Shakin’ Things Up

Yesterday’s earthquake that was in the Chino Hills/Diamond Bar area east of LA is old news by now. In the 20 minutes after it happened I got to calls. One from my mom on the east coast (who had been called by my uncle on this side of the Rockies) to find out if we’d felt it. And Dana Belfry who lives up that way also called me up. Thanks for checking on us!

Basically the house swayed but we didn’t even get any real rattling of knicknacks on the shelves this time. The kids didn’t really notice it and DH was “wobbling in his chair at work” when it happened. So anti-climatic. I’m always amazed when I look at those earthquake makes and lists, and realize just how much activity there is that we never notice around us. BTW, I’d like to keep it that way.

So,… if I’m not talking about the ground shaking… what am I shaking up? My writing. It’s the Divas Not Going to Conference Conference (NGTCC) week. Lots of workshops and such and there’s plenty more out on the net to read through Lynn Viehl’s Paperback Writer blog’s Left Behind and Loving It virtual workshop series.

I’ve been reading up on finding your voice and how plotting can be like a wiring diagram. I did manage to come up with what I think may be a working plot for the short story Bria wants me to submit with her for an anthology at the end of September. I just need to figure out the main characters a bit better now.

A couple of us have been talking about showing vs telling in a couple threads on the forums at Romance Divas. Jodi pointed out to me I’m not so much telling as synopsizing or summarizing actions. So the new focus is to show HOW things happen and to trust the characters in telling their story. I’m going to stop trying so hard, and see what happens.

And where the heck has summer gone? The kids go back to school in less than 3 weeks?! TOO much to do…eek.

Home Alone

San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge — San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge

Ok, not quite alone, but it seems like everyone’s gearing up for the RWA National convention in San Francisco this week. And I’m not actually going to be home all week either. We’re going camping with the Cub Scouts again this weekend — only two left! This is going to be more like “extreme picnicking” as we’re going to the Naval base on Coronado Island. It might be 90oF up here where we live, but it’ll be a balmy 70oF on the beach. Seems to easy to be camping.

So what am I doing between now and then? Taking advantage of all the online workshops that have sprung up. I know I’m going to be checking in on The Divas’ “Not Going to Conference Conference” and Lynn Viehl over at Paperback Writer is sponsoring a “Left Behind & Loving It” set of virtual conferences on the presenter’s blogs. Great week to be a craft geek.

So, other than my lame excuse of camping with my family, why am I not going and why haven’t I joined RWA after a year of being a writer wannabe?

Good question. I’ve learned so much this year, but I still feel I’m a long way off from doing this as more than a hobby. I don’t feel justified spending the money on myself that way yet. I regret that I can’t go to meet all the people who have been so great at RD (especially Bria, Jodi and Jen), but I’d rather focus on getting something finished to take in the future rather than to go empty handed.

Also, on Sunday, Suzanne Enoch and Teresa Medeiros are doing a joint signing in town. I don’t want to miss that either. Why does everything have to happen at the same time?

Once More With Feeling

Free Streaming Internet Miniseries July 15-20

Have I mentioned that Joss Whedon is evil?

In a completely adorable teddy-bear way. His twists and turns astonish and he’s never one to shy away from a little conflict, external or internal. We’ve been watching Buffy again from the beginning with DD and some of the little things sprinkled in early on are jaw-dropping. If you loved The Buffy Musical episode, don’t miss his latest project!

ONE WEEK ONLY! AN INTERNET MINISERIES EVENT!

“Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” will be streamed, LIVE (that part’s not true), FREE (sadly, that part is) right on Drhorrible.com, in mid-July. Specifically:

ACT ONE (Wheee!) Tue, July 15th.

ACT TWO (OMG!) Thu, July 17th.

ACT THREE (Denouement!) Sat, July 19th.

All acts will stay up until midnight Sunday July 20th. Then they will vanish into the night, like a phantom (but not THE Phantom – that’s still playing. Like, everywhere.)

Eventually it will be available for download for a fee and also on DVD. Yay!

At least something good came out of the writer’s strike and this is good for a mid-summer fix, but where’s my Dollhouse?

If I hadn’t agreed with Scott Kurtz over at PVP Online three years ago, Joss Whedon is my master now.”