philosophercat | Entries tagged with writing

I was talking with some friends about how we respond to the ol' "how are you?" these days. Some were really struggling but I said I just go with "I'm Palestinian" and let that speak for itself. In the last few days, we've witnessed the worst massacre in our history. I'm not okay, and no one knows what to say. I think it's just like anything else, even saying something is better than the silence.

I miss you all. Especially my pals from LJ.

I've really... found myself in a career. It crept up on me. I guess I'm a professional writer now. An editor at Simon and Schuster read my short stories, found my website and extended their help if I should ever write a novel. So, I'm working on one... It's coming along nicely, although I hate it. I hate everything about it. But the draft is there and that's all it has to do right now.

So, yeah. I'm churning out 500-2500 words per day on that project. I made a playlist, and some mood boards:

Watch on YouTube

Somehow, five musicals came through! I'll take inspiration however I can.

-S

Current Mood: drained

This last... two months or so have been a wild ride. I'm still taking care of mom, who is still not leaving her bed. She gets PSWs each day. Our landlord is being a total butt. I had a string of panic attacks in November bc of his nonsense.

On the other hand, I've just finished a little publishing bump. I'm officially a Goodreads author now, which was unexpected! No one tells you how much WAITING you do when you're a writer. So much waiting... I couldn't tell anyone about the projects I was involved in for a long time, and then suddenly they all came out within a week!

My sapphic story inspired by Palestinian folk religion and djinn lore made it into FIYAH's Palestinian issue.

And this came out on Wednesday:

I'm close to my next submission: a gothic story, my first attempt at horror. It's surprisingly difficult to find a market to send it to. It's an odd length, and some open markets don't want some of the themes or images. It's a strange little critter. I want to find a paying market, if I can. I might release it as a fundraiser later, if I can't find a good home for it. My beta readers are really liking it so far.

Oh, yeah. I also applied for the Clarion workshop. I had a kind benefactor pay my application fee, and ...it's a real long shot, I know. I'll have to get respite care for mom if I went- unless they decide to run the workshop remotely.

ALSO, I have a new tarot deck. Comment with a question, or with ? for a general vibe check tarot reading! No charge. I just feel the need to read :D

Current Mood: calm
Crossposts: https://philosophercat.livejournal.com/1419015.html

I know this is abrupt but I'm now a space unicorn ranger, aka a submissions editor for Uncanny Magazine! I did my first round this morning. The most stressful part was that I was locked out all of yesterday and my panic button was hit, hard. I was sure I would have to quit because I couldn't access the program used for sorting the hundreds of submissions they receive. Then I talked it through with the editor team on Discord and came up with the plan of one of them filling out a bug report form for me (since I could not even access that). Bingo. They said my IP had been banned. *sighs* I nearly swooned with relief.

This job is very like marking papers, in many ways. In some ways it is easier because we are not allowed to personalize comments on rejections, as much as the teacher/coach in me wants to step in and guide since most of the rejections so far have clearly been earnest amateur attempts that need more time cooking rather than just terrible writing.

I like my new job. It is volunteer, of course, but I don't mind that.

And my fellow editors are great. We passed around some cat pictures in the Discord...

Crossposts: https://philosophercat.livejournal.com/1418867.html

"All writing of the narrative kind, and perhaps all writing, is motivated, deep down, by a fear of and a fascination with mortality by a desire to make the risky trip to the Underworld, and to bring something or someone back from the dead."

-Margaret Atwood

One of the writers who came in to talk to us during the editing practicum shared this quote with us and it has haunted me ever since. I love it in a way that's difficult to describe. I've only been able to track it down now. It's from her book 'Negotiating with the Dead' which is about what it means to be a writer.

Do you have any favourite quotes from writers on writing?

-Sophie

Current Mood: awake

I've finished the first draft of chapter one. Anyone want to take a look?

It's the begining of a ~~steampunk~~ bronze punk historical mystery. A young woman invents time travel in ancient Greece.

The first chapter's only 8 pages... Ah come on. You know you have the time... Or do you? DO YOU? >_>

If I stick to the ~plan~ it should be easily serialised or published traditionally. Right now I'm tidying it up with the rest to go into the writing portolio. But I'm also working out just how many chapters I'll need to tell this story.

There's one thing I'm not sure about. It's been called The Rhodes Code from the start but I don't want the prof to think the novel is going to be a spin off or send up or whatever of the Da Vinci Code. It has nothing at all to do with it, and I'm starting to think the title sounds a bit like it would be. So I'm thinking of plagiarising myself and calling it 'Relative Chronologies' instead, at least for the purpose of the writing portfolio.

What say you?

-Sophie

Current Mood: content

Just stopping in quickly before toiling in the kitchen ~~dungeons~~. I expect to have a rough draft for a Doctor Who story finished by tonight. I need some beta readers, so if anyone would be interested in looking over a quite silly story with the 10th Doctor, please leave a comment. It will be around 1 000 words, if everything ties up neatly. I may not have a typed copy until tomorrow, but I'd still like to know if (and how many) people can take a look at it before it is posted.

It's called 'Last of the Time Lords' and it's a send up of many 10th Doctor tropes, but mostly being "The Last," following it to its natural conclusion (that someone would eventually set up a charity for the Doctor).

Iris Wildthyme is also in it.

-Sophie

Current Mood: accomplished

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Sophie

Entries tagged with writing

I'm Palestinian

It was the best of times... it was the worst of times.

Day one space unicorn ranger

Negotiating with the Dead

Beware Time Travelling Greeks...

I keep forgetting the nutella! D:

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April 2024

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