Seven Random or Weird Book Facts

Hi. I haven’t been able to look at my manuscript and write or edit/work on finishing it since last Saturday.

Yeah. I’m frustrated. But I’m hoping that being forced by circumstance to take this time off will end up being a blessing – the fresh perspective thing. I guess I’ll know about that theory panning out when I’m finally able to sit back down again in front of this screen I’m looking at now, early on Sunday morning, and have some quiet time (that’s when my hiatus starts over again).

Meanwhile, Pete tagged me with his “seven random or weird book facts” meme, which worked out really well, because I'm antsy to be writing...

So, here I go.

1. I decided I’d write a book when I was a little kid – maybe somewhere in the neighborhood of six to eight. I remember sitting in one of the wingback chairs in the living room, cross-legged, and I remember having lined paper in my lap, but I don’t really remember the story, although it seems like it was about a circus or something. And I remember thinking maybe I could make some money for my family to have, and my father and mother would be happy.

2. I tried again in my late teens. When I was twenty, I wrote a short story that was supposed to be the beginning of a novel, and sent it to The Atlantic Monthly. I was rejected with a nice note – the ‘good but not for us’ variety, as I recall, though not in those words. I quit writing for a while (to put it mildly) after that (not because of that rejection – it just happened to coincide with a couple of other events).

3. I also started notes for a novel that was to be based (vaguely) on some things that happened when I was in New Orleans one summer. The line (you may have read something close to this on EE’s blog) “I saw myself sitting there, a slender, tender blonde girl, nibbling on my orange slice, chewing on my cherry” – was part of these notes. I never forgot that line. It ran through me every once in a while. I think it was me, telling me that I was gonna write that novel, but it wasn’t time yet. I was still stewing it along inside. Last spring I was looking through some old books, and in one of them (The History of Philosophy - a dog-eared paperback of mine from a long time ago) I found a bookmark with the title of this novel - written across the back of the bookmark. And character names. It just about made me cry, seeing that, and realizing how much time had gone by from then until now.

4. I inhaled fiction from the time I could barely read as a kid until I was out of high school – then I took a long sabbatical – then I started up again in my mid-twenties. I stopped again in my early thirties, didn’t start again until about five years ago, other than mysteries. I’ve never stopped reading those. I didn’t realize until recently – there was a reason for this pattern. I think I’ve read every P. D. James mystery there is – unless she’s written one in the last five years that I’m unaware of. I loved her writing style, and the pace of her unfolding.

5. I'm gonna admit - I'm a fiction snob. (Anyone surprised?)

6. I always read the back of a novel before the rest. Well, I read the back cover, the flap copy, and the first few pages. Then, after I’ve decided I might but the book, I flip to the back and read the end. If I like the end, I buy the book. I have no need for unadulterated suspense with regard to the ending.

7.I am a total nerd. I used to love believing I was gonna read the entire encyclopedia (read the A’s over and over during several ‘new beginnings’ of this goal when I was younger), and I love having a “books one must read in order to be well-read” list.

Anybody around here wanna run with this tag? If so, please have at it.

On hiatus for....

a while. I don't know how long.

When this weekend is over, I'll have only a few chapters left to edit to have a decently strong manuscript together; after writing and thinking this through and writing again, and sometimes over, since the summer of 2006, I'm feeling relieved that it's actually coming together.

I'm not saying I'm arrogant or stupid enough to think I won't have to make any changes - but I am saying I'll be 'there' enough to read through it whole, check in here and there (on key passages and on fixes,to see if said fixes worked) with my very small group of close-to-the-vest first readers, and send this novel out into the world.

I'm thinking maybe we could do another group reading between holidays - maybe the first part of December? What do you all think? And what would you want us to read?

Love you guys. Talk to you later.

Phoenix did it...

She actually sent me her meme thingie. And it's a good one. Thanks, girl!

And now, for your reading pleasure, I present...

PHOENIX'S MEME

Gee, Robin, thanks for the tag. Please, please allow me to return the favor one of these days.

So here are 6 things about me that will give you a better idea about what makes Phoenix tick.

1) I once played in the Society for Creative Anachronism. I fought heavy weapons (short swords, maces, shields, etc.), and got my 5-foot, 100-pound ass kicked and bruised repeatedly. I also swashbuckled (foils, daggers, capes - think Errol Flynn), and because I was fairly strong and limber back then, in swashing I could kick ass right back.

2) When I was 15, I soloed in gliders -- even before I got my driver's license. I traded work at an airfield for flight lessons and flying time. I also passed my written exam for powered planes, but had to stop work at the airfield before I got enough hours to get my private pilot license. Couldn't afford to pay for flight time, so didn't keep up with it. Sad, because soaring a few thousand feet up with only the buzzards for company -- really awesome.

3) I once accused the management of a company I was working for of unethical treatment of their employees. They put me on 90-day probation under what a coworker referred to as my 12-step program. Tenet 1 was that I refrain from sarcasm (seriously: "Don't be sarcastic." Moi?). Tenet 2 was that I was to assume management was telling the truth about everything. And so they went. During my 90 days, 7 of the 10 people in the department quit. The day I came off probation, I was promoted (!) and given a raise which was retroactive 90 days. As soon as the check cleared, I quit (I had a better-paying job lined up anyway). Any wonder that company didn't stay solvent long?

4) I also filed an anonymous complaint in the early 80s with the Labor Board against a veterinarian I worked for -- he wasn't following minimum wage and overtime laws and, most importantly, didn't care that he was screwing us. The employees were awarded back pay and the vet never knew I was the one who turned him in. In fact, he used to complain about the lawsuit to me because he thought I was on his side. Jerk. If you're upfront and honest with me, I'll give you 110%, do everything I can to help ensure success, and tolerate a heck of a lot. In fact, the adjective most people use to describe me is "sweet." But please, don't ever mess with me. And, if you do, don't ever underestimate me. Even if I am small, have that high-pitched girlish voice, and wear my hair in pigtails. I really don't tolerate fools well.

5) There was a short period of time 20 years ago when I had a bit of success publishing short stories. I attended science fiction conventions as a guest speaker, got my hotel rooms comp'd and once, gasp, even got paid for an appearance.

6) Then all of a sudden I was cursed. My creative writing became the kiss of death -- literally:
* middle-grade novel - small publisher went bankrupt shortly after accepting the work (alas, before any check was cut).
* Limited-issue comic book series - small publisher closed its doors shortly after acceptance (once again before I saw any money).
* script 1 (episode for children's animated series) - picked up on contingency the series wasn't cancelled. It was.
* script 2 (episode for a "Night Gallery"-ripoff series) - picked up on contingency the series wasn't cancelled. It was.
* short story - submitted by request for a paperback anthology to an editor who had published me several times previously. Received a rejection dated the day after she was admitted to the hospital in a coma and the day before she died. I still can picture her struggling out of her coma, gasping, "Must reject Phoenix's story if it's the last thing I do." And it was.

So I've waited a couple of decades and changed my (pen) name in hopes my luck has changed. So far the best I can say is that at least no one's died recently after reading my stuff (that I know of anyway). Let me know if y'all survive...