He was proud of this
Well, the first weekend of 2014 is leading into the first full week of 2014 and I’m really writing this sentence so I get used to writing 2014. Huzzah!
Sad news first: I never got that haircut. They were closed the day I tried to go and then the snowstorm made a mess of everything else. Now it’s too cold to walk and I’m seeing my wild hair as something that keeps my head warm. I should probably get it cut before we go to Buffalo in 2 weeks. Yeah, I’ll be a rarity for a few days since I might only have Internet access in early morning and late evening. I’ll have the tweets and posts scheduled as usual, but not sure how much blog wandering I’m going to do. Probably very little.
I’m realizing that I have to accept that $2.99 books bound around the Amazon rankings like a hyperactive gazelle. We’ll never get the full picture of how Amazon creates those numbers and they probably change every month or two. All I know is that Allure of the Gypsies is still selling and I’ll keep pushing it. That’s really all I can do. Besides, I think by the 3rd book I’m only getting people that are either engrossed in the story or hate it to the point where they wish to continue torturing themselves. Either way, I need to focus on the next book of the series and everything else.
One more note: This week starts a new Tuesday segment where I analyze the themes of my characters and stories. I mentioned this earlier since several surprise themes appeared while I was writing. Maybe this will bring in a little insight to the characters as well.
Goals for the week!
- That haircut will be mine!
- Finish the first draft of Curse of the Dark Wind. It’s a long shot that depends on weather, working today, and the success of #1.
- Get back on the exercise bike. Aiming to start this tomorrow when it’s supposed to be a little warmer. I hear the heat running in the house, but it’s just not reaching this room. Maybe I should accept that the future holds winters of low activity and weight gain for me. At least until I live in a house or place where it isn’t an icebox every morning.
- Set up posts for the following week. ANY SUGGESTIONS?
- Begin planning stages for ‘War of the Tainted’. The characters and plot outline for this series will be my project to give me a break before Sleeper of the Wildwood Fugue is started.
- Plan a few simple dinners, which will probably be Penne with Homemade Vodka Sauce, Honey Chicken Sandwiches, and ordering pizza.
What’s everyone else aspiring (or conspiring) to this week?
Legends of Windemere 
Here in the afebrile heartland we’re in the midst of what is anticipated to be 6-9 inches of snow, which is going to profoundly impact my work over the next few days. Right now they are saying we’ll start at 4am tomorrow, and we might have to come in today to get a jump on clearing the campus.
So I’m trying to get my 500 words in early today. Other than that, I also want to try to finish (or at least make progress) on my character spreadsheet. I’m listing names, nicknames, first appearance (I’m listing the page number of the print edition), physical description, species, general notes, and current status. It’s more work than I expected, and I really wish I’d started it before I finished the first two books–it would have been simpler to add them as I wrote them, rather than going back over the books now. Ah, well. Live and learn.
Suggestions? If you want to talk about characters, how about the narrative roles of supporting characters? There are certain types that show up over and over again, The Comic Relief, The Femme Fatale, The Pro From Dover, The True Believer, and so on. I did a post a while back comparing the casts of “WKRP In Cincinnati” and “Firefly” in terms of narrative roles:
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We got 8 inches Thursday into Friday, which seems to always through Long Island off. It wasn’t bad until last night when it got so cold that all the melted snow became a layer of ice. Now we can’t go out the door without skates. Good luck with the weather.
That project sounds like something I used to maintain when I was younger. It was supposed to be a big encyclopedia of all characters, creatures, items, places, and events in my books. I lost track of the file and never tried again. It’s a real challenge for any author.
Reading your post, I’m not sure I can touch on it any better than you did. It’s perfect even the River statement. I’ve touched on the various character types before and their uses or how to use them. Yet, I haven’t written about the ensemble cast, which is strange since I use one in my series. I’m still working off your last suggestion list, but I’m definitely going to touch on it this month. I’d do a breakdown, but my Outsider and Plucky Optimist haven’t appeared. Is it possible for characters to hold two roles or share roles in a group?
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Oh, yes, the roles are extremely fluid. Nor is my list intended to be either exhaustive or definitive. If one were to binge watch the series “CSI”, for example, (not that I know anyone who is doing that at the moment or anything) you can see how the characters take on different roles as new characters leave the show and others are added.
Often in Buddy Pictures two characters will assume multiple roles, making in essence an abbreviated ensemble cast. Consider the dynamics of the “Lethal Weapon” films, for example, or John Steed and Emma Peel in The (original) Avengers. I’m also realizing that the roles played by the various Bond Girls over the course of the franchise vary considerably, which changes the dynamics of Bond himself.
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Good point. Roles probably work best if they’re fluid because that avoids pigeonholing the characters. Bond is a great example considering how the Bond Girls have evolved from victims and eye candy to capable characters.
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That’s a great photo. My brother (much younger) played nonstop as a toddler. When, late at night, we could finally hear ourselves think, we’d go find out what happened, only to see him passed out on the floor in the middle of some big activity. They know how to live life to the fullest. 🙂
In November, our heater wasn’t working for about 10 days, and that’s by far the coldest it’s been (of course, it was in the 70’s the day after we got it fixed). I discovered that it’s really hard for me to write in a cold room.
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Actually, he’s not asleep there. I heard him yelling for me and came back to find that he had backed himself into this position. No idea why.
I can write if bundled up, but the attempt at exercising seems beyond me. I get heated up to the point where I want to remove a layer and then I’m freezing. It’s a terrible cycle.
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Looking forward to your books this year.
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Hope I don’t disappoint. I’ll admit to be a little nervous about them. Each one tries something different.
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Can’t you put the exercise bike in the cold room? Two birds with one stone and all that. Good luck with your goals, you hairy man, you.
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I brought it out of the colder part of the house, but it seems the entire house is frigid today. Weather channel says things will be better tomorrow though.
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Well darn about the hair cut. I just got mine last week, it was nice. Hope you get it soon.
Seems like a good plan you have going this week. I kind of got nothing done from my last weeks goals, lol. Oh well. I still have a few hours left in today to get some of them done. 🙂
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Last week was a disaster for me even beyond the haircut. The weather and everyone being home all day drove my productivity into the gutter. I’m going to use today to schedule enough blog posts to take me through the upcoming trip. Think I forgot that one.
Good luck with those precious few hours.
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I need to set some goals. I was better off during NaNoWriMo. As for post suggestions, I’m always curious about how fantasy writers orient everything in their world. Do you make your own map and refer to it as you write? How is a map helpful to you?
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I swear I’ve heard this question a lot. Thought I answered it, but I guess not. I’ll put it on the list, but not sure what I can say. I used to have maps and I lost them during a move. Since then, I’ve been working off my memory and slowly developing them with my terrible drawing skills. I know the approximate locations of the continents though, which is what I need more of at this stage.
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Best of luck with your goals for the week. Mine would involve filling out job applications, starting in on editing the first part of my series, some in-depth character profiles, finishing the reference pics for the rest of the characters for said series (all of these ones being very minor/families of more major characters), and getting a few other pics done.
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I never looked into reference pics. How do those work? Do you draw them or find photos on the Internet?
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I usually draw them. I’d started this batch over the summer, but hadn’t finished them yet.
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Multi-talented. Cool.
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Sounds like doable goals and I love the picture of the toddler…oh to be young again. 🙂
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Young and flexible.
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I cut Greg’s hair and neck with the trimmers last night. He refuses to go to a barber, but he doesn’t have much.
I am crazy into maps and demographics and that sort of thing with fantasy reads. That’s part of what I loved about Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. I get lost in the words, but draw me a picture and I am on track. Don’t know how you would accomplish that with a blog post though.
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I don’t trust the people around here. I like my ears.
Draw and scan would be it, but I’m no good at drawing. I have a crude map of Ralian, which I might post up some day.
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Seeing all of Windemere, the military academy in relation to battlefields and the Caster Swamp, the different forests, villages, rivers, and things like that help me move across the terrain in my mind. I am a very visually oriented person.
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It’s only one continent . . . and it has dots.
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Well…its cold here in the panhandle of the sunshine state too. Supposed to go into the teens Monday night! What am I doing next week to get back into the swing of things? H goes back to work Monday so I may get back into my writing schedule, but then we leave for the annual All State Music Educators Convention in Tampa on Wednesday for five days. – Maybe it will be warmer there. 🙂 And I can bring my laptop while he has those meetings. That’s a plus!
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I can only imagine how people are acting with those temps in Florida. The last winter I lived down there got cold and some of the neighbors were a little panicky. Especially those that had never seen frost before.
Good luck with your writing and hope you enjoy Tampa. Laptops are a writer’s best friend at times.
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When I decide I want/need a haircut and can’t get one for whatever reason, it drives me mad. The hair that was perfectly fine on my head mere minutes before is suddenly unbearable, and I have seriously considered cutting it myself with nail scissors. Which is weird, and I haven’t ever actually done it (except just my fringe, one), but I feel your pain. Good luck with your other goals!
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I get these weird wings in the back that drive me nuts. I’m really hoping the weather is my friend on Tuesday and I can get it done then. Thanks.
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That photo cracks me up. Has he fallen from the sofa, taking a tantrum or just laying there waiting for someone to pick him up? Seems like a good place to rest. Also, the ever-illusive haircut–I’m cheering for you. Godspeed. As for writing the posts in advance–I do that all the time on the weekend as well. It frees up my week to do other things and I don’t always have to worry about coming up with something at the very last minute. Adding to that, if I get another idea I want to publish, I can shift things around to make the schedule a bit easier to work with. At least I find it works out that way. Finally, your Penne with Homemade Vodka Sauce sounds impressive. Ordering pizza’s my fav!
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He was trying to push himself off the floor and onto the couch by going backwards. I think. I stopped trying to figure out his reasoning.
I’ve become a big fan of scheduling posts. I’ve actually been 1-2 weeks ahead, which has the downside of me not always remembering what post is going on. There have been times I’ve gotten a comment and had to read the post to see what I was talking about.
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I’ve had that happen, too. Great minds. Great minds!
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So sharp that we fool ourselves.
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Must say…love the photo, I can’t imagine a shaggy Charles so maybe the haircut should be done asap…didn’t understand beans about the 2.99$ stuff…but I suspect tha Amazon lies…just for the hell of it. I think the homemade vodka sauce could be interesting…do you make it with fresh tomatoes and red pepper with heavy cream added fresh before putting it onto the pasta? Or is that another Vodka sauce? Hi Charles…just thought I’d drop by and see what your were doing!
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I don’t know how to use fresh stuff, so I go with the canned tomatoes. I use crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, vodka, red pepper flakes, and heavy cream for it. Nice and simple.
I used to be very shaggy in college, but this is simply getting unkempt. Aiming to fix it tomorrow if the weather holds out.
I’ve heard about Amazon lying or their programs not updating things correctly. They depend a lot on computer programs, which might be part of the issue.
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Ah…one doesn’t even have to lie if one depends on computer statistics I think. Your Vodka recipe sound pretty close to my own…which is not more than a arabiata sauce with heavy cream…
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A friend taught it to me a long time ago, so I’m not sure what the base is. Sounds about right though.
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