My Daemon

Writing compared to making love...

Robert Gregory Browne from Murderati wrote a post on the 18th April about Reaching the Climax and how writing can fit into the pattern of Seduction, Foreplay and Climax. It's an interesting piece, and the comments add to that by highlighting some of the potential differences between male and female readers and what they want out of a novel i.e. more inclined to go for the 'relationship' rather than requiring a mind-blowing climax to every novel. (More forgiving of performance issues perhaps? lol)

Let's talk about sex. Those of you who are uncomfortable with the subject, feel free to bail out now -- I'm likely to get pretty raunchy.

Still with me? I thought so.

When we make love, most of us have a particular goal in mind: that moment when our entire body seems to stem from one central point, every nerve-ending tingling wildly as fireworks assault our brain.

That moment, of course, is orgasm, and anyone who has experienced one (or two or three) -- especially with a willing and enthusiastic partner (or two or three) -- knows that it can be an exquisitely pleasurable sensation.

But are all orgasms created equal?

Of course not. The quality of our orgasms is directly related to the quality of the fun and games that precede them, not to mention our emotional bond with our partner, and our willingness (or unwillingness) to surrender ourselves fully to the moment.

So what, you're probably wondering, does any of this have to do with writing?

Check out the links for the full post and thanks to Alison Kent for posting about it.

On Nano: Tia Dalma from Pirates of the Caribbean II

Mood: Just had lunch, followed by chocolate, so really, I feel quite... shiny!

Temp in office: 25.1˚C (and the windows are still not in our control!)

Monday has arrived again.

Okay, weekend recap!

Went well in the allotmenteering sense (runner beans, squash and sweet peas planted); the reading sense (re-read Glass Houses and Touch the Dark and then read the Dead Girl's Dance and Claimed by Shadow - I wish I could forget I'd read them so that I could re-read them all over again I enjoyed them so much!) Weekends are too short for a bibliomaniac.

Didn't get much writing done, but had a couple more ideas for short stories so we'll see what will come out of that.

I'm off this afternoon as I have a little talk to prepare for this evening, but if I can get the prep work done in short order then I'll have the house (and the computer) to myself.

On Nano: Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean II

Mood: Quite chirpy, and looking forward to lunch. Mmmm - lunch.

It's nearly the weekend!

And what joy do I have in store?

Murderous trees (I will finish you off now that I've changed the start), digging the allottment and stripping the bathroom walls. Bathroom - wallpaper - steam... not a good combination.

I am also going to finish re-reading Glass Houses by Rachel Caine (the Morganville Vampires - love them!) so that I can read The Dead Girl's Dance.

I have also just (last night) finished reading Lover Revealed by J.R. Ward. Now I want to re-read the series so far. If it weren't for the money to buy books and paper for the printer, work would be a serious PITA! (whinge/ whine/ moan - I'll stop now!)

On Nano: Ikke noget

Mood: Glad it's the weekend (but I don't want to do digging or DIY - not shiny, no it's not.)

I'm baaaack!

And it's Monday. phhhhht!

Ah well, can't have everything. Managed to get a good start on a 'hungry trees' story (I seem to have issues with murderous trees at the moment - I'd better cut down on the cider and try something else!) I'm wavering on the voice of the narrator so that will need to be tidied in edits as sometimes he comes across as a normal 17-year old and sometimes as if he's swallowed a dictionary!

Sun is shining, I'm indoors wanting to be outdoors, but, nose to the grindstone and off to do more work.

Temp in office: 24.3˚C (and we can't open the windows!)

On Nano: None, I'm boring today.

Mood: Okaaaay.

Brief return...

and then I'm off again!

I'm taking annual leave for the rest of this week. One's chum has a job interview tomorrow morning (for her own job bizarrely enough, and at an ungodly hour of the morning as well which seems a bit cruel and unusual) so once that's done we will be consuming chocolate, taking the dogs out and basically having a bit of a jolly.

I've got a couple of shorts (flash/ drabble pieces) ticking over in the back of my mind that I want to tease out, and yesterday I had (what I thought was) a great first line. (Bathtime is just full of inspiration!) So that's all jotted down and waiting for continuance.

I have had great difficulty reading in the last couple of weeks, re-reads or new books. I just can't concentrate. Where I have managed to read a couple, instead of taking me 2-3 hours as per usual, I've been taking 2-3 days. And not caring! It's just not right. I hope I'm not going through another down phase. The last one lasted for about three months and it was awful - I didn't read anything, didn't buy any new books. Maybe my brain just needed a rest, but it was quite - distressing is too harsh a word, but it was along those lines. (Although, one book I did manage to read was Ray Bradbury's Zen in the Art of Writing[1877741094]. Lots of mini-essays & very good).
I shall visit my papa this weekend, so perhaps the quiet at his house (and lack of interruption) will help. We shall see.

Enough whining! The sun is out. I'm off this afternoon, and there is work to be done.

Hej, hej.

On Nano: Nothing - it's still in my locker.

Mood: Lergified (again!), but relatively positive!

Submission, and the holidays

Okay, I subbed (yesterday) to Mytholog - a drabble piece for their Summer issue. Closing date is 14th of May so I just need to wait and see what they say.

And...the holidays are here! Term paused last week so no late night tonight (yay!) or next week; and the little darlings will be back the week after. But in eight minutes I will be off for five days! And one of them is my birthday! (I won't say which one, suffice to say I'm still in my thirties.)

On the NaNo: Nothing. Absolute silence.

Mood: Happy, happy, happy!

Rejection!

Had a rejection from Mslexia about my flash piece 'Car Park' so I shall have to check out some other markets to submit it to, as well as work up a couple of new pieces and submit them around.

In other news: I've got Broadband - sort of. Had to get a wireless adaptor because the phone line and computer are in two completely different rooms and the ethernet cable's too short. The BT setup won't recognise the adaptor so we're supposed to set up a wired connection first and then go to wireless once that's done (although obviously the problem with the wires means we can't do this).

However. The (Belkin) wireless adaptor found the Broadband Hub no problem and connected to the Internet. So we are and we aren't connected if that makes sense? Or we are and we shouldn't be? Perhaps we need a little man to come out and have a look to make sure we haven't mucked something up.

Ain't technology grand?

On the Nano: Every little thing counts by Janus Stark

Mood: (Temporarily) confused by tech