which the story takes place, it is building a new culture. Not just extrapolating what future earth society will be like or taking an ancient society and modernizing it or taking that into the future, but creating from scratch a new society - a new culture. This where it gets complicated - think of everything a culture includes - just the major things - books, art, music, entertainment, religion, law, government, family units, currency, medicine. And there is still minor things like dialects, history, myths, legends, their creation story, gender roles, education, family roles, traditions, and architecture. This is the part that makes worlds come alive. Face it, Lord of the Rings would have far less of a following if all of that and then some hadn't been created. So much detail went into Tolkein's World that there are compendiums, and histories and books of legends that we can read -- imagine what never got published. Or try a more modern example such as Harry Potter by JK Rowling. The wizard world is a world within a world that must co-exist peacefully with the mundane world of the muggles who know nothing about it. As Harry walks into the world of the wizards we see the details she created for him, the backdrop for all that would happen. The language, the traditions, the creation stories, myths, histories, and legends. Little details like not needing computers, email, or phones, because there are magical quills that will write as you talk and you can use magic and a fire place for a face to face interactive phone call. That is the type of world building I enjoy doing, and why it takes me time to build a world. There is no quick way to do it, but I would love to attend a workshop on getting those finite details to work, or just a peek into the notebooks of those world-building geniuses to see how they organized everything. Each world must be unique, vibrant, and real to the reader, but it'd be great to have a cheat sheet of all the things to think about while creating that world.

Cooking --

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 04:10:00 +0000

--- with kids --

It's a fear that chased my SIL's mom instilled in her -- Her mom didn't want to clean up a mess and so neither does she.... This was not a terrible or messy experience. It doesn't have to be. It helps if someone, preferably the adult, in the kitchen knows how to cook. :)

It's nearly winter here, and the snow will pile up (especially if you listen to Poor Richard's Almanac) to the roof tops -- well not that bad -- but still -- I'm not driving if I don't have to. Couple that with the nice winter breeze coming through the windows and doors (it's a rental, eh) and it's the perfect weather to bake and cook. So Thursday night I made bread, an Amish White Bread, - mine did NOT turn out like the picture (bit denser) - but it's still good - especially if it's toasted with some homemade apple butter. (yum!).

Tomorrow, I'll make some more and maybe knead it less after the first rising. But tonight, I promised My Joy that we'd make cookies. She chose one and I chose one. We used a mixer, but she did do most of the work. It takes longer this way because we had read the recipes, gather all of the equipment and ingredients and then discuss how things were used, why we use a knife to level off dry ingredients, how to crack eggs (she'd done this before and this time there no egg shells!!), which setting to use on the mixer, how to use the mixer, why we preheat the oven, and why she needed to taste molasses (the face she made was one I hadn't seen before :) )

So we made chocolate chip cookies - which turned out wonderful and snickerdoodles - which are still baking. She did do most of the work - except the part that deals with the oven and hot cookie sheets - and there was the repeating of a couple of steps because she wanted to do more. Then I got to break it to her that we used lots of math and science while cooking. She was introduced to mixed fractions. I'm still smiling. And overall it was a great experience. We cleaned as we went, followed the directions, learned a little bit, and didn't have a flour fight, which is probably a good thing, especially if you saw the size of my kitchen. Not quick, but painless and fun.

Veteran's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:43:00 +0000

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - Dept. of Defense Photo
(Guarded Every Hour of Every Day Without Exception)

In Honor of Veteran's Day -

Thank A Veteran.

Remember those who have gone before, pray for those who serve today, and for those who serve tomorrow.

Guilty -

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:28:00 +0000

I did it. I don't have the time. I haven't been writing up to this point, but it's NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month - and in the end, I couldn't and didn't want to resist. So, I acquiesced and signed in. In my defense I managed to wait until the 3rd before joining. I've done NaNoWriMo since 2002, I couldn't not do it.

My goal is not the 50,000 words by the end of the month, and I was hoping to at least beat my total for last year, but really, I'll be happy if I get to 500 words this semester - ah year -

I am working on something completely new - which is always exciting. I like this book, and I will finish the one I put aside at the beginning of the semester in December, when things go back to abnormal are less harried for me.

The graphics of the stats between me and everyone else are sad....my measly ten words (it was a boring lecture, but I did need to take notes) and the thousands by everyone else.....there is always next year.

Backpack of Doom - Adventures Through Idea Land

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:35:00 +0000

Well, it's more of a bright orange bag, with long shoulder straps. I am having around eight 9 and 10 year-old girls over tonight for My Joy's birthday and so I cleaned, which given I have had two weeks of midterms needed to happen (I so need a maid - or other cleaning person - ohh -- look another story -- I'm in trouble now - anyway) and came across the bag of doom, and out of curiosity I dumped out the contents and found out where I had stashed my medical dictionary; The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines - Sixteen Master Archetypes by Tami Cowden, Caro LaFever, Sue Viders; The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler; two copies of RT; two copies of RWR; a copy of Archealogy; several dozen pens and pencils; a thumb drive; a cookbook; two notebooks; a journal; and a couple of CD's. Everything a writer needs. Ideas everywhere - I can't wait to delve into them.

Enough Already

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:18:00 +0000

My Joy is sick. Again. She was sick last week too. I'm worried. Still. It's not random, it's not viral - unless its a weird viral, and I'm not being hysterical. But I'm worried, and I don't want to be. I'm on the verge of emotionally losing it. And that's not good for anybody.

With or With Out the Muse

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:16:00 +0000

So, I'm pretty sure that someone, probably Brynn or Bronwyn, once told me not to wait for the muse to strike, but plant your butt and write anyway. So, I did. I got a couple of pages written before life intervened. But it was a couple of pages - on fiction! It was fun. I'm glad I did it. And I transferred some of my character stuff to my hard-drive so that I can work on it, when the lectures get boring and I need to stay awake.

To Write or Study ....

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:36:00 +0000

That is the question - at least for the moment. My Joy is sick, again, (and listening to We Will Rock You by Queen on repeat), and my internet is up, and the first round of mid-terms is over. I still have three mid-terms and a paper to go, but really, the better part of my stress is over. So, now the question is do I want to write or study. I've been studying just about every waking minute for the past few weeks and really, I want a break. Now, I should be studying for the GRE that I'm taking on Saturday and completely forgot about, but I don't want to do that quite yet either. I want to write - need to write - miss writing - but my muse is on vacation - someplace exotic probably, so I'm up in the air about working on Gateway some more or work on something completely new - either 1000 Deaths or Blood, they're both in a different direction than Gateway, infinitely darker and new worlds. But since I can't make up my mind, I'm surfing the Internet and answering the "Mom, I need you!" call.

Children

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:10:00 +0000

I've been talking quite a bit about past events, so much so, that it probably borders on whining, but there are few events that will shake a parent like nearly losing a child. I nearly lost My Joy when she was an infant, and now I sit here, watching her sleep trying to not freak out or fall into the trap of worry about what might be. She's sick. A UTI, nothing major, unless it was an that same sort of thing that alerted doctors that a kidney had died and the other was potentially in trouble, and then it has the potential to become downright terrifying. So for now, I'm going to bury myself in Lyn Hamilton's The Xilbalba Murders, which is an excellent read if you are interested in history and archaeology, which I love.

Retreat, Writing, and Midterms

noreply@blogger.com (Caley Greene) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:27:00 +0000

It's Friday, I'm in the office this morning, which means I have 2 1/2 hours of quiet time all to myself, and the internet reading blogs and answering email. So, am I writing, because its quiet, I have deadlines, I should be writing? Nope. Any deadlines I had or have are on hold. I'm in school and this semester I took on Human Physiology, Microbiology, and Biochemistry and the labs, so there is no extra time to write. I know - I know - a writer writes - they must write - it is in their soul to write - yes, but my muse is on hiatus - I know because I asked her to go - so that I could concentrate on my studies. I need A's and if I spend my writing, I can't study. I'm not whining, it's a trade-off.

Next semester - my last as an undergrad - is way easier even though I have more classes, so there will be time to write. And there is time after this semester is over - and it's half over - I know because mid-terms are next week and the writer's retreat I was suppose to go on this weekend with my writer's group, I had to decline because I need to study. I will go to the next one, because it's a great way to recharge, regroup, and be supported by people who understand what it's like to be a writer and the amount of time and energy needed to put the right words down in the right order so that you get the story your characters are demanding you tell in a way that makes sense and doesn't come out like dribble.

I could write and study and work and raise My Joy at the same time, but I'm sure the reader would not like it at all if my sword wielding heroine is just about skewer the evil villain with a flaming loop of bacteria yelling "No, you have to finish your homework and read before you can go outside and play and turn the TV off." And I don't know if my proffessors have enough of a sense of humor to understand how a flaming arrow lodged in the throat of the major bad guy while the hero and heroine scale the fortress wall is the example of DNA and RNA synthesis. But it might work. Maybe.

Or, I'll just bide my time, keeping notes of anything newsworthy or the snippets of information that my characters are sending me and using my papers due as a way to further my research on my books, so that if the heroine is dealing with a rare and antique book, she's not carrying it under her arm or shoving it haphazardly into her backpack, even if doing that would partially accomplish the hero's goal of destroying it.

That being said, I still want to participate in NaNoWriMo, because it would be the first time in years that I haven't. My goal wouldn't be 50,000 words but more like 3,000. Which isn't much, maybe 15 pages. But it's 15 pages. And I'd be writing. But then again, I could end up with my heroine skewering the bad guy with a flaming loop of bacteria.