Culture Clinic is moving along. Check out the progress bar. Hope to finish rough edits tomorrow.
Made good progress
2
Category Archives: WB2–Culture Clinic
Made good progress
Backgrounding wonderfulness, and back to work
My bud sent me a book on bookbinding some time ago, and I picked up one on handmade books. Things have to float around in my subconscious for a while before I figure out what to do with them, and these books were like that.
I don’t know if it was the fever, or just a connection of strange dreams and good timing, but I had this amazing idea while I was sickest—to take the moonroading background I’ve been working up in my head (for The Ruby Key and the MOON & SUN series) and do it as a painted journal written by the cat for the girl who’s the hero of the series. Ang the Cat’s Secret Guide to Moonroading. I don’t know if it’s anything Scholastic will be interested in, but if it isn’t, I can always do it as an e-book and a full-color art book on Lulu.
Today I’m doing the copyedit for Night Echoes, and it’s been one of those days. I’m not completely better yet (though Thera-flu, Cold-Eze, and other things have helped a lot), but deadlines know no mercy. The cat is purring on my shoulder as I write this, though, and I remind myself that I could as easily be at work in a hospital where everyone else is sick, too, and nobody can take sick time because then there’d be no nurses at all, and I am deeply grateful to be doing copyedits on the couch, wrapped in a blanket and sipping hot tea.
Should have this done today, should be doing copyedits on the Create a Character Clinic tomorrow. And then getting ready to give the kid some fun on Halloween.
Hope you’re doing well, and thank you for the good wishes. I appreciate them.
Sick again
Received the copyedits for NIGHT ECHOES—they’re pretty clean. Shouldn’t take long, but I feel dreadful. The kidlet caught something, and now we’ve caught it. So work is catch-as-catch-can for the next few days.
First Draft of Culture Clinic is done
Have to do the copyedit of NIGHT ECHOES tomorrow. Will proof and publish Culture Clinic when that is done.
Doing mail ate the day
Actually, the mail part of the process of sending out contest winners’ books wasn’t too time consuming. Finding the books, however, was a nightmare. It turns out that I have no more copies of either Diplomacy of Wolves or Vengeance of Dragons (or if I have them, they’re buried far, far away from all the rest of my author’s copies.) But I didn’t determine this until I’d turned the house upside-down trying to find them.
So no words got written and no charts got made today. I did, however, discover that someone found my website with the following search.
“do nurses get paid less than football players”
Long pause while you consider this question. Any guesses on the answer?
The answer to that question is Yes. Lots less. Bunches less. Unimaginable mountains less. If your job options are professional nurse or professional football player and money means anything to you, play football. The pro football contract-minimum salary is about twenty times what a top nurse makes in a year, and if you’re any good, the salary inequity becomes staggering.
If you like your knees, though, and you value people, be a nurse. It’s a critical job, and you never doubt that you’re doing something with your life that makes a difference.
Main part of Create a Culture Clinic is done
I’ve finished the first draft of the main part of the Culture Clinic. I still have to do all the organizational sheets and worksheets and accompanying instructions (a significant task) and I still have to edit and proof. But I’m definitely on track with this book, and I’m very pleased with the way it’s going.
Today was Religion and Economics
Religion was a combination of head-down slog and great fun—the section required a lot of background work on the enormous number of religions and philosophies available for the culture-builder to draw on, but it also included the fun of covering pantheon-building, liturgies and services, and other goodies.
And economics might sound like a drag, but when you’re developing (or figuring out) your barter-economy culture (for example), it really does help to know how many live chickens a black-market drug dealer would accept for three ounces of cocaine, or the equivalent.
I’m done for the day. Got over 2500 words, and I like them. Better yet, I’m keeping the size of this project in line, and now think I’ll be able to bring it in pretty close to my goal wordcount. Which means a print book will be doable at a sane price.
2500+ Very Happy Words
Work on the culture clinic went well today. Finished personal lives and spaces, moving into community development now. I love how it’s coming together.
Urp
Sick today. Sick, sick, sick.
Writing today. Writing, writing, writing.
Let’s see which one wins—2500 words or barfing up toenails. This should be a fun game.
Clinic Cruised
Got 2500+ words today on the Culture Clinic. However, it does seem to be …. er …. running long. And I’m being as compact as I can, dammit.
Well, I’m really pleased with what I got, anyway, and I’m well set up for work tomorrow. Now that I have the approach down, it’s all coming together.
Of course, the poor soul who ignores the warnings and does everything in the book is going to end up with enough material for a doctoral thesis.