A Dagger Quote

Working hard on Powdery Tattoo. I've added 5,000 words to it in the last two nights, so maybe I'll have it done in time for NaNoWriMo.

I just wanted to leave this quote from Dagger here, I thought it was special.

You have to remember, teenagers tend to divide the world into two categories: cool and not cool. I don't care how old you get, nobody ever, ever wants to land in that second category.

Life Imitating Not Yet Made Art

I drove over to my hometown of Yucaipa today to see the damage done by the third fire in the area this month, which burned behind Yucaipa High School where I graduated from. Magic Mountain is all charred, and where the Y used to be is just a somewhat messy triangle of dust in the middle of the black.

Why is this relevant? Well, they caught the kid. Kid, as in 16 year old boy, who was seen riding off from the flames on his bike. He's suspected of lighting the other two fires this month as well.

As I've sort of mentioned, Rest In Peace Walter Montague: Completely Defeated By Life is about an arson siege that rips through a small town in Southern California not unlike Yucaipa--in fact, most likely Yucaipa. I was thinking originally more like Beaumont because the story originally popped in my head some time during the trial of Raymond Lee Oyler, who started the Esperanza Fire and several others, killing five firemen.

Walter Montague, who goes by Willy (because "Wally" is a stupid name, almost as stupid as Walter,) is your average punk ass kid on a long board. He's also the son of the Chief Arson Investigator, Noelle Springer.

Noelle, single mom extraordinaire is currently working on apprehending the arsonist who has been causing billions of dollars in damage and resources. Imagine her surprise when she finds that Willy may be the one behind the rash of fires.

Imagine Willy, completely innocent, but guilty as charged.

Imagine Noelle's shock when she discovers who really has been setting the fires--just a little bit too late.

It's more complicated than that. And I think that this will be my NaNoWriMo novel, provided I get my research done in time.

Hopefully they got the right guy over there in Yucaipa Town. Poor place is surrounded by scorched hills. It's a sorry state to see the place in.

A New Title

The fire story has a title, finally. I've been switching between "Pyro" and "Fires in the Valley" but I always thought that Pyro was too common sounding and Fires In The Valley sounded a bit like a romance novel.

The title?

Rest In Peace Walter Montague: Completely Defeated By Life

You will be surprised to find out who Walter is and why life got to be so tough.

Story developing.

Getting Back On Track

We've just finished moving and we're now almost done getting our new place all set up, including a nice distraction free place for me to write. This is especially handy since I intend to finish Powdery Tattoo by November so that I can participate in NaNoWriMo with whatever story I end up deciding to go with for that. I haven't thought much ahead on it.

Over the summer I wrote about four pages of Tattoo which I know is lame, but the next time I report I will have accomplished some writing. I've even penciled it into my planner, along with time for those blasted journals.

Fall is my creative time, possibly because of the colors and the smells, but certainly it creates a little place for me to be and explore the world inside my head. And knit a few scarves. I'm sorry that I'm knitting a scarf right now and not writing a book, but I need to let my mind chill for a little bit before I have to come up with anything on my own. Following a pattern is easy. The hard part is stitching it all together yourself.

The best thing for me to do right now is just plan to sit down in the quiet this week with some delicious fall smelly candles and just continue working again when I'm not feeling forced. Plus I want to get my nest back in order first.

It's a whole creative process thing.

Starting with a blank screen.

The Bane Of My Existence

I'm copying my paper journal by hand into five other journals that people all over the US have sent me. It's a project idea that sparked when I realized how much I'm not telling the world by keeping it on paper instead of blogging it. It's not a lot, but it's enough.

Plus I'm impatient and I like to give wee little spoilers.

It's a lot of work though, and these are essentially my big ol' project right now, besides learning my new camera and taking it out for test drives. We move to a flat this weekend, and I'm hoping to start writing again once Ty goes back to school.

Other than that these journals are keeping me busy. And not to worry, because they do contain spoilers.

Not too many though.

If I Had To Give You A Date...

At this point I'm going to speculate that A Powdery Tattoo will not be out before December 2010. What I want is for it to be ready before then and release it next April but with my current goal of trying to buy a house, plus the fact that we're going to be switching apartments in the next few weeks, I doubt I'll have the stamina to sit down and write anything that I can be proud of or that I'd even remotely be able to share.

National Novel Writing Month is coming up in November, and that, I promise, I will try to participate in. What will my project be for that? Well, I have a few options.

I did get Social Butterfly to 50,000, but what if I were to take it to 100,000? Okay, so it's not starting a new novel, but it's 50,000 words in 30 days like the rules say. I could get that one to 100,000 no problem, considering the first 50,000 didn't even near the climax.

A few other possibilities are Girls Are Pretty or The Fool On The Hill, which is actually part two of Golden Dawn but I think I'm going to hold off on writing it for a few years. Another idea is a book that I'm calling Pyro in my head but also Fires In The Valley but I think the latter sounds a bit like a romance novel, which it so is not. But that one needs more research I think as it involves arson investigations and some heavy scientific and psychological themes. That one might be on the backburner for a while.

The good news is that when I wrote on Twitter that I needed to borrow a fire fighter "just for a little while" the LAFD responded and asked how they could help. Wow! Even though my request sounded vaguely sexual it still got a response, and a helpful one at that! I was given the number to their arson experts so I can call and get some help if I need it. I also have a few books coming to me in the mail about arson, one of which is called, dramatically, FIRE COPS! My favorite.

I'm going to try to keep this blog just a little bit more updated, and in return I would love to see some Amazon reviews if you wouldn't mind. I know you have a lot of time on your hands and all.

Until next time...

Just Thought You Should See

I spent time with Marina Hudson today, aka Bombshell. Well, technically this is the girl who inspired Marina's character, and the whole of Bombshell. She's still fighting the good fight and trying to get to where she wants to be. I've missed my friend.

As far as writing goes, I've taken a step back from it for the time being. We've got a lot of stuff going on at the Terwilliger home, like...buying a new home. Plus I'm switching apartments for our last few months here (or what will hopefully be our last few months) so I've got a lot of work to do. No release dates for Powdery Tattoo just yet, but I can feel that this sabbatical is coming to a close really soon. Once fall hits, I'm sure I'll be back in the mood.

Other than this, there has not been very much to report. Therefore I haven't reported anything. But thanks for checking back now and then.