2011: Early Round-Up

Okay, so it's been nearly two months since I last blogged. I apologize for that. So, what have you missed in the way of the Trishverse? Well...

Work

I've been working at Godiva for this entire time, and I gotta say. I really like it. I mean, it's not a career--that's still writing or librarian work at the very least--but as a job to support myself with while I work on those other two, I really like it. I mean, it's fun. It's a great group of co-workers and supervisors. It's not really stressful. I mean, there are moments, but nothing too horrible. Definitely have done more stressful work (those of you who know my workforce history know exactly what I'm talking about here). And I've found out that I'm being kept on after seasonal, so I don't have to worry about finding another job after Feb. 14th (which is when Godiva seasonal ends). All in all, this has been what has taken up most of my time, but I'm okay with that. I just need to re-discover my writing groove.

Personal

Car's broken down. Like, since before Thanksgiving. Busted valve, I think. But today it got hauled to a mechanic to see what it'll cost us to fix it. Thankfull, he's not charging us anything to look at it and give us an estimate. It would be absolutely frickin' wonderful if it wasn't all that much. So, fingers crossed on that.

My Christmas was kind of low-key. Not bad, but not as big as I usually do it. But, I'll tell you, I'm okay with that too. After years of aiming for big, decorative Xmases, it was kind of like a vacation. I'll do it big next year, and it'll be cool. Preston and I are both doing our personal Xmases a little later (actually, he just bought me something small as an Xmas gift, and ordered the big gift--the new Abarat book *yay!*). I need to figure out what to get him, lol. I have an idea, but I'm trying to do the money math and see if I can work it out.

Writing

Wow. I can't even properly express how far behind I am. I mean, I have two different fanfiction challenges to finish. That I'm behind on. I have several original fiction stories that I need to spruce up and send out. I need to do my 2012 Submission chart. I need to finish so many longer works that it's insane. I also am signing up for a longer fanfic challenge in the new year. And, oh, believe it or not, blogging has been on my list to do for these past two months. That's right... the blog I am just now typing. That's how behind I am.

But, I did get an acceptance for a story, "Ties," that I'd been trying to get published for the better part of a year now. Also, I have stories that have come out in PillHillPress's Daily Frights and Daily Flash collections. Also, my story, "Tooth Jacked," is/will be available from Pink Narcissus Press. And on Jan. 15th, my story, "So, These Monsters Walk into a Con..." will be available within UnCONventional, from Spencer Hill Press. Appropriate links for ordering/pre-ordering will be added over in the sidebar ---->

I haven't updated my writing site in a little bit. I'll have to catch up on that as well.

To Sum Up...

Screw it. 2012 is a new year, and I'm ready to face it head-on. My 2011 sucked so hard. I lost my house. I lost most of my material possessions. I lost good relationships that I never thought I would lose. I've been a burden to some and burdened upon. But right now, in this moment, things are okay. I have a place to stay. I have a job. I'm an aunt to a beautiful baby girl. Preston's doing great in school. He graduates in June. Things are getting better, slowly but surely. 2012 will be a better year. I know it will be. And I can't wait to greet it.

Oh, about the photo manip at the top of the blog. Much thanks to sunnydale-crossing.deviantart.com for restarting their challenges. I'd fallen behind on my photomaniping as well. It's nice to be getting back on track. (That was a winning manip, too).

Plate=Full

Or rather, overflowing. I'm not sure where to start. How about the non-writing stuff for a change?

Non-Writing Stuff

Okay, so I'm still trying to get an apartment. To do that, I need my birth certificate. Hopefully I'll get a text from my sister at any moment, announcing that she's found it. At least, that way, I don't have to pay to get it and go through that whole mess. I think I'll also get a State Issued ID until I get an opportunity to get my license. It seems a bit easier that way. Also, although I do plan to have a ceremony when I can afford it--dress, flowers, the whole shebang--my fiance and I will be getting married as soon as we can afford it in a civil ceremony at the courthouse. That way, we can qualify for a bit more of the help that we need.

Oh, also, I totally have a job! I start this Sunday--if I understood that right--at Godiva Chocolatier. Godiva! Of all the 9-5s I could have gotten, I'm so happy that it was that one! I can't wait to be making a steady paycheck again. I miss it, seriously. As much as I love writing, that steady paycheck is just so nice.

Writing-Related Stuff

(The Twisted Library)

A sad bit of news here. I had three stories accepted and waiting for print (+2 I was waiting to hear from), and the Library has recently had to drop just about all of their anthologies. It was just costing the owner too much in this crappy economy. While understandable, that leaves me with 5 stories to search for new homes for. However, the Library will continue publish novels (+3, if I remember, of their anthos that were planned for print). If you want to support them, check out the forum here to see how to go about buying one of their ridiculously awesome novels!

(Trials)

I recently posted chapter 19 (titled "Between the Devil and the Deep Crimson Sea) up on fanfiction.net! After that, the count of chapters left to write and post, including the epilogue, is 7. Just 7! The end is near, folks! And I've got 122 reviews on it, and it'll end up being way longer (word count) than Untested was. Now if I could translate this power I have for this story into some of my novels or other fanfics. Anyhoo, the sequel to Trials will be call Tribulation, so there's something to chew on while you wait for chapter 20!

(NaNoWriMo)

Have I outlined? Nope. I actually negative outlined. Do I need to? Like you wouldn't believe! I need to get to 50 next month--while writing and working and doing holiday stuff and moving--and I have no plan past chapter one. Actually, I need this novel to end up being about 80k when it's finish. So, yeah. Oh, and speaking of that...

(Novellas)

So I added about 1500 or so words to Aftershock the other day. Yay moment, right? Yeah, I should have added it to Winds of Change. That's the one that's got an honest to God deadline. Something else I need to be working on. And another one that I only have a vague outline for. Not to mention the slew of other novellas I have planned that I haven't even started!

(50 States of SPN)

I've got a vague outline--no title--for my fic set in Alaska. I have a really good idea of what I want to happen in it and how I want it to happen. But for the one in Alabama? I've got a vague outline of the beginning. Have no idea how I'm ending this. I need to do more research for both, really, but mostly for the Alabama one. Of which I have no title for. Yeah. Posting for this begins Dec. 1st. Yikes, right?

(Wishlist 2011)

I have all 12 of my prompts! I'll be doing a post on my LiveJournal account of the complete list. They'll be in order I got them (not necessarily the order I'll do them in). Posting starts for that on Dec. 1st as well. I have a couple of those I have to research for, but only a couple. I'm sort of working on one of them now, since it's a character I've never written for before (did this to myself).

(SPN Crossover Big Bang)

What's a big bang? Well, as it was explained to me, it's where a fanartist and a fanficcer meet up. The fanficcer writes a story (in this case, a crossover and a long one), and the artist does fanart for that story. There is a sign up period (Jan 11th-Feb 25th) and several checkpoints. Posting of the fanfic--which is beta-read beforehand--doesn't begin until June. By then, the writer has written the complete fic, and the artist has done the art for it. Now, the big question is, am I doing this? Well, to be honest, I'm considering it. What Supernatural Crossover will I be doing? That's part of the consideration. I either have to come up with one, or stretch the one I have in my mind into a chapter-length fic. Of course, with the stretching idea comes the fact that I need to complete a particular sequel fic first. And I could do that. I could. I could work on both and post only the sequel fic. Then, ideally, it'll be done by June, in which I could post the Big Bang fic. But that's crazy, right? I just don't know. I'd really like some imput on that one.

And I think that's everything. I mean, I have a few other things going on that I need to do (flyers and craigslist related, oddly enough). Well, until then, here's my NaNo calender.

Planning Ahead

I'm a planner. I mean, seriously, if I knew exactly what it took, I would be a Wedding Planner, I love to plan so much. But, oddly, one of the things that often requires a lot of planning for, I rarely plan ahead for, leaving it to be done as I'm supposed to be working. What am I speaking of? Yup, nearly a month early, but I speak of NaNoWriMo! I had the great pleasure of winning last year with this little (fanfic) baby (click here for link):

Usually, I don't plan for NaNo until a couple of weeks before Nov. 1st--the kickoff. And last year, I only had three chapters of Building Blocks outlined until a few days into November. In fact, I had not even planned on participating last year--long story, folks--so I didn't even have a story until Oct. twenty-something. But I participated and won.

But this year... this year, it's different. AD Spencer had made a banner and sent it my way, cementing what her choice for NaNo was this year. Because, let's say, we both had a lot of choices. I literally had a list that had both original fiction works that were both novellas and novels to three fanfic sequels. But after talking to AD it hit me. I want a novel done. One I can sell. So I went with this:

I've had the House of Roanoke series planned for forever! It started out as a series of Short Stories in my head. However, my number one fan for this series (yeah, it's AD) led me to believe that it could be a novel. After some thinking, I realized that, yeah, I love this story enough to make it a novel. And then I thought some more and came to the conclusion that it could be four novels. And then I talked to AD again and realized that an old story idea of my could be linked to this world. So, although it's not apart of the quartet, it's a companion to this world. And then I talked to her about a problem I had concerning one of the characters in the House of Roanoke... how I didn't know what to do with them at the end. I told her what I didn't want to do. And then she made a wonderful suggestion. And, once again, although it isn't to be apart of the quartet, it is definitely a sequel/companion novel to follow. Keeping count? No? Well let me tell you. That's six. Six novels in the planning for this world that so far has only been one unpublished short story--which is a very bad version of chapter one of Family Affairs, btw.

So what's the story to this thing? Well, I'm not willing to say at this moment, other than the fact that I draw upon the story of Roanoke, America's first attempt at a colony. It's a supernatural genre, and it's geared toward adults, though maybe not for the reasons that one might automatically think of when someone thinks "adult fiction," if you get my drift.

So outlining here I come. NaNo '11, your ass is grass, and I'm the lawnmower! (Yikes, I haven't heard that since I was five.) Now... to actually do some work.

Where I Stand

Okay, that image is just a little pretty I did in anticipation of the upcoming premiere of Supernatural Season 7. They've already given us the first minute or so of it online as a promo... all I can say is exactly what AD Spencer said... Mean Cas is Mean :(

(Oh, and the crackle texture I used can be found in the gallery of AshenSorrow.)

So, what am I up to, you ask? As you can see over to the right, I've finally added that other novella. Yeah, I know that 10k isn't technically a novella in some cases, but it can go up to 15k. I just put the minimum to be safe. I've put up that chapter of Trials at fanfiction.net, so now I'm due for Chapter 16 of The Funny Thing About Keys. I've set a good pace for those two, so even if I don't finish them on the exact date I have shared with AD Spencer, I'll at least finish really close to it. My other fanfics, you ask? Yeah, they're still around. The next fanfic past these two that I want to finish is... and this is the first place I've announced this, mind you... Youth and Innocence. It's fully outlined--I'm ashamed to say considering the last time I updated on it--so it shouldn't be that difficult. Also on the fanfiction front, AD and I have entered into a livejournal community's challenge called the 50 States of SPN--livejournal community shares the same name. The challenge? Have a LJ account and sign up for an open state. Then, between now and sometime in Dec, write a fanfic at a minimum of 1k about a myth or legend that takes place your state. They've recently opened back up in efforts to fill all 50 states with only a handful being considered closed. AD and I both have Alabama, but there's still spots open in that. There's also spots open in the other states we asked for--her: Mississippi; me: Alaska.

I also recently posted on my craft blog, Craft Wars. If it so strikes your fancy to do so, be sure to check that out! Also, see my previous blog post for a link to that writing competition I entered. I'd be very thankful for any and all votes on my story, entitled "Piece of."

And that's my writing update. Now, it's back to the ol' grindstone (re:keyboard).

Spin Me Right Round, Baby, Right Round Like a Record

Okay, so just a little update on me. Currently, I'm sitting in Birmingham because Preston had to finish up his college stuff--and I get to hang out with my BFFs Savvy and Slink!(Squee!) But, that doesn't mean the writing has stopped.

Fanfiction? Yeah, it's still going on. I've got to do my ficlet for today's entry into the Fic-A-Day challenge over at Twisting the Hellmouth's Live Journal, TwistedShorts. Oh, and that link on the words "Live Journal" leads to my personal LJ. I'm using it as a backup for my fanfics and it's still very much under construction. And, of course, I have to do that ever looming chapter of Trials, which isn't so bad except that I have to clear the time to do it.

Original fiction? Yeah, that's still going too. I've switched gears, leaving TWoC to sit for a bit while I work on AS and ChristianSciFi. Plus, I have all those pesky little deadlines still swirling around. I have about 1.3k written for one of the deadlines... oh, and I've gotten an acceptance for one of my stories, "Go See the Fall-Apart Man." That poor thing had been bounced around and around, so I'm glad that Pink Narcissus took it for their WTF!? Antho. And I've recently noticed that one of the other anthos I'm in is at the printer, so I'll be posting a cover over in my slideshow as soon as the publisher puts one back up. But I put about 1.3k on AS last night. I'm hoping to add even more today. It's got to be between 25k-35k... so, yeah. Miles to go...

Blogs? Well, I plan to do a blog about the pros of having a writing buddy over at my website. Look for that one soon. I'll post it up on the Guild of the Fantastic Quill's Blog sometime after. I also plan to review the earrings I won from Enchanted Conversaton's Island Music Contest over at my Craft Wars blog. So lots to do, lots to do. Not to mention that I need to read and review the last round of stories from something I'm participating in. Those are due in Sunday night, so I need to get started on those today.

So there's my progress in a nutshell. And, your reward for reading this far is this, another lovely fanart!



Yeah, I know it's nowhere near Halloween, but one of the upcoming chapters of Trials has a scene at a Halloween dance. Now, Isaac doesn't go as Batman, but Ria does go as Ivy. You can find that pattern on Icey Tina's profile at deviantart. Totally don't own the pictures, and yes, Aly is my model for Ria--not in personality and not entirely in looks... but she comes closest.

Zuul, Motherf**ker, Zuul

The above line is a quote from The Nostalgia Critic, coming from several of his very hilarious reviews. Definitely give them a watch. I specifically recommend watching The Top 11 Dumbest Spiderman Moments, but most everything I've seen so far has me cracking up over something.

So, what else have I been up to? Well, a lot and a little, to be honest. I'm still going strong in the Twisting the Hellmouth August Fic-A-Day. I put up that chapter of The Funny Thing About Keys mentioned in a previous post, so now I'm due for a chapter of Trials. I just had one, possibly two, chapter fanfic ideas handed to me not thirty seconds ago. And I've still got three other chapter fanfics to start.

And that's not my Original Fiction...

I made a switch on one of my novella projects,which puts me 5k ahead on it--roughly--which lets me breathe a little easier. I've got a good, solid skeleton on which to add the muscle. And it's only got to go to 15k min. (20k, max). It's code named ChristianSciFi (Bam! I know, right? LOL). As for the other two novellas with solid deadlines--TWoC and AS--I'm about 3.5k into TWoC and 300-500 into AS. That first scene on TWoC is killing me. It just won't frickin' end. I'm convinced that if I could just get to that first little scene change mark, it would all just come flying out onto the page. Bam! 25k, there it is! *sigh* I just need to type a crap end to that scene and come back later. I have a bitch of a time turning off my inner editor. Where is that NaNoWriMo magic the rest of the year that isn't November? And those other projects? There all still there, looming over me.

But I'm wriing every day. Which is good, no matter what I'm producing. It keeps my brain working, coming up with fresh ideas. So, I'm going to leave off here with this: I'm writing, but it's not always one type or the other. And, also, here's some more of my fanart! The link to my deviantart profile is over there ------> in my links, so check it out.



Made for one of my August Fic-A-Day fics. I was really proud of what I did to get it this way.

Just a Little Update

Well, like the title suggests, just a quick update on the Trishverse. I've gotten a couple more publication credits under my belt, and I have several big projects coming. Their codenames are as follows: TWoC, AS, LE, UntitledWBR, TOoLS, HoR:E, and DMatLoL. Four of these (and yes, I've double checked the spelling, despite how funny a couple of those look, lol) have solid deadlines in this year. While three of them are strictly an "all me" type of thing. Plus the list (literally) of smaller deadlines to meet this year. These, by the way, are my original, publishable goals. I still have my fanfiction ones.

And those fanfiction goals are to finish two of my currently running fics by mid-October to mid-November, Trials and The Funny Thing About Keys. And, along with that, start three--four when Trials is done-new fanfics. Yes, they do just keep coming. Oh, and then there's the current fanfiction thing I'm doing. See, Twisting the Hellmouth, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer xover site has a thing going called the August Fic-A-Day Challenge. One fanfiction between 300-3k each day. And chapters to a single fic don't count. So far, I'm 3/4--as it is now past midnight. Don't worry, though, that fourth one is still there. Oh, and I still need 10 fics to fill up the end of this month. So if anyone has got any Buffy xovers with shows/movies/books they'd like to see, let me hear them.

Outside of writing, Preston has nearly gotten everything set up for his school. All that's left is to get the people at the college to give him a date to come down and finish up. I think he even knows what he's getting back. As for me? Well, I'm still trying to find a small job to work until the move.

Well, now that you're all caught up, I'll leave you with this:

Songs that Make Me Think of Severus Snape:
"It's Not Me" by 3 Doors Down
"My Sweet Prince" by Placebo
"Poison Prince" by Amy MacDonald
"Dance with the Devil" by Breaking Benjamin (To be fair, this one reminds me of a lot of my favorite characters... and now that I think of it, this applies to the first one on this list too.)
"All Around Me" by Flyleaf

Give these a listen for youself! Oh, and Savvy, although the banner at the top of this post was made for one of my very, very embarassingly older fanfics, I thought of you when I made it.

Spoiler Alert!

Okay, so I made this banner for the an upcoming chapter of my fanfiction The Funny Thing About Keys, a Batman: The Animated Series/Buffy the Vampire Slayer fic. I made this banner as I was uploading the most recent chapter... and then realized that it would be a spoiler for the next chapter. So, yeah... this is the second place--including photobucket--that this banner has appeared on. Unfortantely for the readers of Twisting the Hellmouth--where is the only place I can put banners inside chapters... fanfiction.net I can only link to deviantart--I have plans to do the next chapter of another fic first. Not to mention three others... so yeah, it might be a bit before my readers see it. Well, here it is for you first!

Loving a Much Improved Mood

So, I am loving life right about now! I finished watching Alice last night on Syfy (which was awesome, by the way...not as epic seeming as Tin Man, but the fangirl in me loved the ending better). After which, I wrote the first half of the next chapter of All Fall Down...I'm hoping to finish that and get it out tonight. I keep getting random reviews for Untested and its sequel, which brings me new readers, which brings me more reviews, with equal please the review whore inside of me.

All but one major project/paper is done...and I find myself not giving a rat's ass about the last paper I have to do. I'm positive all of my groups members rated me well on my group project, which is a big load off my shoulders. I was terrified, absolutely horrified, that I might have flunked my History of England to 1688 paper...it was one of those situations where, after I turned it in, I was like, "What did I write? What was my point? Did it make sense? Did I even remember to put my name on it?" Also, I was one source short of the required number of sources. I was positive that a C was the closest I could get to passing this one....frickin' A minus, all the way!! I nearly did a dance right there in class (the Peanut Butter Jelly Time dance, as this is now my official celebratory dance...Thriller's too complicated and Time Warp requires too much space). I was all smiles when I went into my next class, and I'm still smiling. I have only one more day of regular class left...which means I'm 10 days away from graduating....10!!! And here I thought I wasn't going to make it...

Oh, the pic included in this blog is some recent fanart I've done with the program GIMP...it's for Untested (which, of my fanfics, seems to be ruling my world right now...and my email). I did use Aly as a model (in fanart only, not in the story) for my main OC, Adriana (Ria) Smith. The reason I included the pic is just because I'm so damn proud of it. It's easily my favorite of the several I've done so far.

I just zoned, realizing I haven't uploaded my Forever Knight/Buffy the Vampire Slayer art to my fanart on Twisting the Hellmouth...hmm, this shall have to be rectified.

In other notes, today...the one day I don't bring an umbrella with me...it's pouring.

Also, I miss my Slinky and Savvy and Hill-Hill! I felt like I haven't heard from them in forever! I missed Savvy's call and was unable to return it (see above assignments), Slink's been under the weather last I heard, and I'm sure Hill's been busy with end of term stuff. I see Kimmi all the time at work and school, which is a plus. I also miss the RPGs...but we've all been so busy! Damn you, life! Haha.

I also haven't decorated for Xmas yet...still have to get a tree. This better happen soon, otherwise I'm not going to be as happy as I am now.

But, that's it from me. Merry Xmas, happy end of semester, and bye-bye!!

Bogged Down and Ready for Something to Happen

Well, all is going well for the Trishverse. I have my other half of my loan, which means my money worries are over...I'm still trying to be judicious with my money, mind you, but at least now I can get started on my Xmas shopping. Which, I've already bought my Father's gift and part of dear Slinky's gift...and I already had part of Kimmi's gift...so I'm doing fine.

Above you see a new obsessive pastime of mine...thank you, Slinky...Thanks to her introducing me to the Gimp Program, I am now free to do my own fanart...and so it began. This is one of my two favorites (I've done three...working on a fourth with several more planned.). Also, I finally got my nanovid out...I was really happy with it!

School's going fine...I had a change of work schedules, which is tiring me out even more trying to adjust...My writing has been nil...that part is really what's bothering me...I wanted to finish All Fall Down before Nano...I'm still going to try, despite that I've got a crapload of plans this weekend...

As for Nano, I realized something the other day...I think, for me, I've been going about it all wrong these past few years...I've been too concerned about keeping up with the word count...which is important, but it bogs me down. However, I've found that if I just take it a chapter at a time, not concerned with word count, I actually get more words (see Untested and Years After for examples of this, haha). So, that's how I'm looking at it this year. 50, 000 words, yes...but one chapter at a time.

So, that's it for me. Until next time!