Hey guys! Just stopping by to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season. I unfortunately will not be able to update the rest of this year, but look for some new stuff and some updates in early January. (My computer fell victim to the dreaded Win 7 Security virus twice, so all hopes of updating this year were squashed.)
Thank you to all of my readers, reviewers and supporters for a fantastic 2011!
Much love,
Elyse
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
I'm back!!
Hi kids! Long time no talk! I'm just stopping by to tell you that I finally have time to get back to my writing projects. The DSU presentation was fantastic and I'm very pleased with how everything turned out. Once I have a link to the published material, I'll post it so anyone who wants to read it can find it. I made some great connections too, so I'm excited to see where those lead.
In terms of writing, I'm working on a couple of different projects. The first is a website to collect all of my video game related material into one source. I'm also working on new stuff for the Deadly Premonition Wikia.
But I'm sure most of you care about my Fanfiction stuffs, and I have good news there too. Despite the hiccup with my missing revised Nightmare chapters, I should have them up within the next couple of weeks. I'm also finishing up the next chapter for Call My Name. And, in a random twist of fate, I got another push for my Haunting Ground story, and I'm now 3 chapters into that. That story will take much longer to complete, but rest assured that there is some material there.
I think that's it for now. Keep checking back for more writing updates!
Friday, August 12, 2011
I'm going to be a published author!!
Sorry to everyone who has been looking for updates throughout July. I had some time management trouble and I did a lot of traveling, and now I'm missing the last rewritten chapter of Nightmare's Calling. Once I find it, I'll be able to post the complete rewrite of the story.
Some other sad news: I've decided to stop working on RoNK. I can't keep up with the story and I'm not entirely happy with the way I've written it so far. I'll keep my notes around in case I find the time and energy to continue with it, but don't look for anything new to be posted regarding that story.
But hey! I'm going to be a published author!
I submitted an article about female character design in horror games from a female gamer perspective. The committee loved it enough to ask if I would present my findings at their Game Design Conference in November. The paper portion of it will also be published, so I can finally add that to my resume. Hopefully this will also be a chance for me to schmooze with some gaming bigwigs. Getting your name out there is important if you want to work in the industry, and if I can prove that I know what I'm talking about, I might have an in with game companies for testing, writing, editing, and/or design.
I'll be focusing all of my attention on this presentation, so I won't be able to update any stories until after the conference. I'll be back as soon as it's done though. Wish me luck!!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Update for July
Just so everyone's aware, I'll be out of town all next week and my Internet access will be limited. By "limited" I mean "I talked the lady at the front desk into giving me the password so I can turn in my Copyediting III assignment on Friday". Yeah.
The good news is that my family likes to spend the entire morning and afternoon in the sun and leaves me (the really white kid) inside without supervision. What's my plan, you ask? Why, with no Internet to distract me, I can spend oodles of time on Call My Name!
I hope to finish the next chapter at the very least. I only managed to add one page to it but it's looking to be a long one based on my outline. Look for that to go up sometime after I get back from vacation.
Oh, and to my Prince of Persia fans, my PoP back tattoo is finally done. We took the markings of the Dark Prince and turned them into a tribal-esque piece. One side is just the markings in sepia, kind of like a permanent henna tattoo. The same symbols are on the other side but in oranges and yellows and surrounded by black, bruised, decaying skin. It's pretty awesome. I'll post a picture when it's done healing.
The good news is that my family likes to spend the entire morning and afternoon in the sun and leaves me (the really white kid) inside without supervision. What's my plan, you ask? Why, with no Internet to distract me, I can spend oodles of time on Call My Name!
I hope to finish the next chapter at the very least. I only managed to add one page to it but it's looking to be a long one based on my outline. Look for that to go up sometime after I get back from vacation.
Oh, and to my Prince of Persia fans, my PoP back tattoo is finally done. We took the markings of the Dark Prince and turned them into a tribal-esque piece. One side is just the markings in sepia, kind of like a permanent henna tattoo. The same symbols are on the other side but in oranges and yellows and surrounded by black, bruised, decaying skin. It's pretty awesome. I'll post a picture when it's done healing.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
The Woes of Being In Demand
I'm going to get a couple story-related notes out of the way first.
1) Nightmare's Calling is done with rewrites. I'm not sure when I'll get around to posting them, but take solace in its completeness.
2) RoNK is back on hold. Shu is taking far too much time to write and I can't progress the rest of the story until I finish that part. When I get some free time, I'll go back and play some more DW7 to get the flow going again.
3) Rebel's Honor rewrite status has gone from "possible" to "unlikely" due to the number of current writing projects I have.
4) Sarat rewrites have slowed down again. I apologize for the turtle speed with which this project is getting done. Again, I blame my already heavy writing load and my inability to properly manage my stories.
Whew! Now that we've gotten that out of the way, here's why I'm so far behind.
1) I've been commissioned to repaint my old church's sign. While this may not seem like a big deal, we have to take its size and make into account. It's about the same size as 3 of me and weighs a good 200 pounds. It's also made of oak, which sucks up paint like no one's business. Oh, and it's got the texture of bark. Seriously, it's been a chore and a half to make this thing look like new. Hopefully I'll be finished with it sometime this weekend.
2) Copyediting III starts soon and my class has been in a panic trying to register. Our professor hasn't finished grading our tests and they're due tomorrow. To add to our duress, CE3 is supposed to be a 10-week ride through editing hell. This had better get me a job. If I find out that this certificate means nothing in the end, I may commit ritual suicide.
3) I finally got the administrative rights to the Deadly Premonition Wiki site. In addition, I was asked by another person to help with the DP portion of their Wiki for an LPer. It is an enormous amount of work even when you're not the admin for both sites. It's also testing the limits of my HTML and CSS knowledge to try and make the site look less like a wiki and more like an actual fan page.
4) I've decided on a new course of action in my job hunting slump. At this point I don't need an internship; I need an apprenticeship. My goal is to compile a list of copyeditors in well-known publishing companies and sent them letters asking them to take me on. I think if I can expand my network, get some hands-on experience with professionals and show the publishing world that I'm serious about this, I might land a decent job or get some better freelance clients. I would also feel better about creating a website to showcase my editing and writing skills and offer samples. Guess we'll see what happens with that.
Exhausted yet? Yeah, me too.
1) Nightmare's Calling is done with rewrites. I'm not sure when I'll get around to posting them, but take solace in its completeness.
2) RoNK is back on hold. Shu is taking far too much time to write and I can't progress the rest of the story until I finish that part. When I get some free time, I'll go back and play some more DW7 to get the flow going again.
3) Rebel's Honor rewrite status has gone from "possible" to "unlikely" due to the number of current writing projects I have.
4) Sarat rewrites have slowed down again. I apologize for the turtle speed with which this project is getting done. Again, I blame my already heavy writing load and my inability to properly manage my stories.
Whew! Now that we've gotten that out of the way, here's why I'm so far behind.
1) I've been commissioned to repaint my old church's sign. While this may not seem like a big deal, we have to take its size and make into account. It's about the same size as 3 of me and weighs a good 200 pounds. It's also made of oak, which sucks up paint like no one's business. Oh, and it's got the texture of bark. Seriously, it's been a chore and a half to make this thing look like new. Hopefully I'll be finished with it sometime this weekend.
2) Copyediting III starts soon and my class has been in a panic trying to register. Our professor hasn't finished grading our tests and they're due tomorrow. To add to our duress, CE3 is supposed to be a 10-week ride through editing hell. This had better get me a job. If I find out that this certificate means nothing in the end, I may commit ritual suicide.
3) I finally got the administrative rights to the Deadly Premonition Wiki site. In addition, I was asked by another person to help with the DP portion of their Wiki for an LPer. It is an enormous amount of work even when you're not the admin for both sites. It's also testing the limits of my HTML and CSS knowledge to try and make the site look less like a wiki and more like an actual fan page.
4) I've decided on a new course of action in my job hunting slump. At this point I don't need an internship; I need an apprenticeship. My goal is to compile a list of copyeditors in well-known publishing companies and sent them letters asking them to take me on. I think if I can expand my network, get some hands-on experience with professionals and show the publishing world that I'm serious about this, I might land a decent job or get some better freelance clients. I would also feel better about creating a website to showcase my editing and writing skills and offer samples. Guess we'll see what happens with that.
Exhausted yet? Yeah, me too.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Another Quickie
Quick update today:
-I'll be done with the first few chapters of Nightmare's Calling later today. If I can keep this speed up, I should have the story rewritten by the end of May. The Dragon's Jewel is next on the list.
-Still stuck on RoNK in the Shu portion of the YTR. I have the Aftermath chapter done for Wu though, as well as an Interlude chapter for the same kingdom.
-Call My Name is still moving slowly, but I'm getting back into the groove with that story. I want to try and keep those updates to less than a month in between.
-Sarat's back on! I pulled my second draft up the other day and started editing without realizing it. There's still a buttload of work left on it, but at least something is being done.
Writing for the next few weeks is going to be slow anyway. Dakota State University sent out a call for papers and presentations on the horror genre of games for their annual convention. I'm not a professional, but I still think it would be cool to present something. I'll be working on a couple of abstracts to send in as they're due June 15th. I apologize in advance for the extra time away from my stories. Hopefully it'll all be worth it if I'm chosen to present.
-I'll be done with the first few chapters of Nightmare's Calling later today. If I can keep this speed up, I should have the story rewritten by the end of May. The Dragon's Jewel is next on the list.
-Still stuck on RoNK in the Shu portion of the YTR. I have the Aftermath chapter done for Wu though, as well as an Interlude chapter for the same kingdom.
-Call My Name is still moving slowly, but I'm getting back into the groove with that story. I want to try and keep those updates to less than a month in between.
-Sarat's back on! I pulled my second draft up the other day and started editing without realizing it. There's still a buttload of work left on it, but at least something is being done.
Writing for the next few weeks is going to be slow anyway. Dakota State University sent out a call for papers and presentations on the horror genre of games for their annual convention. I'm not a professional, but I still think it would be cool to present something. I'll be working on a couple of abstracts to send in as they're due June 15th. I apologize in advance for the extra time away from my stories. Hopefully it'll all be worth it if I'm chosen to present.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Mailbag #1
I've received a bunch of PMs on my FF.Net account over the past couple of days with regards to my stories. To pacify everyone's burning desire for information, here are some answers that I hope encompass everything you wanted to know:
1)I hope to have edits for The Tigress's Song up next week. Yes it has doubled in size and yes it will include some references to Rebel's Honor and The Dragon's Jewel. It's amazing what you notice when you've been away from a story for five years. New items will include the start of Li's peach tree trips, her friendship with Lady Yang (as hinted in Dragon) and her ability to slip into nobility more easily.
2) Call My Name has not been forgotten. I've finished about a page and a half of the next Rebecca chapter. It will probably be another two or three chapters before the blonde lady and the brown haired man are explained, but the latter will be making a lengthy appearance in the current chapter. I'm not trying to be mysterious about who they are. Savvy players probably guessed it during their first appearances. Remember that I'm writing from the perspective of Claire and Rebecca. They wouldn't know/recognize either mystery character at this point.
3) RoNK is still coming along. The majority of the Wu and Wei perspectives for the first battle have been written. I'm currently working on the Shu majority portion, and after that will be a mixture of the three groups. I haven't planned the Aftermath chapters because I haven't finished deciding what will happen during the Battle chapters. This is the first time I'm completely winging my content (to an extent; it's still based on RoTK after all). My goal is to have the first parts up by the end of May.
4) I think I mentioned this in my last entry, but my rewrite order at the moment is Tigress, Nightmare's Calling, Dragon, and then Rebel's Honor. The last story needs a bucketload of work and I have plans to rewrite the climax and add some more of Ma Chao's perspective on everything. All four are connected, but Rebel is definitely the odd man out.
5) This issue isn't really new to me, but the people who constantly berate my earlier fictions for being historically inaccurate should really lay off the fanfiction. I wrote most of those when I was in middle and high school, before I actually read the novel and really got into the historical part of it. I don't care if I'm mixing up the order of the campaigns and battles. I don't care if certain characters are alive or dead at the wrong times. That's the whole point of fanfiction. If you want accuracy, read the novel and stop looking for ways to justify your OCD through my profile page. I'll be keeping the majority of these features in my rewrites, so get over it.
I'm sorry if I missed your question(s)! Feel free to PM me and repeat what you said. Thanks to everyone who sent me messages and left reviews during this last round!!
1)I hope to have edits for The Tigress's Song up next week. Yes it has doubled in size and yes it will include some references to Rebel's Honor and The Dragon's Jewel. It's amazing what you notice when you've been away from a story for five years. New items will include the start of Li's peach tree trips, her friendship with Lady Yang (as hinted in Dragon) and her ability to slip into nobility more easily.
2) Call My Name has not been forgotten. I've finished about a page and a half of the next Rebecca chapter. It will probably be another two or three chapters before the blonde lady and the brown haired man are explained, but the latter will be making a lengthy appearance in the current chapter. I'm not trying to be mysterious about who they are. Savvy players probably guessed it during their first appearances. Remember that I'm writing from the perspective of Claire and Rebecca. They wouldn't know/recognize either mystery character at this point.
3) RoNK is still coming along. The majority of the Wu and Wei perspectives for the first battle have been written. I'm currently working on the Shu majority portion, and after that will be a mixture of the three groups. I haven't planned the Aftermath chapters because I haven't finished deciding what will happen during the Battle chapters. This is the first time I'm completely winging my content (to an extent; it's still based on RoTK after all). My goal is to have the first parts up by the end of May.
4) I think I mentioned this in my last entry, but my rewrite order at the moment is Tigress, Nightmare's Calling, Dragon, and then Rebel's Honor. The last story needs a bucketload of work and I have plans to rewrite the climax and add some more of Ma Chao's perspective on everything. All four are connected, but Rebel is definitely the odd man out.
5) This issue isn't really new to me, but the people who constantly berate my earlier fictions for being historically inaccurate should really lay off the fanfiction. I wrote most of those when I was in middle and high school, before I actually read the novel and really got into the historical part of it. I don't care if I'm mixing up the order of the campaigns and battles. I don't care if certain characters are alive or dead at the wrong times. That's the whole point of fanfiction. If you want accuracy, read the novel and stop looking for ways to justify your OCD through my profile page. I'll be keeping the majority of these features in my rewrites, so get over it.
I'm sorry if I missed your question(s)! Feel free to PM me and repeat what you said. Thanks to everyone who sent me messages and left reviews during this last round!!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Editing assignment
My current copyediting class has a motto: Edit at least one thing every day. My professor doesn't care if it's a story, an article, poetry, or something trivial like an advertisement. She claims that if you practice your craft on something each day, it'll become natural. I don't think she realizes that people like me do this anyway. It makes reading difficult. Honestly, I can't finish a book anymore because I find myself reaching for a pencil and making notes in the margins.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you find yourself doing this, seek medical attention. It is not a healthy practice.
On the up-side, it means I've finally begun doing what I've promised for a good five years now. I've pulled out my old stories and started editing them.
I'm finishing the first chapter of The Tigress's Song as I type this (yay multitasking!) and I have notes set aside for the second chapter. It's still not wonderful and it's not going to turn into a full-blown story like its sequel, but it'll be worlds better than before. I plan on starting Nightmare's Calling shortly after that (during which I will address the naming issue that grates on my nerves to this day). I'm not sure if I'll redo Rebel's Honor. That one needs some very serious work. I'll probably finish the first two stories and then turn my attention to The Dragon's Jewel since it plays off of those. New Kingdoms fans can relax, as I haven't stopped working on that story either. Writing is moving at a steady pace there.
I also randomly wrote another Prince of Persia one shot last night. It'll probably go up on Thursday as usual. My group of gaming friends had a very robust debate on romantic couples in games and I spent a good 10 minutes arguing that there was no romance in The Two Thrones. Infatuation, maybe, but no romance. I think that's what spurred the creative juices. Plus I've wanted to write a PoP story that's from the SoT trilogy for a while now. I started a Deadly Premonition one shot about Nick and Olivia as well, but that one's not finished. No word on when I'll get that one posted.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you find yourself doing this, seek medical attention. It is not a healthy practice.
On the up-side, it means I've finally begun doing what I've promised for a good five years now. I've pulled out my old stories and started editing them.
I'm finishing the first chapter of The Tigress's Song as I type this (yay multitasking!) and I have notes set aside for the second chapter. It's still not wonderful and it's not going to turn into a full-blown story like its sequel, but it'll be worlds better than before. I plan on starting Nightmare's Calling shortly after that (during which I will address the naming issue that grates on my nerves to this day). I'm not sure if I'll redo Rebel's Honor. That one needs some very serious work. I'll probably finish the first two stories and then turn my attention to The Dragon's Jewel since it plays off of those. New Kingdoms fans can relax, as I haven't stopped working on that story either. Writing is moving at a steady pace there.
I also randomly wrote another Prince of Persia one shot last night. It'll probably go up on Thursday as usual. My group of gaming friends had a very robust debate on romantic couples in games and I spent a good 10 minutes arguing that there was no romance in The Two Thrones. Infatuation, maybe, but no romance. I think that's what spurred the creative juices. Plus I've wanted to write a PoP story that's from the SoT trilogy for a while now. I started a Deadly Premonition one shot about Nick and Olivia as well, but that one's not finished. No word on when I'll get that one posted.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
RE and RoNK Updates
I had my interview with Highlights for Kids yesterday. I must say, that was the most fun and exciting interview I've ever had. Everyone there was super friendly and eager to tell me about what they did for the magazine. It goes a long way towards hiring good staff members. If it's obvious that they want to be there, why wouldn't anyone else? The hiring manager told me that I would hear back from them sometime in May. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
In writing news, I posted the next chapter for Call My Name today. It's shorter than I wanted it to be, but the transition between that chapter and the next Claire one was going to be awkward otherwise. I apologize for its tiny length. I also apologize for delaying its release one week. My computer is still making strange noises and is having problems connecting to the Internet. It's difficult to get anything posted when you lose your connection partway through the process.
I am also halfway through writing the Yellow Turban battle for New Kingdoms. My pattern at the moment is to write some kind of introduction, a focus on the preparation of each kingdom participating in said battle, the battle itself and an aftermath portion. I'll probably also include "interlude" chapters for the various side stories. That way readers can read the whole story or just focus on the major fights (sort of like how Wikipedia talks about the noteworthy fights on its RoTK page but leaves the side stories for the different bio pages). As far as posting goes for that story, I'll probably stagger it. Once I have all the appropriate chapters written for each battle, I'll post weekly until the aftermath chapters are up. I won't leave off in the middle of a battle that way. So when I'm finished with the Yellow Turban stuff, you'll know because you'll start to see them.
This story is still going to take years to do. I'm not even going to try and sugarcoat this one. I'm also still unsure if I want to continue through to the end of the book and include Jin or stop off at Wu Zhang Plains. This is still more DW related than RoTK. Yes, I know Jin is in the new DW game (and wtf is up with Sima Zhao getting half of the stages?), but I'm not as familiar with that part of the story. My knowledge pretty much wanes after the Battle of Cheng Du.
I think that's all for now. No word yet on when the next RE chapter is going up. I'm only one page into it. I'd like to blame DW for pulling my attention away, but that'd be silly. I'll have a better idea about that one once I get through next week's homework.
In writing news, I posted the next chapter for Call My Name today. It's shorter than I wanted it to be, but the transition between that chapter and the next Claire one was going to be awkward otherwise. I apologize for its tiny length. I also apologize for delaying its release one week. My computer is still making strange noises and is having problems connecting to the Internet. It's difficult to get anything posted when you lose your connection partway through the process.
I am also halfway through writing the Yellow Turban battle for New Kingdoms. My pattern at the moment is to write some kind of introduction, a focus on the preparation of each kingdom participating in said battle, the battle itself and an aftermath portion. I'll probably also include "interlude" chapters for the various side stories. That way readers can read the whole story or just focus on the major fights (sort of like how Wikipedia talks about the noteworthy fights on its RoTK page but leaves the side stories for the different bio pages). As far as posting goes for that story, I'll probably stagger it. Once I have all the appropriate chapters written for each battle, I'll post weekly until the aftermath chapters are up. I won't leave off in the middle of a battle that way. So when I'm finished with the Yellow Turban stuff, you'll know because you'll start to see them.
This story is still going to take years to do. I'm not even going to try and sugarcoat this one. I'm also still unsure if I want to continue through to the end of the book and include Jin or stop off at Wu Zhang Plains. This is still more DW related than RoTK. Yes, I know Jin is in the new DW game (and wtf is up with Sima Zhao getting half of the stages?), but I'm not as familiar with that part of the story. My knowledge pretty much wanes after the Battle of Cheng Du.
I think that's all for now. No word yet on when the next RE chapter is going up. I'm only one page into it. I'd like to blame DW for pulling my attention away, but that'd be silly. I'll have a better idea about that one once I get through next week's homework.
Friday, March 25, 2011
My Life is Odd
Update on my doings: I finished one semester of copyediting and still want to kill one of my professors, managed to get an interview with Highlights magazine, wreaked havoc at PAX East while dressed as a Pokemon, played through the entirety of Warriors: Legends of Troy, nearly lost my story files because my cat thinks making the keys click is fun, and bought my brother a fedora that looks like a wedge of cheese.
For all my complaining, I really love my crazy life sometimes.
My computer's going in for repairs sometime next week, but I have all of my files saved on a jump drive so I can work on another computer. I'm finally getting my writing groove back and I'll be damned if cat hair-clogged processing chips are going to stop me.
The next Call My Name chapter is going up next Tuesday for sure. I wanted to get a couple of chapters written so I didn't fall behind again, but it happened anyway. *Sigh* I'm about halfway through the next chapter as well. In addition, I finally decided to stop outlining and start writing some of New Kingdoms. I've been so obsessed with getting the entire story planned that it never occurred to me to take it one battle at a time. Duh. As of right now, I have the intro snippets rewritten and I'm mostly done with the first Preparations chapter. I just need to finish writing Shu's stuff. Next will be writing the actual Yellow Turban Rebellion and the aftermath. If that turns out well, I'll jump right into Dong Zhou nonsense. I still won't post too much until after those battles are written so I can get a sense of the story and its flow. Any ROTK fans/readers know how easy it can be to lose direction in a story like this. I've read it twice and I still get lost at some of the junctions.
I'm babbling. Look for RE updates next week for sure. Hopefully all of the writing for New Kingdoms will get the creativity flowing again so I can finish what I've already started. Toodles!
For all my complaining, I really love my crazy life sometimes.
My computer's going in for repairs sometime next week, but I have all of my files saved on a jump drive so I can work on another computer. I'm finally getting my writing groove back and I'll be damned if cat hair-clogged processing chips are going to stop me.
The next Call My Name chapter is going up next Tuesday for sure. I wanted to get a couple of chapters written so I didn't fall behind again, but it happened anyway. *Sigh* I'm about halfway through the next chapter as well. In addition, I finally decided to stop outlining and start writing some of New Kingdoms. I've been so obsessed with getting the entire story planned that it never occurred to me to take it one battle at a time. Duh. As of right now, I have the intro snippets rewritten and I'm mostly done with the first Preparations chapter. I just need to finish writing Shu's stuff. Next will be writing the actual Yellow Turban Rebellion and the aftermath. If that turns out well, I'll jump right into Dong Zhou nonsense. I still won't post too much until after those battles are written so I can get a sense of the story and its flow. Any ROTK fans/readers know how easy it can be to lose direction in a story like this. I've read it twice and I still get lost at some of the junctions.
I'm babbling. Look for RE updates next week for sure. Hopefully all of the writing for New Kingdoms will get the creativity flowing again so I can finish what I've already started. Toodles!
Monday, February 21, 2011
I Hate My Field
I really hate when my writing is sloooooooooooooooooooooow.
Midterm week came and went, but it's still hanging over my head. I'm currently arguing with one professor about the lack of points awarded to me on one question. She was looking for the removal of some punctuation marks and changes to others. Instead, I changed a preposition. Technically there is nothing wrong with any punctuation marks for that question. The preposition was not wrong either, but it's the copyeditor's job to help sentences look better and I felt that a different prep worked better. I followed my instincts. And my training. Neither are apparently good enough.
I realize that this is a poor excuse for not updating, but it's the truth. It's a huge blow to your writing ego when a professor who is teaching you the basics of copyediting disregards the rules taught to you and tells you that you're flat-out wrong. Writers live by these same rules. Things like this make me wonder why I desire a job in this field.
On the other side of the proverbial coin, I'm working on meeting with the managing editor of a popular kid's magazine. One of the ladies who works in the editorial office graduated from the same college as my mom and offered to help me out (since the alumni office at my alma mater is garbage unless you earned a science or engineering degree). I'm hoping to impress her enough that I can get some volunteer work or an internship. I know better than to assume I'll get some kind of editing position. I just need something to help me gain experience.
Between classes, arguments and meetings, I haven't had much time for writing. Sorry guys! The good news is that the next chapter for Call My Name is done; it just needs some polish. I've also finished a couple of Persona one shots that I started a while ago and jotted down ideas for the others. In addition, I'm combing the DW7 websites for info so I can get back into New Kingdoms by April. Excitement!
Midterm week came and went, but it's still hanging over my head. I'm currently arguing with one professor about the lack of points awarded to me on one question. She was looking for the removal of some punctuation marks and changes to others. Instead, I changed a preposition. Technically there is nothing wrong with any punctuation marks for that question. The preposition was not wrong either, but it's the copyeditor's job to help sentences look better and I felt that a different prep worked better. I followed my instincts. And my training. Neither are apparently good enough.
I realize that this is a poor excuse for not updating, but it's the truth. It's a huge blow to your writing ego when a professor who is teaching you the basics of copyediting disregards the rules taught to you and tells you that you're flat-out wrong. Writers live by these same rules. Things like this make me wonder why I desire a job in this field.
On the other side of the proverbial coin, I'm working on meeting with the managing editor of a popular kid's magazine. One of the ladies who works in the editorial office graduated from the same college as my mom and offered to help me out (since the alumni office at my alma mater is garbage unless you earned a science or engineering degree). I'm hoping to impress her enough that I can get some volunteer work or an internship. I know better than to assume I'll get some kind of editing position. I just need something to help me gain experience.
Between classes, arguments and meetings, I haven't had much time for writing. Sorry guys! The good news is that the next chapter for Call My Name is done; it just needs some polish. I've also finished a couple of Persona one shots that I started a while ago and jotted down ideas for the others. In addition, I'm combing the DW7 websites for info so I can get back into New Kingdoms by April. Excitement!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Midterms and Writing Update
Hey crew! Sorry about the lack of updates. I decided that I'm falling too far behind again, so I'm going to try and write a couple more chapters of Call My Name before I post anything. That way if I get behind again, I'll at least have something to share with you guys.
Midterm week is coming up on Monday, so that'll be my focus for the next four or five days. After that, it's back to writing. My sole focus is still Call My Name. I'm pretty sure this is on my FF.Net page, but I'm going to hold back on New Kingdoms stuff until after DW7 comes out in March. With the influx of new characters, I want to play through some of their scenarios before I try and write anything. I've also broken the story down into sections so I can write NK without feeling overwhelmed. Look for that story to pop up sometime in April.
I think that's it for the moment. I still try to float around FF.Net and FP.Com to read and review stories, so I won't be away from those sites completely. More CMN should be up in a few weeks...I hope.
P.S. Job hunting still sucks chicken cock. That is all.
Midterm week is coming up on Monday, so that'll be my focus for the next four or five days. After that, it's back to writing. My sole focus is still Call My Name. I'm pretty sure this is on my FF.Net page, but I'm going to hold back on New Kingdoms stuff until after DW7 comes out in March. With the influx of new characters, I want to play through some of their scenarios before I try and write anything. I've also broken the story down into sections so I can write NK without feeling overwhelmed. Look for that story to pop up sometime in April.
I think that's it for the moment. I still try to float around FF.Net and FP.Com to read and review stories, so I won't be away from those sites completely. More CMN should be up in a few weeks...I hope.
P.S. Job hunting still sucks chicken cock. That is all.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
I Wasted A Day With Email
I received an email today from a woman in California in which she was deeply sorry that I would not be interviewing for their position. I spent a good portion of my afternoon going over the email to try and figure out what position she was talking about.
Needless to say, I couldn't find it.
Said woman then spends the rest of my afternoon trying to explain the position to me and how some of my qualifications met their requirements but not others. I eventually had to forego the entire conversation because she was bugging me. Lady, I don't care that I'm not getting the position. You are one of thousands of employers that tell me the same thing daily. What I care about it that I didn't apply for the position and, therefore, don't require an email telling me that I fail in the job hunting department.
In writing updates, I've finished the brief polish on my last Dragon's Jewel chapter and am about two pages into the Call My Name chapter. Depending on how much classwork I finish for my copy editing courses, I may finish it by Thursday, If not, it'll be posted by next Thursday.
Needless to say, I couldn't find it.
Said woman then spends the rest of my afternoon trying to explain the position to me and how some of my qualifications met their requirements but not others. I eventually had to forego the entire conversation because she was bugging me. Lady, I don't care that I'm not getting the position. You are one of thousands of employers that tell me the same thing daily. What I care about it that I didn't apply for the position and, therefore, don't require an email telling me that I fail in the job hunting department.
In writing updates, I've finished the brief polish on my last Dragon's Jewel chapter and am about two pages into the Call My Name chapter. Depending on how much classwork I finish for my copy editing courses, I may finish it by Thursday, If not, it'll be posted by next Thursday.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
A Rusty Spoon Needs To Meet The Job Market's Eye
Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a wonderful and safe night of partying and macking with random people. I spent the night...watching my parents get drunk. Yep. That's right. No parties for me. I can't really complain, since that meant I didn't have to deal with police checks and insane drivers. Oh, and the token black guys showing up at my friend's house. I'm not being racist; there's seriously one every year that just randomly appears. No one ever knows him. He just wanders the streets, looking for drunk college kids to let him skimp a beer and disappear into thin air.
I'm actually under house arrest until I find a job. Mother seems to think that forcing me to plunk away at the keyboard all day will eventually land me a job, not realizing that its prime story writing opportunity and no one wants to hire anyone who doesn't have 53259327589 years of experience in said position. We're American like that.
In writing update land, I've polished the next chapter of The Dragon's Jewel and am currently tidying up the next one for Call My Name. I just finished the train segment in RE0 so that should help to keep me focused in that universe for a while. I hope...
I'm actually under house arrest until I find a job. Mother seems to think that forcing me to plunk away at the keyboard all day will eventually land me a job, not realizing that its prime story writing opportunity and no one wants to hire anyone who doesn't have 53259327589 years of experience in said position. We're American like that.
In writing update land, I've polished the next chapter of The Dragon's Jewel and am currently tidying up the next one for Call My Name. I just finished the train segment in RE0 so that should help to keep me focused in that universe for a while. I hope...
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