| It's Done, Again. |
[05 Aug 2008|02:13pm] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. So, yesterday I finished the rewrite on Meredith MacKenzie and the Uruk Empire. And by finished I mean got it back from the person who very generously proofread it for free, went through the whole novel and excepted the changes (except for 2 I think), made any further revisions my proofreader thought necessary for clarity's sake and then fell asleep on the couch at 4:00 AM after saving the file.
Then I sent it off to an agent who's offered to read it. This agent has seen it before, and offered to reread it after a rewrite. The rewrite ended up involving about 60K words of new material, and the removal of a lot of old material. The book grew, a bit in length, but simply put, this novel is a lot better than the one I was querying for a year ago. Tons better. To the point where I don't think I could have written something of this quality back when I started work on Meredith.
I have an agent to thank for that. The agent I resubmitted to, specifically. And whether she ends up becoming my agent or not, I am profoundly grateful today that she took the time to read my work a year ago and send me a personalized rejection, with a critique and words of encouragement. I am also extremely grateful to my critique group, who has spent most of the last year telling me everything I did right, but much more importantly, everything I did wrong.
Now, I just have to sit back for the next few weeks and wait. Something I'm horrible at. But that's part of the price of doing business.
|
|
| Conversations Overheard In The Physics Major's Study Room |
[08 Nov 2007|09:44pm] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. "Do you think they have to worry about resonance when they design windshield wipers? I mean, if they get the timing just right, well, wrong I guess, could the windshield wipers flip the car?"
"No, the shock absorbers have a dampening coefficient."
"See, you learn something new every day. They put shock absorbers on cars to keep the windshield wipers from flipping them over."
***
(In regards to a teaching award the students give to their favorite teacher)
"I think we should give it to Dr. X."
"I don't want to give it to someone in astronomy."
"He'll get it eventually. Dr. Y will get it eventually."
"No he won't. I'll throw him off the room first."
"---"
"Actually, can I throw him off the roof on general principal?"
***
Me: "God, how do you keep track of this notation crap. A-star, A-hat, A-sub-this, A-sub-that, A-dagger."
J: "I'll bet there's an A-unicorn."
Me: "That's graduate level stuff."
J: "You know what, if I ever invent an equation, I'm going to have a variable called A-unicorn."
Me: "As long as I don't have to take the derivative of it."
J: "What would the derivative of a unicorn be?"
Me: *thinks* "A horse."
J: "What about the double derivative be?"
Me: "Donkey, and the triple derivative is a mule."
J: "What about the fourth derivative?"
Me: "It's not differentiable beyond the third derivative."
J: "If the derivative is a horse, what would the integral be?"
Me: "A bicorn."
J: "Would that make the double integral a triceratops?"
Me: "Yeah. And the nth integral is Godzilla."
J: "Godzilla."
Me: "Yes, where n is the number of spines on Godzilla's back, minus one."
J: "If we right this up, you think we could publish?"
Me: "The proof that Godzilla is the nth integral of a unicorn? That's a Nobel prize, easy."
|
|
| Why I Didn't Get Home Until After 8:00 PM Last Night |
[22 Sep 2007|10:24am] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. I was down in the physics lab at school last night and had just finished using the Neon Laser to align the Fabry-Perot interferometer when the fire alarm sounded.
Well, fire alarms go off all the time on Campus. It's one of those things. One went off on Monday during my Calculus test. As a rule, evacuations are slow, and there's a lot of 'is this real, or is this just a malfunction, or some ass trying to get out of a test.'
Not so this time. The alarm went off, and the door to the room were we were working jerked open. My professor said "Everybody out," and inside of five minutes, the whole building was emptied.
This is what happens when you spend your time in a building with several high level biolabs, physics labs, and chemistry labs.
We'd been outside maybe three minutes before the first fire trucks arrived. There were five in the first batch, and they just kept coming. Fire engines, paramedics, a hazmat team. In the end, there were about two dozen cops, twenty fire trucks, four cop cars, and about half of plant, and there was just no dicking around at all.
We were outside for about 45 minutes, and I never found out for sure what happened, but whatever it was, it must have been fairly minor, because the hazmat teams never went in, and they let us back in to finish up our work. Still, lots of excitement.
Below is a little bit of what happened (click on the thumbnail for the full size image:
|
|
| Well, this is cool! |
[19 Sep 2007|09:12pm] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. Apparently, I can use the new MacBook's built in webcam and the handy-dandy iMovie to record videos.
This is a really neat function.
Now, let us never speak of it again.
|
|
| Notes to Self |
[16 Sep 2007|02:07pm] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. 1). Apple Pages files and Subversion do not mix. Ever.
2). Figure out how to change default text editor from VI to ANYTHING ELSE. I'm thinking Pico, I like Pico.
3). Subversion is your friend. Except when you try to use it with a Pages file. Then it becomes your enemy, and you must drive a wooden stake through the heart of the Pages file in order to get it to love you again.
4). The were places where you can write sex scenes and places where it should never, ever be attempted, lest you find yourself wondering how to mathematically model the amount of force exerted on a breast during sex in a certain position. That way lies madness.
|
|
| Sometimes I Just Don't Get Corporations. |
[10 Sep 2007|08:41pm] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. I ordered a new MacBook a few days ago. Along with it, I ordered a new iPod, a copy of VMWare Fusion, and an iPod extended warranty. I get home today, and what do I find on my porch?
If you guessed the iPod and the copy of VMWare, you win a virtual teddy bear. So, the iPod and the software aren't valuable enough to require a signature, but the extended warranty package, which is a box with a post card in it, I have to go pick up at the FedEx depot, because that can't be left without a signature.
If I come home and find my laptop sitting on my porch, I'm not going to be happy. I'm just sayin'.
On the up side, March of Cambreadth sounds FREAKING AWESOME on this thing. Cruxshadows next.
|
|
| How Do I Get Myself Into These Things |
[09 Sep 2007|06:47pm] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. I've been toying around with a couple of Urban Fantasy ideas for a while. One of them has a character who's a marine who received a medical discharge after he died in the line of duty and was resuscitated. These days, he makes his living writing a series of fantasy romance novels called the Unicorn Riders of (Some exaggerated cliché of a fantasy world name). The books are about female paladins who are bonded to men who can transform into unicorns (or unicorns who can transform into men, I'm not real clear on that point). Of course, the gods they serve send them on quests that need the skill of the paladin and the power of the unicorn to complete, and the paladin and the man/unicorn invariably fall in love, but they can't consummate the relationship, because the unicorn can only be bound to a woman who's pure, and if the bond is broken, she's no longer a paladin, and he's turned into an ordinary horse and his mind is destroyed in the process. So the books are, of course, filled with lots of lusting after each other, sneaking peeks of each other bathing in lakes and rivers, vivid fantasies which are sometimes spoken aloud to the other party, and maybe even a bit of self-satisfaction.
In short, they're abstinence porn.
Yes. I know it sounds horrid. That's the POINT. It's supposed to sound horrid. It's supposed to sound like bad Mary Sue fantasy.
It's bad. It's wrong.
And I'm sorely tempted to actually write one of the blood things.
God help me, I've lost my tiny little mind.
|
|
| You know what sucks? |
[07 Sep 2007|05:29am] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. Waking up with a runny nose, going to the bathroom, and finding that it is, in fact, a bloody nose.
Ugh. Some days being me sucks. Yet another reason to hate con crud, like I needed it.
But the best part is, I stopped by the campus health center to see a doctor yesterday, and the place was closed. They're moving the bloody thing, so everything in the clinic is packed up in boxes.
Bleh.
Okay, I've got about an hour and a half before I have to be awake. I'm going back to bed.
|
|
| Oh Dear God, I'm Not Going To Die |
[05 Sep 2007|08:29pm] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. I just wish I would.
This isn't the worst con crud I've ever had, but it sucks. A lot. Still, life does go on.
Today, I bought a new computer. A white MacBook with the 8X dual layer DVD burner, 2 Gig of RAM, a 200 Gig Hard Drive, VMWare Fusion and one of the spiffy 80 Gig iPod Classics. I have mixed feelings on the iPod. On the one hand, I feel a bit like I shouldn't have spent the money. On the other hand, I feel like I should have gone ahead and popped for the 160 Gig model. I mainly want the thing as an external harddrive. The MP3 and video player functionality is just gravy. 80 Gig should be more than enough for what I want it for, except I know me. I fill hard drives. It's just what I do.
I also had a chance to meet with my crit group at DragonCon, and get feedback on the two most recently finished chapters of the new draft of Meredith MacKenzie and the Uruk Empire. The reactions were a bit mixed, but I've decided to wait and see how they react to the next two chapters before I revise. I think their major concerns will be addressed, but if not, I can always tweek later.
Also, Pan is the single most stuborn creature to ever walk the face of the Earth. Considering he's beating out Persephone, the previous holder of that title, by a wide margin, you should be duly impressed.
|
|
| Con Crud, w00t! |
[04 Sep 2007|10:24pm] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. I apparently got a bit more con swag that I thought. I wish someone had asked though. I would have told them I didn't have room at home for a Bouncing Baby Himalayan Jungle Rot.
Oh well.
|
|
| The I'm To Tired To Write The DragonCon 2007 Entry Entry. |
[03 Sep 2007|09:24pm] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. I haven't posted the last few days because I've been at DragonCon. I'm not going to do a con report right now because I'm to fracking tired, but much fun was had, nice people were met, and over all, it was one of the better years, although the falling ice bucket was not good. More as soon as I've recovered a bit.
|
|
| Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! |
[26 Aug 2007|08:23pm] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. I'm not doing so hot with that "Post every day" thing. I figure I'll cut myself some slack because it's the first week of school, and therefore everything is INSANE.
Next week isn't likely to be much better, because it's the run up to DragonCon.
Still, I got two chapters done this week on the Third Draft of Meredith MacKenzie and the Uruk Empire. I think this draft is better than the previous two. It's certainly more action oriented.
We'll see what the nice agent thinks when I send it back to her in a few weeks.
I'll try to post something less blathering tomorrow.
|
|
| I has a 3.1415927! |
[22 Aug 2007|08:29pm] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. A few days ago Cherie Priest posted a key lime pie recipe
Since key lime pie is about the yummiest substance in any universe, I had to try it. Thus, tonight, I braved turning on the oven and made pie!
Of course, I'm of the school who believes key lime pie is best eaten very cold, so it gets at least a day in the refridgerator before it's ready to eat, but still. PIE!
|
|
| Chapter 11 Starts With A Bang... And Several Whimpers |
[22 Aug 2007|01:14pm] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. Yesterday was a very weird day for me. I sat down and wrote the first scene of Chapter 11. It didn't work. I rewrote it. Repeatedly. It never worked.
Then I had an idea. The original version of the scene involved an assassin walking into the room and taking a shot at one of the characters. Meredith, being Meredith, reacts without thinking, leading to a dead assassin. The characters fort up, then the assassin's backups arrive and things get hairy until the cavalry shows up.
I decided the problem was breaking the action long enough for them to fort up, so the assassin's backup charges into the room the moment he goes down. From an action standpoint, it makes the fight much more interesting, and lets me show a hint of what Meredith can do in a fight.
But then something weird happened. Meredith ended up with two prisoners, one a bit better off than the other, but neither one is going to be running the Boston Marathon anytime soon.
At that point, I had to ask the question "What would Meredith do with prisoners in this situation."
The answer surprised the heck out of me. It apparently surprised the heck out of a lot of the other characters too.
Now, I'm worried about the scene.
Guess I have a question for my crit group this weekend.
|
|
| Today, I am a Fairly Decent Baker |
[18 Aug 2007|10:00pm] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. It's Katherine's birthday tomorrow, and unfortunately, she's spending today writing a synopsis and a query letter for her novel as part of a workshop she's doing in a couple of weeks. I know the pain of the synopsis, and therefore feel much sympathy. I decided she needed a cake, so I marched off to kroger with the intention of purchasing something made of lots of chocolate. Unfortunately, their cake selection was crap, so I ended up buying a Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate Cake Mix, a couple of cans of Dark Chocolate icing, and a tube of icing to spell out Happy Birthday.
When I got home, I baked a cake and tossed a pack of Tim Tams in the freezer. Then I iced it. Broke up the Tim Tams with a hammer and poured the crumbs over the cake. The only problem was I ran out of icing for the lettering, so she got a Happy Birth cake.
Oh well. It still tasted really freaking good.
Now, if I could just finish this bloody chapter so I could send stuff out for my crit group.
|
|
| Chapter 9 |
[17 Aug 2007|10:49am] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. I've rewritten Chapter 9. I'm still not all that happy with it, but I think I need to just move on to Chapter 10 at this point. The problem is, most of the chapter is Meredith and co sitting around a conference table. I can't work out any way to do what needs to be done in this chapter without using this basic structure. The next chapter isn't a whole lot better, but it does end with a bit of action, and the chapter after that is almost all action, so maybe it will work out in context. At least, I hope so.
|
|
| Yesterday Was Ungood |
[15 Aug 2007|09:40am] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. Yesterday was kind of a bust. I went down to school to get my books for the new semester. Introduction to Electrodynamics and Modern Physics. Exciting titles. Really.
Well, after I shelled out $400 bucks on two books, a new bag, and some notebooks, I tried to get a transit card. Of course, they stopped selling transit cards for August on Monday, because it makes so much sense to quit selling cards the same day financial aid is posted. Sometimes, I really hate my school with a passion.
I spent the rest of the day camped out in the library, doing my best not to fall asleep. No easy task.
They also jacked the price up on everything this year. Transit cards, meal plans, tuition, fees. I feel sorry for the poor slobs who have to pay for parking. They're really getting boned.
On the plus side, we're apparently getting an Einstein Brothers Bagel shop, which means my choices for breakfast are no longer limited to crappy Burger King breakfast sandwiches, pancakes that have been sitting in a warmer for three hours, overcooked scrambled eggs, overcooked hash browns patties, greasy omelets, or something from the donut case.
On the writing front, I'm working on touching up Chapter 9 of Meredith MacKenzie and the Uruk Empire today, and will hopefully get Chapter 10 written tomorrow. Once I get through 10 and 11, I should be able to start bringing over entire chapters of material from the previous draft, so things should go along a lot more quickly. I'm still not going to finish by the end of the month, but hopefully I can have this back in an agent's hands by the start of October, and can move on to another project. I don't think I'm going to go back to We're Here To Help just yet. I might work on something else for a bit first, because the rewrite on Uruk has made me realize there are major structural issues with We're Here To Help, as well.
|
|
| AngeLINK as a series |
[13 Aug 2007|03:00pm] |
|
Originally published at BBKristopher.com. You can comment here or there. I've finished all four books in the AngeLINK series by Lyda Morehouse, and I have a few thoughts on the series as a whole.
1). I think the first books was originally intended as a stand alone. While it's great at establishing the universe, and introducing most of the characters, it doesn't tie in as strongly to the overall arc of the series as the other three books. That said, the series could not really stand without it, and it is a fantastic book.
2). I still have a great deal of love for Page, Mouse and Dragon. More so for Mouse and Dragon having finished the last book. Page, however, is still my favorite character.
3). God is a great big prick in these books.
4). Deidre has absolutely horrible taste in men. No, really. No idea at all what's important in a relationship. The girl has read WAY to many of those stupid romance novels she's so fond of.
5). While I like Deidre a lot, there are several points over the course of the series where you want to shake her and scream "You're screwing up, big time, you self-rightous twit!" in her face. Lyda did a very good job building a character who you can really care about, and want to smack with the nearest blunt instrument, at the same time.
6). I'm a sucker for stories which deal with Angels and/or Demons. I loved Constantine (the movie), I loved Dogma, I loved Fallen (if you haven't seen this, you should. One of Denzel Washington's best movies). I think that's why this sucked me in so quickly. But this series has one of the most interesting takes on what Angels are, and when Heaven and Hell are, that I've seen in a good long time.
7). I still can't understand why these books didn't do well, and why they were allowed to go out of print. The only thing I can think is that Roc didn't promote them very well, or, you know, at all. It does happen to good books, and it's a shame, because these are fantastic. Easily some of the best stuff I've read in ages.
8). Did I mention Deidre's bad taste in men? Well, it bears repeating. Horrible.
9). Whoever did the copy edit on these books should probably be fired. Out of a cannon. At a brick wall. Preferably with some grapeshot sent along after them.
10). The series ends with two huge plot twists. I don't want to give them away, cause they'd spoil the books, but I will just say, they are very, very cool.
11). Lastly, Deidre, honey, get your head examined. Really. Your taste in men MUST be a sign of some sort of deep seeded self loathing.
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=88.9){kind=small}
bb_kristopher's journal
