Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 85

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 446
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 108640
What I hate about my writing: Not getting more time.
The Good: I got fifteen minutes in.
The Bad: I have no idea how many chapters are left to do.
Fave DG line: “Wyatt’s still sleeping it off and you had more to drink than he did.”
Fave Malachite line: “You bargain just like Betsy. No subtlety to it whatsoever.”
What I'm looking forward to: Getting through the transition so Malachite can give DG some political training, meeting Jeb again, finding Komiko, sprinkling some smut in all that, and confrontation with the Queen.
What I'm not looking forward to: Trying to get through this boring political stuff without making it boring.

Tin Man: Clothesmonaut

Clothesmonaut: Re: There's No Place Like the O.Z. does a really cool analysis on the costumes with an emphasis on recreating them. I haven't heard much chatter in the fandom on garbing from the show (I KNOW there is a more specific term for this, but it's late and my brain is failing). Passing on the link.

Kicking here because I have no one else to kick

Why the hell do I keep torching myself with Tin Man Meta Live Journal? I'd love to contribute, but I'm shut out because "we're only open to other LJ users." There was a great conversation on Tuesday on gen versus pairings and on readers keeping their mouths shut instead of reviewing when they have a problem.

Or even hell, a few bitching about their lack of reviews, a few whose on going stories I do like and would love to leave them happy reviews telling them so BUT THEY ONLY POST TO LIVEJOURNAL AND THEN LOCK ME OUT OF COMMENTING!

*KICK, KICK, KICK, KICK!*

I have comments moderated here, but OpenID is turned on. All you LJ only people CAN COMMENT! Not that anybody bothered when I invited them to look at my Street Fighter fix-it story. *Hugs Bison and whisper how I'm going to kill Nash in his ear* Okay, I'm a little sore about that one. Godawful movie, but not one bloody comment? From the crowd of Neal fans who will comment on his press releases? Hell, my blogs show updates better in Bloglines than any of the LiveJournals I'm supposed to be tracking (don't know why they can't get that bug fixed and keep it fixed).

Okay, I'm going home now.

And it only took four critical papers this time

Just to let you know: I am working on this and Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic and Cain is ignoring my pleas to shoot me and put me out of my misery because apparently he heard me promise stories to people. So really, not enough is happening on either one. But I thought I'd toss off this idea and see if anyone is crazy enough to bite. And if you aren't crazy enough to bite, just wish me luck on Monday.

I'm about a third of the way through reading the Beloved critical articles for the M.A. Exam Part 2 next Monday. And I hit my limit, which is sad because I still have eight articles to go.

How do I know I hit my limit? When I have to reach for the dictionary to define words I already know. When I have a cracktastic idea that will not let go.

The cracktastic idea this time: I want someone to go all literary critical theory on one of my fanfics. Take the most extreme Freudian position possible. Or Lacan. Or ... okay I already forgot most of the major movements. Why do I want to see this happen? Because I can remember most of the stuff that churned in my brain, and proving or disproving patriarchal family models based on Oedipal theory was not one of them. The problem of domination was not one of them. Greek tragedy and resisting it wasn't one of them.

If none of them above make any sense to you whatsoever, thank the deity of your choice that you managed to skip literary criticism. But I honestly just want to see it from the other side of the curtain. Because deep down, I think this is all bunk any way when it comes to creation of the works analyzed. I think it has a purpose in helping people understand the work better or perhaps understanding the genre and stereotypes to break away from them. But I'm driven to hair pulling when I find one of these scholar positing so finitely "Morrison was creating an African-American feminist maternal dialogue to combat the white, patriarchal system that oppresses us to this day." You don't know that (but you sure wrote a damn long paper on the subject)! What if Morrison's inspirational thought was just exploring what about slavery would make a mother kill her child, which she has said there was a true case that sparked Sethe, and what if the child comes back as a ghost or something else?

Well, if you do want to psychoanalyze one of my works be prepared for me to laugh hysterically or congratulate you for getting into a character's headspace. Because the only agenda I have is seeing if I can make the plot and theme work and make readers happy.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 84

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 2042
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 108194
What I hate about my writing: I caught up. And I’m on transitions.
The Good: Got the full hour in and what I hour it was. Wow.
The Bad: Let’s go on the record that Mondays officially suck, and forget that I didn’t get anything done yesterday.
Fave DG line: “Wyatt, do you even see yourself when you look in a mirror?”
Fave Cain line: “The look on Zipperhead’s face is worth putting on a tie.”
Fave Betsy line: “And they all think I’m the dangerous one in the family. Wait ‘till she comes of age.”
Fave Quincy line: “You’re the one who insists on wearing pants like that. But if you’d rather I call you something else, I can oblige, Lord Honeybuns.” – I think that was a first time I laughed so hard I nearly cried over something one of my characters ever said.
What I'm looking forward to: Getting through the transition so Malachite can give DG some political training, meeting Jeb again, finding Komiko, sprinkling some smut in all that, and confrontation with the Queen.
What I'm not looking forward to: Debating with myself over adding yet another scene. Okay, really two scenes. The first was an idea of the conversation between Cain and Betsy while they took the kids playing on the beach so the politicos could work in peace. Problem: the subject of the conversation would reveal more of Betsy’s past and I want to save that for DG. :p The second scene: reintroducing Raw while they on their way to Central City. Problem: Need to make sure Raw doesn’t get dragged back to Central City because that end scene has enough characters in it already.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 83

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 3386
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 106152
What I hate about my writing:
The Good: I officially said to hell with most plans for today and intended to concentrate on writing and housework. Well, writing came out ahead. Housework not so much.
The Bad: Two hours and fifteen minutes; it may have gone faster to just do it all at once instead of dividing it up throughout the day.
Fave Cain line: . “Tell me they don’t really talk like this.”
Fave DG line: “How the hell should I know? You’re the only lord I’ve slept with.”
Fave Malachite line: “I know the important questions to ask. Unless you want to take over the Island Navy today.” Betsy shook her head with a laugh. “You think I’m joking? I have to put someone in the position that I can trust and who can lead.”
Fave Betsy line:“Is your Daddy serious?” Treasure put her fingers in her mouth and nodded. “No. Me Commandant?” Treasure nodded again, with a grin slipping out from behind her fingers. “Mal, this isn’t funny. You even have Treasure believing that!”
Fave Kaliko line: “It will never move again, Commander Neptunite, as long as I have say over it.” Kaliko stepped forward into their conversation. “And the gnomes can reshape the stone so it presents no danger of rock slides. That could be completed before the suns set.”
Fave Quincy line: “Sugarcane and his missus!” Quincy breezed in through the door with a trail of servants carrying material following him. “Though a little birdy told me, it’s actually a lord and his princess. Are we setting up in here?”
What I'm looking forward to: Getting more clothes from Quincy *BIG GRIN* though I can already tell this will probably be one of those scenes to get more added to it later especially with Cain’s thought. He’s getting a lot to think about.
What I'm not looking forward to: More image work. I didn’t get to the maps because I got distracted on wardrobe issues. This is what I finally came up with.

DG and Cain are both going to have matching suits along these lines, with probably some variance on the damask design. Admittedly, I went straight to Victorian era for the lines, borrowing coloring from Georgian. For men's clothing, this is a long stable period that only has a few detail changes until after World War I (not precisely sure about that since modern era is not my fashion history era). But black upon more black is too drab for the O.Z.


Elements for Cain's less-formal suit. This is the most conservative Cain, DG, and Quincy agreed on. Hopefully the computer will stop giving me fits and I can do some quick mock-ups of DG's O.Z. woman's pantsuit.

Fiction tracker Update 6

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Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 82

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 139
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 102766
What I hate about my writing: When my computer is hijacked.
The Good: Longhand notes got done, studying got done, but nothing else that I had planned to do on the computer.
The Bad: New/old computer drama. Well, only drama because it was not on my agenda to deal with today. The switch to turn my computer off and on is finicky. Need a new one, but Dad didn’t have a spare and I haven’t sourced a replacement yet. I get around it by logging off but never completely shutting down unless I absolutely have to. Computer backup battery is also worn out and need a new one. Electricity decided to have a hiccup, which the computer and backup battery both decided meant a power outage and computer shut off before I could tell it not to. Then I could not get it to turn back on. So I only got fifteen minutes of typing done.
Fave DG line: “I was asking more generally. Do you want to explore out here or head back to the O.Z. or visit another kingdom on the mainland?”
Fave Cain line: And shoot a certain Prince who couldn’t keep his hands to himself? “You’re probably need to deliver the treaty in person, sweetheart. That’s the only way to ensure it gets honored on the O.Z. side.” He felt her shoulders slump. “Beyond that, you need to be somewhere close to a midwife in about four or five cycles and ready to stay put. That gives us some time to decide where that will be.”
What I'm looking forward to: Getting more clothes from Quincy *BIG GRIN*, Malachite gives DG some political training, meeting Jeb again, finding Komiko, sprinkling some smut in all that, and confrontation with the Queen.
What I'm not looking forward to: Transitions between all of that. Ugh.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 81

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1181
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 102627
What I hate about my writing: Actually, wrote some decent transitions and then decided I hated them when I got to typing them.
The Good: I figured out where to put some smut.
The Bad: I need to rewrite the transitions into at least one scene and give Malachite some lines. I have more stuff for the guy to actually do and say; I just haven’t gotten to it yet.
Fave DG line: “That’s the best good faith sign ever!”
Fave Cain line: “That we’re probably the only ones on this boat that have an inkling of what they’re going through, but our story would confuse them worse than they already are?”
Fave Betsy line: “I can’t take all the credit; it was a team effort.”
Fave Kaliko line: “We can carve the details out later. For now accept this as a sign of the Gnome King’s good faith, Descendent of Dorothy Gale of the Silver Shoes.”
Fave Jenkins line: “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” he breathed out while his wide eyes sought out Betsy. “Captain, what did you do!”
What I'm looking forward to: Getting more clothes from Quincy *BIG GRIN*, Malachite gives DG some political training, meeting Jeb again, finding Komiko, sprinkling some smut in all that, and confrontation with the Queen.
What I'm not looking forward to: Transitions between all of that. Ugh.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 80

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1860
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 101446
What I hate about my writing: I’m not trusting the total right now. I cut and pasted in a lot of notes for the confrontation with Mother scene, and it’s a bit inflated right now. It will even out by the time I get to that scene and delete them as I use them.
The Good: *Cackles madly* Oh yes, this is good. I had to sleep on it, what reward should Cain get that the gnomes could give. Then I got it on the commute. Perfect, and then I thought about how that bit of information could be shared in the confrontation with Mother scene. *Cackles madly again* Ahamo has such good ammunition and he is going to use it.
The Bad: I REALLY need to finish all my maps. Only now I have to do double versions since I didn’t finish the before sets and now I need the afters.
Fave DG line: “My people have suffered for too long with war and oppression, and your people have spent far too long underground. We must set aside past feuds for the sake of the future.”
Fave Cain line: “The Mountain chose you for a reason. Don’t drive yourself crazy trying to find that reason, just accept it.” - Yeah, this is a round-about reference to a line used in the trailer and cut out of the movie, which I had referred to earlier. The shot in the trailer has Cain leaning against a tree saying “Seems to me, you were sent through that storm for a reason.” Since it was cut from the miniseries, I decided it must have come up in conversation between Milltown and Central City after they found DG's real mother had sent her to the Other Side but didn't know why. Cain's first counseling session was to tell DG there had to be a reason (he wouldn't dump Jeb in another world without a damn good reason), but right then she needed to concentrate on the finding her mother and not go crazy guessing why. I can see why they would trim it out of the film if that's the intention they were going with, but I figured Cain probably had more to say than "hurry up."
Fave Betsy line: “Nice pitching, Nolan Ryan.” - *Snicker* Actually this fight scene changed from original concept once I found out Neal McDonough played baseball.
Fave Malachite line: “Rock Fort is still moving. Kingsport will give way!”
Fave Kaliko line: “We have never met a Topsider of your mettle before. Your Princess calls you a man of tin. We believe you have been forged of a much stronger ore than that.”
What I'm looking forward to: Getting them to the island, cleaning up the mess, getting more clothes from Quincy *BIG GRIN*, meeting Jeb again, finding Komiko, sprinkling some smut in all that, and confrontation with the Queen.
What I'm not looking forward to: Transitions between all of that. Ugh.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 79

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 2041
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 99586
What I hate about my writing: Actually, today went really well.
The Good: Made it to Chapter Thirty-three.
The Bad: Worried Chapter Thirty-two ended up too short.
Fave DG line: “Hello? Who’s there? Are you helping hands? I want to go up, please.” – Yes, this is a subtle shout-out to Bookworm 37’s great Tin Man and Labyrinth crossovers.
Fave Cain line: “Well, that went according to plan.”
Fave Betsy line: “I had to work with what I had. And the whole expedition was your bright idea, remember?”
Fave Malachite line: “Not the brightest idea you’ve ever had, Captain.”
Fave Roquat line: “Dorothy,” growled out from every corner of the throne room. She stood up as he sat down on the throne. He shook his head slowly, but never took his eyes off her. “Not Dorothy. She never went anywhere without those talismans attached to her feet. Yet the magic is unmistakable.”
Fave Kaliko line: “Your Majesty, please! This is an unnecessary fight. They only played your game.”
Fave Spencer line: “The island is moving!”
Fave Dani line: “Don’t you dare, rock boys!”
What I'm looking forward to: The big fight and the Nolan Ryan line. *Big grin* Also naming the selected tracks for the soundtrack.
What I'm not looking forward to: All the loose ends to tie up.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 78

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 473
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 97545
What I hate about my writing: Worry that I’m going to come up short with the action.
The Good: Longhand notes are all the way up to Chapter Thirty-three.
The Bad: I only typed a little over 15 minutes yesterday. But I do like my DG triumphant scene.
Fave DG line: “We had a deal!”
Fave Cain line: “DG!”
Fave Betsy line: “King Roquat has gone unhinged!”
Fave Malachite line: “More like the whole door is missing.”
Fave Roquat line: “Ozma’s light,” Roquat snarled as his face contorted even more. DG felt the blood drain from her face as the blue flames in his eyes grew brighter. “Did you think I had forgotten the humiliation at the hands of the Royal family of the Outer Zone?” There was no roaring bluster to his voice now, and he didn’t need it. “It is time for that light to be extinguished forever!”
What I'm looking forward to: The big fight and the Nolan Ryan line. *Big grin* Also naming the selected tracks for the soundtrack.
What I'm not looking forward to: All the loose ends to tie up.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 77

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1527
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 97072
What I hate about my writing: When I totally forget about a part I wanted to put in and had to add it.
The Good: Another full-hour day!
The Bad: Other than the little snafu that was accelerating the scene faster than I wanted to go, everything else has flowed really well.
Fave DG line: “Oh, like you aren’t Mr. Skeptical-of-everything-under-the-suns. I grew up with natural disasters caused by tectonic plates, not because a guy living underground got pissed off by the surrounding nations.”
Fave Cain line: “He didn’t say you couldn’t use magic.”
Fave Dani line: “Then I would suggest not playing games that are engineered for you not to win.”
Fave Betsy line: “Nobody likes a self-righteous bird.”
Fave Treasure line: “Scary rock man did magic, Mommy.”
Fave Malachite line: “You actually talked to the Gnome King?”
What I'm looking forward to: The big fight and the Nolan Ryan line. *Big grin*
What I'm not looking forward to: All the loose ends to tie up.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 76

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1715
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 95545
What I hate about my writing: Having so much other stuff to do when I don’t want to do ANYTHING!
The Good: HEY! A full hour; I almost didn’t think it was possible any more. And DG has finally made it into the collection room as well as chapter thirty-one.
The Bad: Did I remember to eat today?
Fave DG line: “I hope a live bomb you can’t defuse!”
Fave Cain line: “At least let me try to spare you this.”
Fave Dani line: “That only speaks for his intentions, not what is done to him.”
Fave Betsy line: “Quiet, he might try to sell us something.”
Fave Roquat line: “How delightful,” Roquat exclaimed as he stared into space. “I’ve never seen the object he turned into before. Utterly unique.”
Fave Sprite line: “That’s not fair.”
Fave Spencer line: “Don’t even try to argue with me. You have a chance to get your family back, that’s more than I will ever have.” Betsy shook her head. “And don’t start with my responsibilities or future or any rubbish like that. Frankly, none of it’s true if we don’t succeed here.”
What I'm looking forward to: The introduction of two long awaited characters. And then the fighting.
What I'm not looking forward to: Digging up some supper. :p I’m in no mood to cook now.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 75

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1460
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 93830
What I hate about my writing: Not timing my life well enough to get a full hour.
The Good: I got a half hour in, so I suppose that is progress. I feel better when I have a full hour; my day is accomplished sort of thing.
The Bad: My day will be accomplished tomorrow? Hopefully.
Fave Dani line: “Glad I looked different,” Dani whispered between their heads. “But remember colors are key for the game.”
Fave Betsy line: “General Kaliko, you can’t get rid of me that easily. Topsiders can be very stubborn about getting what they want, and I’m more stubborn than most.”
Fave Kaliko line: “Honor, bah, a funeral is more accurate.”
Fave Roquat line: “Because Topsiders don’t know any other way of behaving!” Roquat snarled. His voice shook the room again, but Betsy didn’t flinch. “I should suffer your entreaties because you want to prove you’re different? Better? More foolish?” The boulder teeth crashed together as Roquat struggled with his anger. “Arrogant female!” His expression suddenly went wary, and flames still sparked in his pupils. “Just where are you from, Captain Betsy Bobbins?”
Fave Sprite line: “Not!” Sprite stomped out of the group, and probably would have continued to the throne, but Betsy pulled her back. “I felt Slate. It’s all true.”
What I'm looking forward to: Yeah, pulling off the whole game sequence. Then the whole fight sequence. Then the whole save the day sequence. Then the slow descent into the conclusion.
What I'm not looking forward to: The slow descent into the conclusion; I ended up with a few loose ends I have to tie off before the mini-climax between DG and the Queen.

Fiction Tracker Update 5

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Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 74

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1064
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 92370
What I hate about my writing: When my time to type is used up by stupid traffic in my way going home.
The Good: TAXES ARE DONE! What I have left on the computer is making sure all my devices are installed and working, and then I can organize My Documents. I’ve got all my equipment installed, but I haven’t actually tested the scanner and camera input yet. Without really doing anything but plugging in the rear speakers, I got sound playing normally on QuickTime. But RealPlayer refuses to play anything. It’s not the files because I brought the external hard drive to work where the files played just fine. That fix will probably be seeing if I can get them to play in WinAmp or Windows Media Player and just uninstall RealPlayer. Now I’m setting up the archive of files on the external hard drive and moving what I’m currently using to the C drive so I can set up my home back up systems.

Thirty minutes, will I actually get a whole hour today?
The Bad: Skipped two days. I honestly intended to work more when I got home on the 14th, but by the time I finished with the taxes and more installing programs, the will to do so was gone. Just as well, since I only reinstalled Microsoft Office the morning of the 15th. I ended up without time at lunch to type and spent the night watching TV. No, I didn’t get the full hour, but I did write longhand notes while I was eating dinner.
Fave DG line: “It’s usually you reassuring me that the weird thing is perfectly normal. So yeah, I’m enjoying this.” She squeezed his hand as the floor sloped upward. “I won’t rub it in. I won’t even tell anyone.” – I thought it was about time that DG has reached the point of “everything is weird and I’m not going to react to it any more.”
Fave Cain line: “Don’t worry, we have food.”
Fave Betsy line: “People have been rescued from the Gnome King’s collection before. There are stories. So what did they do?”
Fave Kaliko line: “There was always a dispute with the Land of Ev over who was truly in charge.” Kaliko laughed, which sounded like two rocks grinding together. “I suppose that was settled when the King dragged us all out to sea.”
What I'm looking forward to: Roquat, you really aren’t paranoid if they are out to get you, Gnome King. I suspect my visual description is heavily influenced on Return to Oz the movie’s set design, though I have been referring back to the text in Ozma of Oz. Totally humorous moment for me: I had DG describe the Royal Healer as a Santa Claus look-alike. When Dorothy and Ozma first meet the Gnome King in Ozma of Oz, Dorothy says he looks just like Santa Clause and the Nome King quotes the description for “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” I didn’t reread Ozma of Oz before I started writing—I didn’t want the plot to influence me—and I honestly didn’t remember this description from when I did read it.
What I'm not looking forward to: Having to build up creepy suspense factor in the upcoming scenes. I never feel very strong with writing those. Roquat is dangerous because he’s a functional insane being, but I don’t want to fall into “he just evil” stereotype. But I think everyone can agree the whole turning people and gnomes into dust collectors isn’t a healthy use of magic.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 73

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 998
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 91306
What I hate about my writing: Not having enough hours in the day.
The Good: I got thirty minutes done and got to Chapter Twenty-nine.
The Bad: I still didn’t get my taxes finished thanks to the computer. I needed to reboot in order to get the CD drive to come back on (it has always done that ever since I got the computer) but I couldn’t reboot because the computer was still downloading the backup from Mozy. So that meant I still have to check my figures in Quicken against what Turbo Tax came up with.
Fave DG line: “Maybe he doesn’t have to know?”
Fave Dani line: “That’s assigning him human decorating tastes.”
Fave Cain line: “How much is needed when the island moves every night?”
Fave Betsy line: “I’m afraid I have business that concerns him. I don’t want to break the peace,” Betsy spread her hands, “but I can’t promise that consequences in the Topsiders’ countries won’t affect your realm.”
Fave Kaliko line: “I am Commander Kaliko. Are you Topsiders?” There was a degree of awe in his gravelly voice. “Those who live under the light of the double suns?”
What I'm looking forward to: Getting my computer and taxes done so I can actually look at the computer without flinching from everything I still have left to do.
What I'm not looking forward to: Having to build up creepy suspense factor in the upcoming scenes. I never feel very strong with writing those.

Computer Crash Update

I put in the hard drive and the sound card all by myself, and they worked. Yes, that is an accomplishment for me since I have always been afraid I’d blow it up if I messed with any computer innards. Dad did have to come and help me because I messed up the settings and lost my D hard drive in the process. So I ended up having to install Windows XP twice.

So now I’m currently waiting to get the back up restored from Mozy so I can finish loading up all the programs. I did try just copying the program files that I had saved so I wouldn’t have to reinstall everything again, but Windows XP’s menus didn’t recognize programs that way. So back to reinstalling :p. The new hard drive has a 160 GB, so it should be a long time before I put so much on it, it won’t function. Though I am seriously considering if how I have My Documents set up is the most efficient way to do it. I have 80 GB on the D drive, and I was using that as internal back-up storage and 150 GB on the external hard drive that I wanted to be a backup for things I would have normally burned to a CD but now fear losing forever. The rough idea I have is that XP will continue running really smoothly if all I have on the C drive is it and other program files. I have no idea if that is actually true.

And it is so good to have sound again! But I discovered a hiccup that I haven’t figured out how to solve yet. I saved 5 YouTube fanvids before the soundcard crapped out on me with recovering from the February crash: 4 in a format that runs in QuickTime and 1 with RealPlayer. Despite reinstalling the latest free RealPlayer and seeing that the file is there and nothing appears wrong with it, it refuses to play. The program says it’s playing but the clip indicator doesn’t move, there’s no sound or video. The QuickTime vids play just fine, but the sound is practically non-existent. I have to turn the player’s volume control to max, XP’s volume control to max, and then the speaker’s volume control to max before I can hear a whisper of the music. I had to stop experimenting with it in order to reinstall programs, so I haven’t tested files that I didn’t save from YouTube or if resaving them in a different format would help. I also need to buy a couple of speaker extension cords; I can give myself surround sound now. :D

I spent a few hours rearranging the computer equipment on the desk and tidying up the cords. This is my second attempt to get all the stupid cords off the floor so I can vacuum under my desk without fear of sucking up one of the cords and causing expensive and painful damage. First attempt was with some nice clips that attach to furniture and walls with a sticky back. They open and close easily to allow you get to the cord in question without much hassle. I thought I had put enough of those up to bear the weight, but I figured wrong. All of them had detached from the desk.

While I was wracking my brains to come up with a solution that wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg, I mentioned the problem to my mother. “I use zip ties on your father’s stuff. Otherwise, we couldn’t walk around his desk.”

“That would bundle them together, but not get them off the floor.”

“Then just tack them up.” That’s when she showed me the zip ties she had. Whenever I need to make a bundle, I have a zip-tie machine that can fit around just about any size object and then cuts the plastic tie close so I don’t have any dangly bits. Mom had a package of all the same size ties that you don’t use in the machine, and they also had a built-in loop at one end. I pulled out the horde of cup hooks I ended up with for some reason of another, and hung the bundled wires from the desk with the cup hooks. That took hours to accomplish on Saturday. Plus I installed a new shelf in the bathroom cabinet and my body still hasn’t forgiven me for all the twisting into unusual positions.

Yeah, not a lot of writing or tax work got done this weekend. Which means once I finish reinstalling programs tonight, I have to finish the taxes and send them away. I’m not freaked out about the deadline because I always e-file (and I still have another month before state taxes are due), but this is just bad form. I thought not doing them until March was bad, but this takes the cake. Writing, not even taking longhand notes was simply because I had a computer in pieces and was rearranging the office for updated function (and something new to look at until I can afford my built-in idea) and the living room is still mostly filled with stuff I need to finish dealing with and get rid of. But oddly enough I didn’t need to escape any of it. I’m going to try to get back into the grove today while at work, since I can’t do anything with taxes until I get home.

Next up is replacing the computer’s backup battery, which should probably happen ASAP. After that, I can probably wait a while before getting a DVD burner, new video card, and the Dazzler set-up to burn my VHS tapes to DVDs.

Fiction Tracker Update 4

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Computer Crash

The home computer has started the "I can't reboot cycle" again, so I'm breaking down and buying a new hard drive and sound card now. I have to finish my taxes this weekend. But if you're wondering why I've suddenly gone silent, it's because the computer is in pieces.

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1224
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 90308
What I hate about my writing: It really slows me down having to wait on the computer to decide “oh, you really wanted to do what the mouse just pointed to and clicked on. Wait, are you sure you wanted to do that? Wouldn't you much rather see this screen on this different program instead? Oh guess not,you're getting mad and clicking the mouse more.” I honestly don't know WHY it keeps doing that, and I have decided since house note and gas bill are really low this month to spend any money left after groceries on a new hard drive and sound card.
The Good: I got the full hour in.
The Bad: I worked while half-asleep, but I got the full hour of writing finished today. Unfortunately, now the computer has gone sluggish and I can’t finish until it acts right.
Fave DG line: “And I look like I have a chicken costume shop in my pocket?”
Fave Dani line: “What the hell was that about?” The strange bird demanded in Dani’s voice. “What did you make me look like?”
Fave Cain line: “What the hell did this Billina do with two damn eggs that you’re hoping to recreate?”
Fave Spencer line: “I’m not passing this up!”
Fave Betsy line: “It’s been an honor to sail with you, you curmudgeonly bastard.”
Fave Jenkins line: “Well, in that case, the honor’s been all mine, you ill-tempered bitch. Take what you can.”
Fave Sprite line: “I’m not leaving you, Captain.” Her white shirt bunched up under her crossed arms. “Can’t make me stay.”
What I'm looking forward to: Meeting the gnomes!
What I'm not looking forward to: I need to bone up on my chicken mannerisms and decide what particular movements are Dani’s tells. I’ve decided she scratches the ground for the chicken equivalent of a human shuffling his foot. But I need more of that kind of stuff and haven’t spent time around chickens since early childhood and the ones we owned hadn’t all disappeared yet.

And since I’m all sorts of guilty about not giving Dani a consistent description (she’s not a chicken of a different color, I was just working from my decidedly bad memory), I found pictures!

Dani:


Dani's preferred method of transportation (and now that I have started using it I wish I had thought of it earlier):


Dani's disguise:


Gah, and this is where I get hit with the stupid lockout of LiveJournal. I lurk, I read the theories, I see no one has expressed my particular theory, and I CAN’T SHARE IT! *POUT* However, that doesn’t annoy me enough to get an account and have yet another time suck and way for the BMFM stalkers fans of my work. Nope fear still wins out. April 8th Edit: And I COULD leave messages with OpenID, but nobody has that turned on either. Grr!

So theory that has absolutely nothing to do with the story I’m writing: Tutor was imprisoned by Az. Really it makes everything make sense. We don’t see Toto after Az leaves and the Queen arrives. The dog follows Az, probably trying to figure out how she just channeled so much dark magic. Az notices and before he can shapeshift, he’s stuck in a magic bubble of some sort, and she hides it away so he can’t tell anyone. I already figured out Ambrose was not there (he was in Finaqua investigating DG’s story of what had happened to Az, and that’s the other reason beside the nursery rhyme the witch had to kill DG but that’s another personal fandom theory) and the resulting mess was cooked up by the Queen, Ahamo, and the Mystic Man. But it was mostly the Queen and Ahamo; they told the Mystic Man after they realized no one would know if something happened to them, and DG would need a guide in the O.Z. Since Ambrose and Az had cute little crush thing starting pre-possession, they didn’t tell Ambrose the plan either. Later on when Az built the prisons in the Tower, she dumped Toto in a cell and he finally had enough room to shapeshift back to human form. “Imprisoned fifteen annuals” is what he said, but he didn’t say where. :D

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 867
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 89084
What I hate about my writing: Not getting the full time in of course.
The Good: I got thirty minutes today, which is better than the nothing I have had for the past three days.
The Bad: This weekend was strange. Everything I had planned to do, I didn’t so except for washing dishes. Huge dent done in that now, yeah! What I ended up doing was plotting out and pricing a built-in office, opposed to the cobbled together furniture I’m using now.
Fave DG line: “I don’t think they want a lot of visitors.”
Fave Dani line: “Really? I got that from the whole tearing apart the mainland story myself.”
Fave Cain line: “And you don’t ask before taking a ride?”
Fave Spencer line: “Rock Fort in all its glory.”
What I'm looking forward to: I’m going to read over Stacia Kane’s Be a Sex-Writing Strumpet series before tweaking what I feel are the inadequate erotic scenes. Luckily, a whole lot of action outside of the bed is coming up, so it shouldn’t effect my forward progress.
What I'm not looking forward to: I’m already getting the feeling that this section is going to need a lot of description added in to set the scene, and I’m being really skimpy on the details in the notes that are going into the notebook and the typed version. Scripts or plays should be my medium of choice; I’m hardly ever skimpy with dialogue.

Fiction Tracker Update 3

Covering March 29 to April 4:


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I really need to crack down on writing. It has slipped away from me in the past two weeks.

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

Progress Bar from Writertopia

Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 498
Total words for part one of draft: 57113
Total words: 88217
What I hate about my writing: Working on smut at the paying job. And it’s from Cain’s POV, which makes it more difficult.
The Good: I got fifteen minutes in.
The Bad: Apparently, I was way too optimistic with being back in the groove. I missed yesterday, and only got in fifteen minutes today. It’s not that I don’t have any idea what’s happening next or what’s happening now in the plot. I don’t know what has caused this slow down: just general smut and the words are fighting me or fear of transitions.
Fave DG line: “Normal people can say how they feel. You have to force it out of me because I’m terrified it’ll disappear if I say it.”
Fave Cain line: “Normal people never went through what you have, sweetheart. But what I was worried about was letting you walk straight into danger again.”
What I'm looking forward to: Getting to the action.
What I'm not looking forward to: Cleaning my kitchen. Don’t turn me into the board of health yet. And the mild freak out that everything I’m currently writing sucks. I’ll get over that; usually after the characters’ clothes are back on.