Oops.

Didn't mean to go quite so long without posting. But there were midsems, and then break started, and then the trip to Quebec City started...and now I'm back at school.

Picked up a few cool books while home, the most notable of which is The New Food Lover's Tiptionary, by Sharon Tyler Herbst. Tons of interesting information about different foods, conveniently alphabetized. I'm into the P's now (yes, I've been reading it straight through, shut up). I also discovered, while browsing at Powell's Books, that people have written sequels to Pride & Prejudice. Not sure why this didn't occur to me before, but it raises some interesting questions - are there Jane Austen purists who feel that these books (as essentially fanfiction) shouldn't be allowed? Is the only difference between these books and the massive amount of internet fanfiction the fact that someone edited and published the books? Either way, I very much enjoyed the two authors that I read (both of whom had different takes on the characters).

As for writing...I'm about to begin ScriptFrenzy, run by the NaNoWriMo folks. The goal is to write a 100+ page screenplay in a month. I think that writing in a different genre could be good for me - it's been so long since I wrote a screenplay that it'll require me to contort my brain in a lot of different ways to make this happen. Too bad I still don't know what my script will be about - ScriptFrenzy starts April 1. As in tomorrow.

For your viewing pleasure, a shot of the Hotel de Glace in Quebec, where I slept and nearly froze during our trip.

Researching food

Having thoroughly researched the local food for my novel's setting, I can say with certainty that I'm glad I don't live in my novel. Because apparently the staples are salt cod, brewis (hard water biscuit), and boiled root vegetables.

Now, I'm exaggerating a bit here, since there's plenty of lovely fresh seafood in Newfoundland if you're not trying to feed a thousand people in one go. But if your novel's set on a military base with loads of hungry people...your options are a bit more limited.

I still want to go to Newfoundland, though. And figgy duff sounds tasty. As do scrunchions and damper dog.

On a completely different topic, any writers out there should go submit their queries to Evil Editor for evisceration. The waitlist is short now, and it's lots of fun.

Too much research, too little writing

Grrr. Lately, it seems like all I've been able to do is research - worldbuild, that is - and writing is a total impossibility. I get caught up in little things like the ethnic distribution of the area surrounding a military base, or the precise titles of officer ranks, when what I should be doing is getting some more raw material down to edit for accuracy later.

Well, work again tomorrow, so I'll have a block of time to write. God, I love my job. Shockingly, I enjoy the working parts as well as the free time parts, and I wish I could get more hours. Unfortunately, I can't.

Today

I've got two free hours, my laptop, my headphones, and a can of Red Bull. Let the editing commence.