Quiet milestones.
Jun. 11th, 2012 10:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seanan_mcguireParasite is the first book I've written largely in secret. Not because I was ashamed of it, but because first it wasn't sold, so I couldn't say anything about it. Then it was sold but unannounced, so I couldn't say anything about it. Then, when it was finally announced, I was so far into the writing process that I couldn't force myself into the normal flow of word counts and benchmarks and all the other things I use for motivation.
Pro tip: I work better with word counts and benchmarks. I know this now.
Friday I wound up staying home from my day job, thanks to an inability to breathe that was only resolved when I had another of my amazing fire hose nosebleeds, or, as I like to call them, "blood vacations." (It's not high blood pressure, it's a weakness in one of the blood vessels that runs through my sinuses. My doctor and I have discussed it. So please, no medical advice.) And once I mopped up the blood and got some clean clothes on, I got to work, and quietly, without any real fanfare, passed 500 draft one pages.
It's not a perfect book, by any means; for one thing, it's missing about 8,000 words still, and for another, it hasn't had any editorial, which means that all the Mira Grant "tics"—repetition, over-explanation, Joss-y dialog—are in full display, with no mitigation. But I can see the shape of what will be a good book, once we finish kicking the crap out of it, and that's very reassuring to me.
It will be awesome.
Pro tip: I work better with word counts and benchmarks. I know this now.
Friday I wound up staying home from my day job, thanks to an inability to breathe that was only resolved when I had another of my amazing fire hose nosebleeds, or, as I like to call them, "blood vacations." (It's not high blood pressure, it's a weakness in one of the blood vessels that runs through my sinuses. My doctor and I have discussed it. So please, no medical advice.) And once I mopped up the blood and got some clean clothes on, I got to work, and quietly, without any real fanfare, passed 500 draft one pages.
It's not a perfect book, by any means; for one thing, it's missing about 8,000 words still, and for another, it hasn't had any editorial, which means that all the Mira Grant "tics"—repetition, over-explanation, Joss-y dialog—are in full display, with no mitigation. But I can see the shape of what will be a good book, once we finish kicking the crap out of it, and that's very reassuring to me.
It will be awesome.
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Date: 2012-06-11 05:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-12 12:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-11 05:47 pm (UTC)you can be a chocolate type fountain for vampire parties with that trick!
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Date: 2012-06-12 12:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-11 05:48 pm (UTC)Ow? And ugh? And, um, admittedly kinda neat in a squinty I-don't-want-any kind of way.
So, any hint of what Parasite is all about? While I appreciate that you have to kick the crap out of it still, it's hard to visualize kicking a parasite, unless you count ::cough::ex-friend...
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Date: 2012-06-12 12:15 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2012-06-11 05:52 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2012-06-11 06:05 pm (UTC)Also, thank you for sharing your experience as a writer. I emailed a link to this post to my writing group, because about half of us are slogging through those same problems. I also have issues with character reacting properly.
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Date: 2012-06-12 12:17 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2012-06-11 06:28 pm (UTC)But, congrats on being productive in the aftermath! I suspect that I'm lazy, as such a thing as you're describing would send me to the couch with puppies and comfort television (usually The Golden Girls) and an excuse to make my husband cook.
HUZZAH for more Mira books!
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Date: 2012-06-12 12:17 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2012-06-12 12:18 am (UTC)I am so sorry.
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Date: 2012-06-11 07:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-12 12:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-11 07:24 pm (UTC)Also: I just got my review copy of Blackout and I AM SO EXCITED! I've just finished reading a mosaic novel I'm in (it's not out yet; I'm doing some beta reading for the editor), so it's like winning the awesomeness lottery :D I actually got so impatient waiting for it I almost bought it myself ;)
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Date: 2012-06-12 12:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2012-06-11 07:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-12 12:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-11 07:48 pm (UTC)I hope you get to keep the rest of your blood for the time being. :)
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Date: 2012-06-12 12:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-11 07:52 pm (UTC)I used to get chronic nosebleeds. While they were nasty and led to unpleasant side effects, I kind of enjoyed watching people react to me being a walking biohazard.
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Date: 2012-06-12 12:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-11 07:52 pm (UTC)More importantly, though: Yay, more books!
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Date: 2012-06-12 12:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-11 07:58 pm (UTC)(Said friend did receive the book in good order, and i am informed started reading it last night at midnight, and finished the whole thing about 3:45, much to the detriment of her sleep schedule =)
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Date: 2012-06-12 12:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2012-06-11 08:08 pm (UTC)I'm imagining your Machete Squad in a group photo, preparing their editing tools of choice.
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Date: 2012-06-12 12:21 am (UTC)Yes.
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Date: 2012-06-11 09:01 pm (UTC)- Why the change from Parasitology to Parasite?
- Did the other book's title change from Symbiogenesis to something else?
- Oh, and did the duology become a trilogy?
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Date: 2012-06-12 12:21 am (UTC)2. I don't know.
3. What in the world would give you that idea? No. Ugh. No.
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Date: 2012-06-11 09:11 pm (UTC)I have a deep and strange love for parasites. Looking forward to yours. Speaking of which, is it possible there's no real blood vessel problem in your nose, but really a colony of snot eating parasites have taken up residence and the byproduct is merely nose flood? Or maybe these are parasites released by sparkling vampires who can't get close enough to chomp you normally, and need a freeflowing fountain. Or maybe they are geriatric vampires and no longer have teeth and so your nose is the answer. Just think about it. You could be on a a commercial for the vampiric answer to Ensure.
I should go back to revising my book. Clearly I'm punchy.
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