TGIF

Writer guy

The wife is on level 3 support this weekend. In short that means that at any time the bat phone might ring to deliver us a crisis. Yummy.

I’ve got a bunch of revisions to do on the Ridge Runner thanks to Editor Person. Then there’s a whole bunch of pages to review for Velocity.

I’ve set a goal for finishing a rough draft of Velocity by the first week of May. It’s going to be tight but I’m giving everything I’ve got. Why early May? Two reasons, the first is the most pure reason of all, which is money. I’ve got some work lined up for a brand new client in May, so I’ll need to focus on that.

Whenever I get a new client I invest a lot of time learning how to do things the way they like and need them done, and that takes a lot of focus. No matter what any software vendors claim every company is different and ultimately unique. The second reason is that it seems like a realistic deadline.

I outlined Velocity in late December and started writing it in January. Four months and some change seems like sufficient time to complete a rough draft. There’s going to be problems with it, but a lot less problems than there were with the Ridge Runner the first time around. I’ll get it more right later, but odds are very high the second book will be done before I get an agent to represent the first book. And really in the end, is that a problem? At least I’ll have a decent second novel ready to go.

Editor person says what?

Writer guy

After more than a month hiatus and many pages into book number two, Editor person and I met. This was a proactive session, in the event that the prospective agent asks ( let’s hope ) to see the rest of The Ridge Runner. I wanted to polish to chapter 4-22 one last time. Imagine Editor person on one side of the desk, yours truly on the opposite. As they flipped through the pages, the discussion went something like this….

Editor person: Grammar, grammar, spelling,…OK…that works…oh this is back again. This upstream downstream problem.
sam: There is no back. It’s always been messed up.
Editor person: You know it’s messed up, yet you left it to me to find.
sam: Indeed. I’ve been waiting for you to notice that.
Editor person: Oh I noticed it. It’s very jarring.
sam: But you missed it the last 2 drafts.
Editor person: In the midst of the carnage you call writing, it was all I could do to stop the bleeding.
sam: But you actually missed something.
Editor person: I saw it.
sam: I’ve got 2 other drafts that say you missed it.
Editor person: Can I tell you what you’re going to miss if you continue this discussion?

I hear horses thunder

Writer guy

At long last Editor person and I will meet. There’s veritable bunches of stuff they’ve yet to see. A meeting like this has been weeks in the making. Day jobs always get in the way. Last night I called them to verify we were on for today.

sam: Yo Editor person we on for Wednesday?
Editor person: Perhaps.
sam: Perhaps yes, or perhaps no?
Editor person: Yes.
sam: Yes which is it?
Editor Person: You called for a reason I hope.
sam: I called to find out if we’re on for Wednesday.
Editor Person: Today is Tuesday.
sam: And that means tomorrow is Wednesday.
Editor Person: So call me then. Right now I’m working.
Sam: At 9pm you’re working?
Editor Person: I’m always working.
sam: You haven’t read any of the pages yet have you?
Editor Person: Not yet, I’m about to go to bed. Try me in the morning.

I said no charge bubba!

Writer guy

The wife and I went to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind last night. I’ll put the review up later. Let’s do a segue into the main action here…

See the wife didn’t care one way or another about going to the film. Beside her lack of interest, everything seemed aligned against us too, we left late, got there late, had to get money in transit. We had the one minute – do you not want to go? since when do you care about what I want? argument. This was all before we got out of the car. Then at the theater, the special needs attendant was selling tickets, which is fine except he’s a little bit slower than the some of the other attendants and like I mentioned we were late. But I’m thinking karma so I behave and breathe into my tardiness.

But the gaggle of 12 year old girls pretending they were 13 tried my patience. True, they had the first position in the line when we got there but as a group they fought about why they were there in the first place. “oh my god what are we going to see?” – “i’m 13!” – “No! you’re 12!” – “Who said I’m fat?” type distractions provided an opportunity for customers who wanted concessions, because the ticket guy didn’t want to listen to the girl school argument any more than anyone else, so he left the ticket line to scoop popcorn.

So we get our tickets and now the film is in progress. And there’s something horribly wrong with the screen, because it’s dark in the theater. Oh there’s a moving picture show going on, but parts of the screen are a nice study in dark shadows. For a second I think, hmm, it’s art film, they like to do weird things. And even though we missed about 2 minutes it was clear this wasn’t going to be a linear story. Maybe the shadow dancing is an import part of the plot.

Five minutes later the manager comes in and apologizes for the burnt bulb and asks everyone if they want a refund. None of us move. Two minutes later he comes back with the granddaddy manager special readmission passes, good any time for any movie.

Now I get to see 2 movies this week. And the wife did like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind by the end. It’s all aces for me.