That Time I Was Stuck in Revision Hell

Stop the presses: I’m finally writing about writing. It’s been such a long time.

It’s the most important month of the year for writers around the world because, as soon as November 1st hits, the month dons its alter ego mask and cape and becomes… NaNoWriMo! National Novel Writing Month is for writers big and small, new and old, who rise to challenge of writing a full-length manuscript within 30 days. In order to do this, we writers forgo mundane activities like doing laundry, eating, and taking the dog for a walk.

Yes, this happens every year.

The official goal is 50,000 words – the minimum length of a complete novel manuscript. In my experience, my novels usually go way over 50k, but most novels do. Reaching that 50k is a true achievement anyway. Like winning a marathon. Only in this case, the gold medal comes in the form of your own hand patting you on the back. Or on December 1st, having your mother yell at you to finally start dumping your stinky clothes in the washer.

Although I’ve written my fair share of words each NaNoWriMo, I haven’t “won” yet. This is because I had been in graduate school the past three years where November is one of the most hectic months. Academia is always on the verge of chaos at this time. As a grad teaching assistant, grading and planning classes became more important than ever. Students burst into your office, demanding that their tardy sins be forgiven and that the A- they got on their last paper should bumped up to an A.

I had my own graduate classes to worry about too. 20-page annotated bibliographies don’t write themselves. My short stories had to go through the writing workshop mill, again and again, only to always come out in pieces. During my last year, when the epic movie that is Wreck-It Ralph was released, I adopted Felix’s “I can fix it!” mantra while staying up late at night, taking turns critiquing my students short stories and revising my own.

Somehow, I managed to update my piddling word count at NaNoWriMo’s hub every now and then. And each year, I felt proud with what I had accomplished.

Fast-forward to now.

Kind of. Because before I tell you what my current NaNoWriMo project is, I should probably explain my mental state leading up to November. Because I’m not working on Boys & Bees this month… despite the bees that literally plague the palm tree outside my front door. I know they’re looking for updates (or the fruit growing on the tree. Or both). I feel like a have the mafia, in bee-form, staking out my house until I finish that novel. Gah. Nevertheless.

Let me explain you a thing. Remember the novella I wrote and posted on Figment back in May – Stella Over the Fireplace? WELL, I hadn’t written anything new since then. That’s almost four and a half months of no new writing. What was I doing?

Revision. REVISON (it needed to be in caps).

After taking Stella down and submitting it, I found out that two publishers were having open door submission periods… around the same time. For those who don’t know, open door submissions means that a writer can, for a period of time, submit an unsolicited manuscript to a publisher for consideration. This is a rare, wonderful thing since most publishers only look at manuscripts sent to them by literary agents (hence, the term solicited manuscripts). Since my hunt for an agent continues on with all the endless mountain-climbing and orc-battling of The Hobbit, I jumped at the chance to take advantage of the open doors. But I had to polish my manuscripts one last time.

And then I quickly sunk into the dreaded pit of revision hell.

Now, normally “revision hell” means that a writer is stuck in an endless cycle of revising the same manuscript over and over again. Yet for me, it was more like being constantly handed another manuscript to revise after the previous one was finished. It began with Tread Softly. I wrote the final chapter that I’d been putting off writing for a while. And then I shouted “I’m gonna wreck it!” and tore down the first three chapters, only to rebuild them into a shiny, much improved version. Then came tweaking and reworking the rest of it. After tying Tread Softly’s shoes and sending it on the bus with the other manuscripts, I turned by attention again to Birdcage Girl.

The opening chapter still didn’t sit right with me. And, between a few revisions on Pocket Forest, I realized that Birdcage Girl would probably need another overall round of polishing. That’s the thing with writers. We keep changing. We keep improving. Which means that as long as your manuscript is in your hands alone, you’ll always find something to revise. I shut off the lights, closed my bedroom door, and listened to the Pushing Daisies soundtrack until inspiration flew at me, saying, “Yes, this is the beginning. Right here. You were close, but this is better.”

Yay for soundtracks!

And so, I continued revising BG again too. When I had spare time at work, I edited and reworked sentences. When I came home, I stared again at another mess of words on the screen and revised some more. By the time I sent BG out again (I buttoned its sweater and waved as it boarded a plane), I was left wondering what else I had to fix / change / revise.

But all that was left was the blank page. A new story. And I was scared for the first time.

Imagine spending months on end doing nothing but changing words already written on paper. So when someone hands you a blank sheet and says, “create,” it’s not exactly a shining moment of freedom. Trying to write something new was like waking up from surgery without the use of my hands. Sentences dripped from my fingers, dull and jumbled, and I could hardly stand looking at what I wrote. I deleted almost everything I tried to write.

Me on a good day.

The thought of continuing Boys & Bees was very appealing for many reasons, but I knew that I’d want to revise all 30k before writing new chapters. Which was bad. Because I’d only be delaying the fact that I had to face the blank page again.

I had to force myself to use the other side of my writer-brain again. Turn off the internal editor. Awaken the dreamer. Nothing could shake me out of this stupor like starting a new project:

This title is shiny.

Planning WCFiL was fun because this new set characters are just… something. Really. They have interesting backstories, a stake in the novel’s main conflict, and when they talk to each other, I hardly know what to expect. Even though my writing is always fiction, the topic of this project is near and dear to my heart. I feel like, while I’ve been gaining back my writing-creating skills, I’ve also been exploring my own feelings about the topic. Expect magic, heartache, humor, and goose chases.

Say hello to a town that believes in the powers of love charms. The people of this town trust in their fortunes so fervently that they never question the mysterious woman handing them out… and how she can possibly know everyone’s romantic fate. A few hapless teens band together to form a rebellion bent on overthrowing the woman, but in the end, whose side is Love on?

However, like all of my projects these days, this one has a deadline too. So I don’t think I’ll be able to share it on Figment without taking it down quickly after. Hang on tight because you’ll be able to read this story soon, one way or another *cue evil laugh*

So this is NaNoWriMo... and I'm going to kick butt this year. I've got my headphones, Charlotte Bronte muscle tee, cup of earl grey. Today's NaNoThon is going to rock.

The Final Countdown

Camp NaNoWriMo: April Edition

There's nothing like a big old reason to start another project or make headway on an old one. Maybe I like running myself into the ground, so I'm going to participate in this month's Camp NaNoWriMo event.

Here's the deal: I've been thesis-crazy, revising, and revising some more until my committee members gave me the green light to move on. After getting approval from all three, I had to fill out forms that demanded signatures from many people - including higher authorities that I'd never met before. And after that, I had to attack my thesis once more in order to read a peppy excerpt for our end-of-the-year celebration, Curtain Call.

(I'm still waiting on pics from the event... but I'll blog about that real soon - with sneaky-peeks of the narwhal-and-lighthouse thesis I've been talkin' about for months, haha).

So, in a nutshell, I'm so tuckered out that it's been hard to get back to the place I've been - the happy place where I write, every day, and enjoy the process of writing instead of biting my nails over what I will do with it afterwards.

In an effort to get back there, I'm going to work on a small project, tentatively titled Stella Over the Fireplace. My goal is to finish the first draft by the end of the month. It won't be longer than 20k.

Since it took so long for my creaky brain to formulate a story, I will totally be flying by the seat of my pants on this one. Slowly, the characters and plot twists are rising to the surface: a creepy portrait that  decides to cry; a girl who dreams of designing clothes, but wonders if it's just in her blood; a psychic who's hiding her regrets under smoke and mirrors; and a clumsy boy who bears scorch marks and touches fire.

It'll be a good month of writing-therapy for me - and hopefully, I'll be back to Tread Softly and Boys & Bees with renewed energy!

Goodbye to Formpring

If you haven't gotten the memo yet, it's official: Formspring has officially closed. It has been such a fun experience to use Formspring over the years, fielding some awesome questions that have helped me in picking blog post topics and learning what my readers are concerned with or thinking about. The best part is that the questions were anonymous - and, really, that means that the questions were exciting and sometimes shocking (but in a good way!).

Before Formspring officially closed, I asked you to send any last questions you may have had - and I got one last one.

Basically, Anonymous asked why I haven't been blogging about my Figment projects lately ;_;

Well, I do love blogging about my writing, whether it's a Figment project or one of my other harebrained ideas. However, this time in my life is wrought with cliff-hanging stress like never before:

1) I'm literally graduating at the end of the month. THE END OF THE MONTH, GUYS. Can you believe it? But before I can hold my precious master's degree, I have to survive these last few weeks - and academia is nothing if not rigorous to the very end.

2) After graduation, I'll have to face the real world. I'm kind of excited.

3) There are a few short stories that I've have to push back (see above), but now I've got to crack down and finish writing them so they're shiny and ready to submit. After all, literary journals and magazines don't have year-round submission periods *cue infomercial grin*

4) Annnnnnd, I'm still querying agents and publishers, seeking a home for Birdcage Girl. It's a long, long road, my friends.

I should be back to my old antics soon, talking about stories and keeping up with my Figment updates and reading list, but I can't quite do it right now. And that makes me sad.

But I'm doing the bet I can and I hope you'll bear with me :)

Adventures at the End of a Year

Can you believe it? Winter break has finally arrived!

I've been trying to take it easy. A possible second cold may be coming - my glands are swollen without explanation, so I'm trying to nap it off in the hopes of a fluke. I never get more than one cold a semester, especially when the first one happens so late to begin with (how can I catch another cold when I just got over the one from November? Well, let's hope it's a really good fluke.

Due to the looming vacation in a few days, I may not be able to blog again until the new year. So here's what's been going on lately. Boy, December is full of events!

Home Away From Home

Her father's clever way to add Piper to the fridge.

When the semester ends, I have a tradition of visiting my best friend in Lakeland. That small town is full of nostalgia; I had spent all four of my undergrad years at school there and every little inch of it (it seems) holds some kind of memory.

After college, my friend ended staying there, getting a job, then later marrying and having her first child.

The baby is new - and last Saturday, I met little Piper for the first time.

I'm not shy about my feelings towards kids: they scare me. I get really uncomfortable around them, I don't know how to act, and that makes for a lot of squirming and awkwardness... on my part. But there's something different about meeting youngins that belong to family and friends. I fell in love with Piper when I first saw her. Like her parents, she radiates calm (and at only a few months old too - wow!). She has big, luminous eyes like her mother and chubby cheeks like her father. She also likes to fart and laugh about it. Piper snatched my fingers up in a vise-grip and even sneakily took my bracelet with her during a quick diaper change.

My friend and I snacked on blue chips while enjoying the bright morning. We reminisced, as we always do, about our college lives - it's strange to think that, here we are, finally away from the dorms and sticky mosquito weather on campus. All the while, Piper happily stared at us with her intense gaze. I cracked a smile and she laughed.

The kitchen fridge was covered in words. I wandered into the room with it's little window overlooking the backyard, the "Bless This Cook" apron draped over the cleaning bottle, and the spices all lined up on a shelf like soldiers. There were poems all over the fridge, small chunks of phrases, but still just enough unused words for me to make my mark:

Weird and obscure? Check.

New Fantasyland 

So. Who hasn't heard the news about New Fantasyland? Over the pat few years, Disney has worked on expanding Fantasyland to include actual castles, more rides, and Princess-themed restaurants and entertainment.

When I went yesterday, only half of New Fantasyland was open, so I'm afraid I don't have too much to report. I went on The Little Mermaid ride - it was beautiful. The line itself is great too, though, because the interior is designed to look like Ariel's treasure cave. While waiting on line, you can help tiny animated crabs clean up the place after another storm blew through and messed up the treasure (at least, that's what animatronic  Scuttle claims when you're far enough in line to see him).

You board sea shells against a painted sunset backdrop (very, very pretty) and watch as the movie flies by in a flurry of animatronic moments. My shell got stuck at the scene where Eric and Ariel are about to almost-kiss in the boat - the workmanship on ride, down to those tiny details, are truly marvelous.

1000 Figment Fans

Guys, it's been two years since I joined Figment (and, uh, since Figment.com came into being). It's been such a long journey.

I remember finishing my first semester in graduate school, utterly frazzled by teaching for the first time and still getting used to the hectic lifestyle of higher education. As I unearthed myself from a pile of grading, Figment.com glowed - bright and squeaky-new - like an oasis. I knew that Figment would allow me to have fun with my writing and to experiment, outside of workshop, with the kinds of plots and structures that I wanted.

Birdcage Girl was born and very slowly, I began to make friends and read some fantastic work by other talented writers on the site.

But never did I think, way back then, that I would ever reach a thousand followers.

I remember celebrating one hundred followers - readers who liked my work enough to keep track of me - and the feeling that comes with gaining more readers never gets old. I'm honored and thankful to have so many lovely readers.

With that said, 1,004 fans, I'll do my best to continue spinning strange stories for you. Hold on tight.

The Next Installment of Lookout

Last week, the new issue of Tripod Cat came out.

If you've been keeping up, you've already listened to part one of my serial, Lookout. You've been introduced to the seaside town of Helium and quiet, eagle-eyed Lorelei who won the summer job of being strapped to a cloud as a lookout for the beach.

In this new installment, you'll be introduced to Sculley, a wind-peddler who has arrived in Helium with his uncle for a mysterious purpose. And he's a bit of a ladies' man (that's what he'd like you to think).

All issues of Tripod Cat are free; you can listen to them (and both installments of Lookout) via iTunes.

Winter Vacation Plans 

With all these exciting events still swirling around in my head, it's hard to keep track what's to come: family vacation. The thing is, we don't really go anywhere during winter break. Disney is always a must, but other than that, we usually sleep in late and recover from the semester's stresses, including preparing for the next semester to come. I know that sounds boring (besides the Disney part), but it's been the standard for a few years now. 

This year is different.

On Thursday morning, we're going to pack out suitcases in the car and head out for a two-week whirlwind adventure: we'll be in Miami to meet cousins and admire the Art Deco buildings, then off to St. Augustine to climb a lighthouse and search for ghosts on a tour. Lastly, we'll be back at good old Disney, exploring this year's holiday decorations at the hotels, drinking more LeFou's Brew, and exploring the Boardwalk's nightlife for the first time.

With that said, I still don't have a fancy phone. I'll be taking photographs, but my posts will have to wait until I get back. When I find Wi-Fi along the way, I'll do my best to check in!

If I can't reach you in time, make sure you have a Merry Christmas and a relaxing, exhilarating break!

This is Halloween

At this very moment, children are running around in the dark with their trash bags and pumpkin-shaped  totes. Drool runs down their chins as they bite into tiny pieces of chocolate - double-checked first by cautious parents.

It's crazy out there. It's Halloween.

Excuse me while I plug my ears. I'm not on candy duty, but the doorbell keeps ringing and my dog, Misty, is barking up a storm.

When I went to school today, I wore a simple costume - a T-shirt that's designed to look like I'm wearing Sailor Moon's top - the sailor collar, ribbon, and imperial silver crystal brooch. Ironically, it wasn't as popular as the Pikachu shirt I've worn the past two years (but then again, I barely left my office today. That might have to do with it).

This month has both dragged and skittered and I'm actually surprised that it's still October as I write my blog post.

Things I've Done

Somehow, I've managed to find time to make lovely-eyes at a few early Christmas presents. In an earlier blog post, I mentioned how I've been putting off ordering a burgundy Modcloth coat. Well... I'm still successful at that, but I ended up falling in love with another coat - the one to the right, called A Thrill in the Air by Knitted Dove.

After crawling my way through a difficult end to the month, I decided to indulge a little and went with this one. Why? Unlike the other coat, this one has reasonably long sleeves, a Penelope-like design, a detachable collar (so it'll look like a dress), and the neckline is high enough that I won't have to depend on a turtleneck or scarf to stay warm.

Yes. I've thought about this, haha.

When you're up early like I am, it's actually nicely chilly. When winter break comes, and I head into colder Florida places, it'll be nice to have something warm and fun to wear.

I squeezed three books into the mix too! I've finished The Diviners (and I hoping it becomes a movie because I really want to see it visually) and The Fault in Our Stars (it's about time, right? I'm presenting on this book tomorrow). I just started The Elementals by, like, my favorite author Francesca Lia Block (she's tied with Mervyn Peake). Block' newest book sings differently than her other work, but I'm enjoying it so far. It's just really wonderful to be reading something new (how many times have I re-read her books? Gads).

NaNoWriMo

Who's participating this year?!

I'm going to do my best, though this is probably going to be my busiest November yet. Ah, graduating year - endless surprises.

My main goal for this month is to make at least a 25k dent in Birdcage Girl's sequel, A Horse to the Moon. My thesis work has set me back in terms of working on it so far, so I'm happy to finally crack my knuckles over this one. Because I'm still searching for agents, you guys won't see anything new from AHM - but never fear! For the month of November only, I'll be posting another manuscript of mine called Tread Softly. I haven't written the last couple chapters... and if I'm honest, I'll need to revise what I do have along the way. It's about time!

What are you writing this month?

So, September...

I got home with knots in my shoulders, but a spring in my step. For the first time in the last four weeks, I finally have a spot of free time to relax and regroup. The perfect time to blog. My plans for this month's posts were going to be fantastic. Trust me. They would have blown your mind.

But September decided to have none of it.

From The Enchanted Cottage (1924). YES. My sentiments exactly.

The Fall semester is typically a whirlwind of surprises, deadlines, and extra events to color autumn and dawning winter with different flavors of stress.

The best way to express this past month is with bullet points:

• Being up to my nostrils in manuscript revisions
• Attending meetings about things like how to graduate by properly formatting thesis 
• The usual school stuff (like teaching and taking classes)
• Squirming over a ridiculously lovely burgundy coat - and NOT pressing the "purchase" button
• Emotionally prepping for Disney's Food and Wine Festival 
• Welcoming my best friend and her husband's new baby girl (even if it's only through email so far). 
• Rolling around on the floor with my dog, Misty
• Putting off watching Gravity Falls because, as amazing as that cartoon looks, I can't find whole episodes (or balance that and manuscript revisions).
• Contemplating buying a blow-up, electronic Dalek and riding around in it at school. 
• Adopting a Dalek mentality towards my revisions. EXTERMINATE THE ADVERBS! 

Through every speed bump this past month, I had to tell myself:

The truth is: of course I care. I always care. But just watching this gif made my stress more bearable - especially because I loved the film, In the Good Old Summertime. It's the first color film I saw with Buster in it. He's adorable and I almost cried when he appeared on screen ;_;

Dwah. Look at 'im.

Returning from my digression... this month hasn't been all business. I've eaten a lot of sushi (there's a new all-you-can-eat buffet in town), listened to Shelly Fraley's albums over and over, and geeked out over Richard Barthelmess in The Enchanted Cottage (1924).

OH. And I was just bored enough at a meeting today that I doodled this (and colored it when I came home):

Jimmy, Ashlyn, and Diamond! Yay!

I dragged my feet through this month. It's actually surreal to think that it's almost over. And I'm looking forward to October.

Diamond in the Rough

Formspring time!

Am I the only one that pictured Diamond as Joseph Gordon- Levitt with his hair slicked back? *swoon*

Bwahaha.

Haha, I'm not sure how to answer that. 

I think it's wonderful that you have a clear image of who you think Diamond looks like! That's one of the most magical aspects about reading. Being able to take an author's words and spin a character's looks together in your head is just fun.

I mean, I'm sure there's some reader out there who pictured Diamond as a badger dressed in a butler uniform - and that's 100% okay!

Will the readers out there who imagine Joseph as Diamond please stand up?

*waits*

My Diamond

Now, since we're talking about looks and characters, I thought it might be the best time to talk about my own actor-inspiration for Diamond. When I create a character, they usually exist in a fluctuating manner in my head - sometimes very clear and other times quite wobbly. Finding actors and actresses to settle those wobbly thoughts is often difficult for me, but Birdcage Girl has been different. So different, perhaps, that I actually managed to make a self-indulgent dream cast, haha. Embarrassing, but true.

It's strange that I haven't blogged about Diamond yet... now that I think about it. Hm.

This.

The handsome young butler I pictured while writing Birdcage Girl stayed pretty solid on the British actor Alex Wyndham. I remember seeing him in the movie As You Like It (2006), playing the comically lovelorn shepherd named Silvius. I had no idea he was British until I found him on IMDb because he played a Japanese shepherd (If you haven't seen this adaptation of Shakespeare's play, you need to. It's brilliant). 

Yeah, Shakespearean Shepherds! 

In some of his other roles as well, Wyndham is a bit a chameleon. I like that about him and how that aspect relates to Diamond. After all, Diamond's background leaves much of his heritage in the dark; I've always pictured Diamond being sort of muttish in that way.

Becoming a Butler

Speaking of Diamond, it's been a while since I updated his side-story, right? 

Because two photos are never enough.

My thesis work has officially taken over my life, making it, clearly, difficult to write my other projects. But the good news is that I'm almost finished. Three more chapters and I can call draft one officially over. Hopefully that will be this weekend (aka, major celebrating).

My first act, upon being freed from the thesis, is to conclude "Becoming a Butler." The poll has indeed influenced what will happen to Diamond and I can't wait to finally reveal with happens to him at the Butler Academy. Hang tight, guys!


QUESTION FOR YOU:

How did you picture Diamond when you read Birdcage Girl?

Can you please talk about your experiences thus far with attempting to publish BG?


Sure! I've been quiet on that front because there's not much going on right now. At the beginning of summer, I had gathered a list of agents that I admire and would love to work with and sent out my queries to them.

So far, I've gotten a few rejections (and one really nice one that I think I'll frame), but mostly I'm still waiting to hear back from the others. There's one partial out and three fulls. I'm crossing my fingers for good news, but agents are very busy; it can take weeks (understandably) for them to respond.

Publication News and Other Odds and Ends

Publication News

I've totally fallen behind on making announcements, but if you've visited my "Publications" tab at the top of the blog, then you're up to speed. In the last three months, I've gotten three short stories accepted to literary journals - and two of them have been published (the other, in Cygnus, will be published by the end of May).

The first is in the literary journal called Hogglepot and the story is called "The Mattress Pea." As you might imagine from the title, my story has something to do with The Princess and the Pea fairy tale. Here's a little snipit:

Preshea used to be a sensitive child. Her parents held her with oven mittens so they didn’t bruise her skin. When she turned five, she cut her feet of daisy petals. When Preshea graduated from junior high, she couldn’t shake the principal’s hand for fear that the simple contact would crush her bones. Now that she was sixteen, Preshea had a better handle on her fragility. Somewhat. She still fell in love.

If you want to read the rest, please check it out here.

Again, on the theme of fairy tales, my second story called "Tick-Tock Beauty" can be found over at Mossyhearth. Unlike other journals I've been published at, you'll need to register with the site to view the whole story. It's nothing to be scared of (no viruses or anything). but I guess the site is set up that way so the  journals seem more exclusive (Maybe. Don't ask me). Here's another sneak peek:

When she had graduated school with an engineering degree, Lydia had been something of a legend. She had made herself famous with her thesis project, a sumptuous clock that stood in the middle of the student center; it made a raindrop-sound, ticking and spewing confetti whenever their football team won a game. Her clock had attracted the attention of an alumnus named Mrs. Kittell. They exchanged contact information at the unveiling party for the clock.

And if you follow this link, you'll find it here (after registering, of course).

Formspring Questions

Who are Oleander's parents? Will there be a sequel to Flour House?

Before I answer the question, let me give a little background information for any new readers who may not know about dear Ollie. Flour House is a novella (or maybe even a novelette) that I wrote in the span of four weeks while competing in a Figment contest centered on writing a serial. For the specific rules, and to read the first chapter, check out my old blog post here. I ended up winning the contest and have had the story up ever since (it needs to editing though, but that's what this summer is for! It's on my list, haha). 

Flour House is basically about a girl named Lettice Morris who entertains guests at the family bakery by telling stories in flour - her drawings wiggling within the confines of the cutting board. After long days full of school and the bakery, there's one tiny secret that keeps her going: a boy named Oleander lives in her mother's dollhouse.

Now, on to the answer!

As revealed in the story, Oleander and Noelle (his sister) know nothing about their parents because they had been abandoned as babies on Agatha's windowsill. My guess is that their real, biological parents were probably stiff-necked, sour people who had no room in their hearts for "malformed" children. I suppose they had hung onto Ollie until Noelle was born, hoping that their next child wouldn't be born as tiny as a doll. But alas, Noelle was just as small as Ollie. And that was the last straw.  

Again, this is all in theory. You may have a different opinion on what kind of parents they had been. 

I don't have plans for a sequel. I think the story ends where it should, though I'd be interested to know where you think it could continue (Oh, mysterious formspring person). But, yes, I do think Lettice and Oleander's story is quite finished. 

Birdcage Girl Announcement

While I'm at it... I want to let my blog readers know that I'll be taking down my novel-length manuscript, Birdcage Girl, by May 11th (a self-prescribed deadline). I'm serious about sending it off to agents and publishers this summer, so I'm showing it in this way. However, I can't really do anything about it at the moment with the semester puttering to an end, so that's why the take-down date is some odd weeks away. 

If you haven't already, please feel free to read it while it's still posted and let me know what you think. 

My Favorite Font

Ever since I can remember, I've wished to be one of those eccentric writers - a ritualistic master. Yep, you know 'em. The writers who has to have exactly five pencils, sharpened to a point, lined up beside the paper. A meatball sub for lunch every day. A playlist a mile long, always effective if listened to while taking the dog for a walk in the afternoon. 

But try as I might, I couldn't commit to any oddity. It was like my brain refused to go along with me. If my brain and I sat across the table from each other, drinking orange soda, my brain would say, "None of that stuff works for you, Kim. You don't need it to write." 

Yes, brain. You're so right. 

But after spending about a year and a half in grad school, I've gotten into the rhythm of writing a lot.  I usually sit on couches, with my laptop in my lap, and dread working at a desk since I spent so much time behind one when I'm in the office at school. I write cross-legged, pillows piled behind my back, usually with the added background noise of the television set. Actually, as I'm writing this post, Toddlers & Tiaras is jammin' out on the screen. When I look up and see those doll-like little girls in cotton candy dresses, I laugh a little and write another sentence. This is not a ritual, though a common occurrence. I like to write all over the house (not literally), taking the couches by storm. 

When it comes to the actual word document, though, I think I've finally found something that I have to do to write: use a particular font. 

Once upon a time, I was a plain old Times New Roman girl. And when I got to college, I had a brief fling with charming Garamond. But now, in grad school, I feel as if it's very final. 

I'm addicted to Bell MT.

- From Birdcage Girl

Surprisingly enough, Wikipedia is the best hub in which to learn all about typeface history (of which I linked to above). I think that the idea of fonts are so much more meaningful when you remember that people actually made each letter. That's really something. When I read the history, about all these supervisors and how certain fonts were popular, fell out of fashion, and were revived again, I can't help but think of fashion or celebrities that filter through the gossip magazines. Fonts go through the same thing. Remarkable. 

- From "The Princess & Her Shadow"

I digress, haha. I don't recall how I found Bell MT, but it was love at first type. I guess I feel that the style of the letters fits the kinds of stories I write; I haven't switched fonts, like I used to do, when writing different stories. Except for Flour House, I've written all of my Figment stories in Bell MT.  

If I try to write in a different font, the story just won't flow. It's an interesting predicament. If anyone sat behind me, watching me filter through other fonts with growing frustration, I'd explain that, "none of these fonts match the story. It just doesn't fit." And this is coming from someone who has an undying love for third-person stories. Even without an in-your-face narrator, my stories do have a certain voice and personality. They seem to slip right into Bell MT. 

From Boys and Bees

I wonder... do my writers out there have their own rituals or preferences when they write? Do you have a favorite font or one you can't stand to write in? How about line spacing, boarders, background colors? I'm curious to know :)

Tidbits: October Edition

Picture / Photo Find

Something I Did

Haha, that's a good one. For the past few days, I've been either chained to a couch or desk, slowly engulfed by papers of dubious origins. I know that, these days, paper anything is considered to be delicate and pretty. Paper planes, paper hearts, paper toilet bowls. You name it. And I'm usually of that mindset. Bring on the paper! But when it comes in the form of stories to revise and / or papers to grade, suddenly I find myself checking my fingers for paper cuts (which are, by anyone's standards, not cute).

My prediction is that by the end of the week, I'll create a patch of time where the paper doesn't haunt me with its pointy corners and angry ink. I suppose this will be Sunday night, in particular, since TCM is playing Buster Keaton movies all month and I'm determined to watch him without multitasking. I'll let you know how it goes.

Aww, he's blushing! So am I.

Quote from a Book I Love

I just finished this book called The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathias Malzieu and it really has stuck with me. I breezed through it, eating up the slim volume as quickly as possible to discover what the ending held in store. And even after finishing it, I still pondered over what I read; the story and its characters continued to echo long after I shelved it. Since the novel is directly translated from French, some of the phrasing tends to come off as strange or childish. However, the story is worth any sentence-bumps along the way.

The novel is told from the perspective of a boy named Jack who was born on the coldest day on Earth and could have died because of it - but Dr. Madeleine saves him by placing a cuckoo-clock in his chest. The clock keeps him alive, but it's a delicate thing; if Jack were to ever fall in love, his clock - and heart - would surely break. Of course, Jack does fall in love - but will he survive it?

"Each beat of your heart is a small miracle, you know, so don't get carried away. It's a fragile, makeshift repair. Things should get better as you grow up, but you'll have to be patient."

"How many times will the big hand have to go round?"

"A few... a few. I want your heart to become a bit more robust before I let you out into nature."

There's no denying that my clock causes me a worry or two. It's the most sensitive part of my body. I can't bear to let anyone touch it, apart from Madeleine. She winds me up every morning using a small key. When I catch a cold, the coughing hurts my gears. It feels as if they're about to poke out through my skin. And I hate the sound of broken crockery they make.

A Writer Thing

Okay. It's official: as if September 30th, 2011, I finished writing my first draft of my novel Birdcage Girl. Woah. It's a strange kind of feeling that comes with finishing something that has been a part of my life for almost a year now. I'll no longer wake up in the middle of the night to jot down a better scene. I won't sneak away to my laptop between classes to write a chapter or two. I suspect my peaked interest in all things birds and cages will greatly decrease... at least until I start writing the next book, haha. My good writing friend Anande Sjoden interviewed me on her blog where I talk a little bit more about how it felt to finally write the last word... and about cardigans, sprained knees, and Apollo busts.

But finishing a novel manuscript isn't the end - at least, when you're me and can hardly wait to start revision. Every writer is different, but I'm not of the school of writers who like to put their MS's away for months or even years before revising; I'm impatient, for one, and I don't feel like being that distanced from my writing will help improve it. I like to put on the surgical gloves right away and make repairs to flabby sentences! So these past few days have been filled with scrolling through the endless pages of my MS, trolling for obvious errors (both grammatical and syntax). After tonight, though, I'll have to sit on my hands for a few weeks while I wait for some trusted friends to read it. Of course, Birdcage Girl still on Figment as it is; I'll be applying revisions to it as soon as I get my final wave of feedback.

This stage of the writing process is, well, less glamorous. There's sweat - all the time - and make up is running and light bulbs are breaking and the coffee in the break room is cold. But it's still an adventure. That's probably the best part.

Video I Watched Too Many Times / Song I Can't Stop Repeating

Mathias Malzieu is not only the author of The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart, but also the lead singer of a French band called Dionysos. The book itself is based off of an album he composed titled La Mécanique du Cœur (The Mechanics of the Heart). I listened to the album after reading the book, and I must say that it is an excellent collection of songs. Each song seems to reflect a certain mood or even plot point in the mood and, overall, complements the novel well.

The song I chose to feature (and perhaps the one I've listened to the most) is called "Tais-toi mon coeur." Malzieu's voice is engaging and the range of musical instruments used in the song creates such an interesting melody. A music video had been made to go with it, so here it is! I'm so happy to share it with you - I must have unhealthily refreshed the video page too many times, haha.


Photos from tumblr / TCM

Featherbrained

I've never been an avid lover of birds. This particular fact strikes me as odd considering how immersed I've been in the winged world since starting Birdcage Girl over nine months ago.

When I was little, my parents brought us a pet parakeet. We named her Ariel (after my favorite Disney princess) and she had a lovely combination of yellow and green feathers. Unfortunately, she decided she didn't feel at home with us. Ariel cried whenever we turned on the television and, when we let her out of her cage for some exercise, she'd perch on top of the refrigerator and bite our fingers. When my mother got sick from Ariel's presence in the house, we had to return her to the pet shop.

From them on, I admired birds from afar. When I still lived in New York, I watched blue jays and cardinals flutter from tree to tree in the backyard, looking very much like flying paint. My favorite birds were, and still are, sparrows. I liked sneaking snacks and tossing them for the tiny army of sparrows to gobble up. I daydreamed about owning one and teaching it to do tricks.

There are many different kinds of birds in Florida, some of them as tall as your torso. Every lake is covered in white birds airing their wings; some saunter across roads, expecting cars to stop for them. I still see sparrows here, even though they don't appear as often as I like. It seems as if they are children of the fall season - a season that Florida doesn't acknowledge anywhere but on a calendar. Theme parks are full of birds - whether they are the exotic ones kept in towering aviaries or friendly ducks; if I could be born as something else, I'd probably want to live out my whole life as a Disney duck. Seriously. They have it made.

In my senior year of college, I went impromptu bird-watching with my friend and the guy she liked (the guy who would soon be her husband). For two days straight, we met him in the park and followed him around while he showed us the local birds. We sat on sidewalks and passed around his heavy binoculars. Found baby birds in their nests. I watched in awe as he and my friend examined the bird guide together, their heads together, laughing softly.

But even so, I couldn't call myself a lover of birds. Not any more than the average person.

There's something magnetic about the idea of birds, isn't there? That's why you'll find birds painted on walls, printed on shirts, the icon of many different design schemes. We all want to fly - watching birds do it continues to be inspirational.

For a long time, I kept my head down and just typed out the story of Birdcage Girl without giving much thought to the birds right outside my window. However, in recent weeks, I've paid more attention. And it's been interesting. My friend over at HelloEnaam surprised me with a birdcage; she gave it to me over the summer and I proudly walked to the parking lot with it swinging in my grip. It has a little door that actually opens and closes. Whenever I feel stuck, I like to look at it for inspiration. Remember your roots, right? My main character, Ashlyn, has come so far that sometimes it feels like her days in the birdcage have been but a dream. I'm sure she feels that way too. Being close to finishing puts me in a nostalgic mood, haha.

I've also been on the lookout for birdcages too - and I found a shirt with the print. It's been a pretty exciting hunt. However, there are always some bird-inspired items that make me laugh. One of them I saw today - it's called Snap-On Feathers. It's apparently the "latest fashion craze" to stick feathers in your hair - the commercial for it is... uh... pretty interesting. I'll have to look around and see if people are really doing this. Still, the idea makes me smile.

Image from We Heart It

Tidbits: August Edition

Picture / Photo Find

Something I Did

School is starting soon. I have two weeks left, but that doesn't mean they will be full of freedom. Orientation will block out a few days of each of those weeks; I'll meet new instructors and learn about changes and perhaps see my name somewhere in the new textbook. Doesn't it seem weird for school to start in August? Does anyone out there start later? (And I guess I'm talking about high school and college).

I shouldn't complain though. The weather doesn't change in Florida between the two months. September is just as hot as August. The new school year is close enough for me to close my treasure drawer and put away summer toys. Time to get back to work.

This summer has been exciting, and sometimes boring, and I am looking forward to getting back in the office again. There's a lot of pressure involved in summer vacation. You're required to have fun, goof off, and be unproductive. If you're not any of these things, you get pitying looks that are kind of funny to see. The secret truth of summer vacation is that it's a beautiful illusion; we're all working on something, whether it's paying the bills or taking another step towards our dreams. Although my pile of unplayed video games is getting dusty, I'm still proud of how I spent my time.

Off to school - to the papers, the freezing classrooms, and mandatory fire drills!

A Quote from a Book I Love

So it seems that one of my unconscious goals in life is to collect all of Francesca Lia Block's books. She is, by far, one of my favorite writers. The local library has been so amazing; they carry a lot of her books already, so I've been reading many of her books that I hadn't been able to get a hold of before. However, there are still a lot of them I have yet to read. So I ordered a few of those and happily awaited their arrival in my mailbox.

One of them is the tiny poetry book called Fairy Tales in Electri-City. My first instinct, as a fan of prose, is to latch onto her novels and devour their vibrant imagery and myth. So sometimes it feels like a treat to read nothing but her poetry, and this collection is no exception. Here's a small bit of one of my favorite poems named after the collection title:

once upon a time a man came west to a city

with a lake that glittered silver at sunset

from the scales of the mermaids under the surface

and a park named echo

where the nymphs in the trees

whispered back your words

there was a flock of angels who walked on the pier

beneath the ferris wheel

and a tinkling carousel

ghosts rode in the night

the man fathered a child and called her electra

and when she grew up she found

not only mermaids nymphs and angels

but witches and warlocks too

who would eat your heart like a christmas ham

if you let them

Song I Can't Stop Repeating

"Elf Song" by Priscilla Ahn.

I'm new to Priscilla Ahn, having somehow missed a lot of her music when her first album came out. However, I think I've fallen in love with a lot of her newer songs, including every single on of them on her When You Grow Up album. This song in particular is awfully lovely because it's a story that many people, I believe, can relate to.

Once,

When the moon was full

She sat on her stool

And said hello old friend

Could you grant me a wish

And take me away to some place that's different?

So the moon

Sang a tune

And it went like this...

A Writer Thing

86, 643. Oh. my. gosh. This is my word count on Birdcage Girl right now. It's so surreal. You know, I started writing and posting the chapters on Figment.com only a few months ago. It's strange to think that December will come again - the birthday of my longest novel manuscript to date! I'm kind of stunned by it all, but insanely proud. Now that I'm close to the end, I can't help but marvel at how it feels. Sometimes I feel happy, but, for the most part, my head hurts.

My brain is sucking up all the energy I have in order to make this story complete. I'm almost haunted by it, thinking of nothing else in my idle time during the day. The ending, the ending, the ending. It'll happen soon. And if my heart is racing just thinking about writing it, then I hope that my readers feel the same way when they read it. August is a special month this year because, by the end of it, I plan to hold a finished manuscript in my hands. Warm, like a baby (so I'll have to stand at the printer and scoop it up right away, haha). I'm ready for the inevitable paper cuts. But for now, I have to keep trucking along until the words stop and I find myself at the end of this particular, peculiar, journey.

Video I Watched Too Many Times

Zune commercials! If not anything else, I really feel as if they have a wide array of fantastic commercials (I'll probably end up posting more of them at some point, haha).

Food I'm Craving

Tuna melts *_*

This time, I have nothing insightful to say about it. Only... I had lived on a steady diet of tuna melts when I spent my month in England. There were always fairly-priced and tasted so melty on a cold day outside. I remember when a friend and I sat on a bench with our chins buried in our coats. I had rubbed my hands all over the paper wrapping to gather the warmth.

Photos from We Heart It

Rain, Rain, Rain

At this time of year, Florida likes to hoard the world's rain. I dream of the land crying out in greedy thirst, spreading its sticky nets from every corner of the state line to catch unsuspecting clouds. We don't need all this rain. Not really. At least, that's what I think when I jog to my car each morning, covering my head with my hands until I've come close enough to unlock it and slide in. Thunderstorms paint the sky with flashes like spotlights, as if Batman is being called by someone greater than the local police. Sun showers make me smile; the clear drops splatter my windshield like globs of pudding.

Summer rolls on by with her meaty arms and watermelon-breath, refusing to give me the rest I think should come with a few months off from school. Instead, she lifts her armpits and humidity flows into the air. If I were only a little lighter, I bet I could swim up over the rooftops like a fish.

I used to think that rain was beautiful. As a child, I watched the rain drip, drip, drip off the trees and abandoned toys in the backyard. I'd stick my hands in puddles and watch the ripples distort my reflection. I liked when the rain was cold, so I'd come inside with a red nose. This was back when I lived in a world of changing seasons and kinder temperatures.

Today, I sit by the window and watch the rain fill the pool until it overflows. The rubber duck thermometer bobbed bravely and never leaves the deep end. The chair legs shiver when the water spills onto the deck.

"It looks like snow," I say to my cactus. It's been around for years, insisting on growing in an unhealthy shape - ready to dive from its pot.

Sometimes I can't tell the difference between snow and rain. Snow, in many ways, is merely a whispered legend in these parts.

***

So suffice to say, it's been raining a lot. I've been more busy now than I have been all summer, balancing work, future semester prep, and writing furiously to meet my self-imposed deadline for Birdcage Girl. The days pass slowly, and yet, at the same time, I can't believe that summer vacation ends in just a few short weeks. Strange too that I haven't lifted any of my new video games (poor, lonely dears) or made a dent in my pile of unwatched movies. But hopefully I'll have a complete first draft of a novel manuscript. And that just might be worth it all.

Great news! The witty and all-powerful Linna over at sleuthy has interviewed me on my writing (among other things). I'm honored that she asked me. It's my first time being interviewed about writing and the like, so I'm smiling and blushing all over from seeing it up. Linna's words are so kind and it's fun to see her own view on my writing style.

I talk about quirks, not-so-old ambitions, fairy tales, and, of course, writing. For anyone who's read any of my Figment writing, you might find it especially fun to read.

Check it out here

Photo from We Heart It