Campaign group(s)... I am in many!

First off, this is me:



I know, crappy excuse for a Michael Jackson white glove, but it was all I had on hand (no pun intended). It was from a Michael Jackson tribute night my mum and I went to. It was so crap we went back to my place, got my MJ CDs, and headed over to mum's to party on in style. Now that was a tribute! I'm not going to show you the moonwalking videos though.

But none of that was the point of this post. The point was for me to share with you a list of which Groups I joined as part of Rachael Harrie's 3rd Campaign. They are:

• Adult Fiction (All Genres) - group 3
• Contemporary/Mainstream Fiction - group 2
• Science Fiction - group 1
• Romance, (all things) - group 1
• Short Stories
  
• Australian/New Zealand writers
  

Think those'll be enough to keep me busy?!

I think the point I'm trying to make is that what you see above is really just the beginning for me. There aren't any genres I've ever sworn off attempting to write. I have interests in many places. My characters are of varying ages, sometimes depending on what age I am myself at a given point. Some of my characters aren't even people. Some of them aren't human. Most of them are. Some are guys, some are gals. Some are dead and some are alive. Some are currently living only in my head, set to be unleashed in the coming months (hello NaNoWriMo 2011!). In short, I never know what's around the corner, and I love it that way!

Hello to all my fellow Campaigners. I'm pleased to meet you. But now it's your turn: what genres do you write?

A pretty groovy contest! I'd enter if I were you

Gennifer Albin is hosting a pitch contest, and the grand prize? A 50 page partial critique. This one's kind of special though - she's going to print out those 50 pages and hand-write all her advice on it. And then she's going to mail that print-out to you! That is, if you're the winner.

See Gennifer's blog for more details! Go on, I dare ya!

P.S. Yay for the Campaign!! I found Gennifer through it, and without it I would not be sharing this exciting news with you. So I guess we can thank Rachael Harrie, really, can't we? Hehe.

And because I'm in the habit, here's another picture.

It's some detail from a painting I did in high school, one which really highlighted the weirdness that is, on occasion, my mind. ALWAYS wanted a black kitteh!

Another update on 2011 goals

It's been a while since I gave an update. To be honest, it's been a while since I got anything serious done. I have pathetic excuses that I won't even bother to utter because they're just not acceptable!! Suffice it to say though, I'm having fun and enjoying my life a lot! On my paper edit, well for a while there I was managing one chapter a night, but more often than not I don't get that done anymore. I'm up to page 65 or so, out of 188 pages. Other goals on my list can only be achieved after I'm done with my paper edit...so I guess I better get my act together!! On the preliminary read-through/edit of NAUSICAA...not much is happening. No, scrap that. Nothing is happening.

On A'vron's classics book club, nothing is happening, but at least that one's not my fault!

Now, though, onto things I have been doing.

I've been playing my guitar again, and currently I'm learning how to play "Rhythm Is A Dancer" (not just the chords but lead guitar parts, and the bass line). I've also been scanning old photographs from negatives and slides, and writing stories for the Chrysalis Experiment. I've been managing to post at least once a week in this blog, so that's another goal I'm keeping up with. And of course, I've been reading. It's pretty slow going. I'm currently on Jodi Picoult's Second Glance, and I'm enjoying it but I admit at first there were just so many characters and I was getting confused between them all. The central chapters from Cecilia's point of view were a welcome relief. But they also made me realise I should probably start reading the book all over again, to better understand all the interweaving storylines. I'm on page 301 of 420, so getting there. Slowly. But surely.

So there you go. An update, at last.

Crus...I mean, Campaign time!

Earlier this year, Rachael Harrie ran her 2nd Platform Building Crusade, and I was a participant. I found it a REALLY worthwhile (not to mention awesome) experience.

This time around, there's been a name change and instead of Crusaders we are now Campaigners! See Rach's blog for more information on the changes. Meanwhile, I highly recommend that you all sign up for the Campaign! It helps you find new cool blogs to read, gives you a large new network (and smaller, more intimate networks in the form of Groups) and provides you with fun activities you can participate in with your fellow Campaigners.

And look at that pretty badge! Don't you want to flash that around on your blog too?

The Spark Blogfest

This is the last blogfest (and it's a contest, too!) on my list for a while. It runs from August 22-26, so there's still time to sign up! You can add your name to the list over at Christine Tyler's website. Anyway, let's get on with it! Here is what is required in the Spark Blogfest:

What book made you realize you were doomed to be a writer?

What author set off that spark of inspiration for your current Work in Progress?

Or, Is there a book or author that changed your world view?

As writers, we're always striving to get out a message of inspiration to others. This blogfest is a celebration for those who have done this for us. Join the Spark Blogfest, aka Sparkfest, by posting your answer to any of the three prompts above (or make one up as long as it fits the theme). - Christine Tyler

So, I thought I'd have a go at answering all the questions, just for fun!

What book made you realise you were doomed to be a writer?
Well, I've been writing stories since I was a kid, but probably the first books that inspired me to write something that took a bit more commitment than a short story were the Point Horror (etc.) books. I mentioned these books on my blog back in March of this year. I'd say they were the main inspiration for my first extended story (my English teacher jokingly called it "the novel"), The Winter Downfall. It was a terrible story, but it was the beginning of me trying to write longer works.

What author set off that spark of inspiration for your current Work in Progress?
Well, if we take SUNDOWN (et. al.) as my current WIP, even if they're complete and I'm far into revisions, I guess I can thank Stephenie Meyer and her TWILIGHT series. Or rather, I can thank all the women who read TWILIGHT and fell in love with Edward Cullen. I read somewhere about women's reasons for loving Edward, and it got me thinking about what sort of hero I'd love to read about in a novel. Unsurprisingly if you know me at all, he turned out to be a humble rock star. So yeah, that's how SUNDOWN and friends were born.

Is there a book or author that changed your world view?
I'm sure there are countless books or authors I could mention here, but I want to mention Emergency Sex (and Other Desperate Measures), which three peaceworkers wrote together. It details their experiences in some of the world's most war-torn locations. How did it change my view of the world? You can read about it in my GoodReads review, but suffice it to say it made me question how I thought of war and foreign intervention in civil war zones, a subject very near and dear to my heart both before and after reading this amazing book.

Seriously Cute Blogger Award

So, um, recently my friend and Chrysalis colleague Brook R. Busse gave me an award. The Seriously Cute Blogger Award, which involves me posting up the following image of a small fluffy dog:



Eh, cuteish I guess, but I'm more of a cat person. Anyway, I want to thank Brooke for the award! But I also want to fulfill the requirements of the award, which according to some guy, somewhere, are as follows (thanks for the description Michael. hehe):

"List five books, films, or TV programs that I've read, watched, or followed in the last 12 months."

Here are my five!

• TV: MEDIUM - got season 6 on DVD and am one episode away from finishing. I know it's just more of the same, but I love this show.
• MOVIE: HARRY POTTER #7 (pt 2) - still like the books better, but the movie was pretty satisfactory too. So ends an era!
  
• BOOK: FLASH BURNOUT by L.K. Madigan - I feel bad that I only heard of this lady when she got sick, and only remembered her again when she had passed. This book was pure genius, I loved it. RIP L.K.
• TV: LIFE - I bought seasons 1-2 (the full series) in one package and watched them earlier in the year. Loved them, and would have liked to see the series continue.
• MOVIE: THE LIBRARIAN II: RETURN TO KING SOLOMAN'S MINES - this series is one of the most terrible I've seen. Ever. I have yet to watch #3, and I can't imagine it's going to get any better with that one.
  

Now...do I really want to pass this on, or not?? I'm thinking yes, and I'm thinking that I'm going to pass it onto...

Jenni Merritt

Have fun, Jenni!

In other news, I also have a meme that Brooke passed onto me...but that's just going to have to wait, as this entry is long enough as is! Also, I'm planning on starting my Globetrotter series soon. So watch out for the first entry!

Blogfest, I hate you!

First off, I love the name of this blogfest, which is being hosted by Tessa Conte. Secondly, I love the concept of it (and what does that say about me, exactly?). But I better stop lovin', 'cause today we're talkin' about hate!

These are the requirements of Tessa's blogfest:

1. Sign up by the end of August 12th
2. On August 12th, post a story, an excerpt of your work or a poem you've written that shows HATE of some form or another - your character hates someone, someone hates your character, or maybe you hate someone/something?
3. Once you've posted, go check out the other entries and share some comment love!
4. Don't forget to link back to my blog when you post so people can find the other entries

For my excerpt I've decided to share some of SQUEAKY, and this is from Claw's point of view. I adore my evil villain cat! (and yes, I am a cat lady and a lover of cats all around) I also want to add that this is a draft...

     Far up in Feline Heights, Claw reclined on a couch. It wasn’t just any couch - its covering was made up of tiny mouse skins, and in fact it’d been passed down through the generations of Claw’s family for the last two hundred and eighty years. That was, of course, in cat years. Claw didn’t have very much information about where his family name stemmed from - except, of course, that they had all descended from the Egyptian sphinxes originally. But every cat claimed that these days, even the dirty-blooded ones who had no right, no right at all!
     Claw hated. He hated a lot, in fact he hated all day and every day. But he laughed, too. He laughed at the foolishness he witnessed day in and day out. He laughed at the fact that so many remained ignorant of what he knew.
     He laughed, because he could.

Paper edit, music, Chrysalis

The paper edit is well underway. I'm finding that the above picture is what happens on a better page, and on most pages there is way more scrawled handwriting, crossing out and rewriting, and sometimes when I'm too exasperated to do better, just a note that says something like "Rewrite", or "summarise?" or "too sudden". I'm up to page 53, and there are 188 pages all in all. So I'm a fair way in, but the prospect of getting through the rest is a wee bit daunting sometimes. Not that I'm letting it freak me out - not at all! I'm just plugging away. Not even doing a bit each day, I have to say. But I've been doing other stuff.

For instance, these are MY SONGS but the music is performed by a guy called Billy Bedard, who I've been collaborating with. The lyrics, music and vocals are by me, but he's added his own touches here and there, i.e. adding a bridge where there wasn't one previously. Sometimes it means I have to rearrange how I sing things, but that's okay. I've also recorded vocals for his songs too, but the tunes are not available anywhere online yet. He intends to wait until he has all 30 of his songs recorded before releasing anything. There isn't any money in this, but I'm doing it for the fun, and the passion for music. Collaborating is fun, if you do it with the right person!

I've also written this week's Chrysalis story, which I am really quite happy with. I'm currently revising it, but it was nice to be able to prove to myself that all my Chrysalis stories from now on weren't going to be post-apocalyptic tales of lonely woe. Hehe.

Novel Films Blogfest, whee!

It's time for the Novel Films Blogfest, hosted by the super groovy Madeleine over at Scribble and Edit! This blogfest requires that we list novels, comics and plays that we have read AND have seen the film/TV adaptations. I went through a really sizable list of books that have been converted to movies, and pretty fast I realised I haven't read/seen many combos at all. So not only will I list those that make the proper list, but I'll add a few other lists to the end too, just for fun. Just a note before I begin - the rules don't state that you have to LOVE both the book and the movie, just that you have to have read the book and seen the movie in each case.

READ/SEEN (even if I can't remember some too well. hehe)

1. Chocolat by Joanne Harris
2. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
3. The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

4. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
   
5. Emma by Jane Austen
6. 
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

7. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
8. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (book: “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) by Roald Dahl

9. The Witches by Roald Dahl
10. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
11. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
    
12. The Stand by Stephen King
13. Harry Potter and the [insert book/movie title here] by J.K. Rowling.

Now, my extra lists, just for fun!

FEEL THE COMPULSION, HAVING SEEN THESE, TO READ THEIR RESPECTIVE BOOKS:

• The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver

• Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller

• The Color Purple by Alice Walker

• Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake

• The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

• Father of the Bride by Edward Streeter

• The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein
• 
Field of Dreams by W.P. Kinsella (book: “Shoeless Joe”)

• Forrest Gump by Winston Groom

• Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson
• 
Gorillas in the Mist by Diane Fossey

• He’s Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt
• Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
• The Princess Bride by William Goldman


HATED THE MOVIE, WON'T READ THE BOOK UNLESS SOMEONE PAYS ME

• A Clockwork Orange by Antony Burgess


And now I consider this blogfest done! Except for the part where I visit everyone else's entries to see their lists!