Weekly Writing Check-In: Kitty Come Home, Because My Worry Is Keeping Me From Working

Good News This Week: I finished book 5 as planned, and have most off it pre-edited before shipping it off to my editor. Yeah, that's pretty much the only good news this week. Because...

Bad News This Week: My cat (pictured) has been missing since last Saturday. All my worry over her has taken up my creative energy and made it near impossible to work at times. Sigh. Flyers go up tomorrow. (I still have to make them.) Come on cat, get your furry ass home already. Unless one of the nice ladies who power walks every morning decided you were a stray. Then first I need you to bust out of there and get your furry ass home OKAY. I am too optimistic for my own good.

Weekly Writing Check-In: Work work work.

Man, what a roller coaster of a week. Last week I drew up an outline for the last few scenes in my current WIP, and hoped to get through most of them by today. Well, I got through five out of ten scenes, with the sixth one started. Why not more? Because my final edits came in so I started editing instead! And as of last night, editing is finished! Woohoo! Well, I'm going to start a final read through tomorrow before tackling formatting later this week. I also hope to get through the outline this week and be done with another rough draft! (A really, really rough draft.)

Sadly, this week hasn't be all good news. A couple weeks ago I mentioned my cat Cassie was diagnosed with cancer, but seemed to be doing well on her medicine. Well, last week she stopped eating again, and Friday we had to put her down. Understandably (or it better be), I was really upset for a couple days, also leading to me not writing much. Cats are my favorite animals, and I bond closer to them than any other. She was a very good and affectionate cat who was always there for me when others weren't. Actually, this is the second cat we've lost this year. Third, if you count my other cat that has declared herself feral. 2012 has been awful for animals. I'm also not reading much right now, because I always enjoyed reading outside in the sunshine with the cats bothering me and making beds out of my blankets. Not anymore, I suppose. Life sucks. Then you publish.

Onward~

Weekly Writing Check-In: Stuff Happened!

Remember last week when I was so bored and had nothing new to talk about, that I had to post a video of a crazy Japanese video game commercial to keep things alive? But thankfully I have new things to talk about this week! Friday I announced my new series, REN'AI RENSAI, and the first installment "DAISUKI." releasing on September 28th! And on Saturday I announced my promotions for September and the blog tour for October. Exciting!

Sadly, not everything has been so happenin' this week. On Wednesday we noticed our oldest cat wasn't eating anymore, and on Friday we took her to the vet and found out our suspicions were true:  her cancer is back, and this time it'll probably be the end of her. Thankfully, we've got her on medicine that makes her happy and act healthy again. It's just we don't know how long it will last, and when she will want to go. So until then, we're coddling her and giving her way, way too much leeway in this house..heh.

So because of anguishing over the cat all week, I never got any sleep and was a zombie these past couple of days. No writing got done whatsoever. OH well, I'm a few thousand ahead in Camp, so I could afford it. But I need to get back on track by tomorrow at the latest.

(And for those wondering at home, here's our sweetie darlin' kitty before she got all sick and unwell.)

Hildred's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1

I've always wanted to be a singer-songwriter. But I assure you all I would come up with a better Best Of title than that.

Anyway, partly for me, mostly for you, I'm compiling a list of my "best" blog posts here ever since I first started writing in 2008. (Well, I've been on Blogger since about 2010, but I imported posts before that here.) These are the posts that I feel best reflect my opinions on writing, got some interesting discussions both on and off Blogger, and just in general you can look at if you would like to get to know my blog a little bit better! I'll be posting them in chronological order with their original month of publication because omg some of these are so old and yet I remember the exact  moments of writing them. Life. Tell it stop speeding by.

- I hang out with John and Joanne at the library. (August 2009) Writing exercise.
- "Who's the Puppet, Who's the Master?" (November 2009) Character rant.
- "I think you may just be complicating...everything" and other stories about apples burning down houses told in less than 100 pages and no less than five run-on sentences.  (July 2010) Novels vs. Short Stories
- "Hello? Random person? I have a question for my novel...yes, I can hold?" (September 2010) lol.
- "But are you a -real- author?" (January 2011) Publishing Rant
- "UM EXCUSE YOU I'm busy talking to myself here." (August 2011) Writing quirks.
- SUPER AWESOME 100TH ENTRY PARTY POST. (September 2011) PARTYPARTYPARTY.
- Why I Write (September 2011) Blog meme, general thoughtfulness.
- Why My Debut Novel Will Never Be Traditionally Published (October 2011) Bam.
- Technicalities, Vol 3: Who are you? Why are you in my novel? (October 2011) Character rant.
- Fun With  Maps: Homegrown Homes (December 2011) Writing notes.
- Fun With Maps: Now...where do those homes go? (December 2011) Writing notes.
- Why I don't write Young Adult Fiction  (December 2011) Not trolling, I swear.

Bam. Greatest Hits In Blogging Vol 1. Please excuse the typos in the older entries, I ain't gonna fix anything at the moment~


ALSO. I'm trying to decide what to post on Monday. Right now I have two articles ready to go. One is called "Why Queer Characters Are Important In Fiction" and the other is "I'd Rather Feed The Trolls". Based on titles alone, which one piques your interest more?

My cat thanks you for your time.

For your trouble, here is my cat on the roof. Sigh.

Hubpages Wednesday: MOAR CATS.

I held every one of these cats. Jealous?

Only one hub to share with y'all this week, but it's one that I had a lot of fun "researching" and writing up!

Basically, Japanese Cat Cafes: The Best in Pet Rentals!

Cat cafes are like a beacon of light in my life here in the land of extreme weather and social isolation. Oh, and really, really missing my cats back home.

I had hoped to have another one this week, but my output has been less than satisfactory. Oh well. At least I know what my next one is going to be now. I'm starting to make steady cents now, and all my hubs are being ranked high and quality so, really, #15 (which is considered a milestone at HP) should be good!

Oh, and there's video at that there hub. That I took myself. Of lots of cats.

Lots of cats.

Many many cats.

"(no title) my ass, get with the program Blogger~"

I spent most of today wondering if I should make a V-day (that will never not mean "venereal" to me) post, and when I decided that I might, I then spent too much time wondering exactly what I would write about - romance? Meh. Hot sexx0rz scenes? Possibly. My cats? Oh my god, yes.

Buuuut now you're all spared from me gushing about how much I love my cats because I got tagged by Samantha to do the latest and greatest meme. Basically, answer her 11 questions, then tag 11 more people with questions of my own. Innovative!

K, let's get this done so I can go shower. I taught four classes today with some of the most exhausting kids ever, and I need that shower.

1. Chocolate or Whipped Cream?
There is no way to answer this as a matter of fact. It all depends on what kind of chocolate, and whether or not the whipped cream is that god-awful disgusting Ready Whip crap. (I have feelings about it, okay. I don't like my toppings to taste of the metal container they came out of it.)
2. What was your favorite subject in High School and why?
English. Because I was the smartest at it and everyone knew it (I was failing math, okay, I needed some positivity in my life.)
3. If you could witness any major event in history, what would it be?
Considering I've stared at this for about ten minutes now, I must not have an answer...
4. You had to pick the next Sexiest Man Alive. Who would be on the cover?

LOL SUCH A LESBIAN ANSWER.

5. What's your all time favorite movie?
The Fifth Element.

Because it is the Fifth Element.
6. If I asked your best friend about you. what would be the first three words they would pick to describe you?
"Shez dpin grest"
7. Who is your biggest supporter in your writing?
I dunno. Me? I kinda have to be.
8. Favorite Disney Princess is?
What's a Disney? I kid. But I don't have one. I could never stand any of them. Although when I was a wee bb dyke I thought Jasmine should be my bff-girlfriend. She had a tiger. Cats are cool.
9. You've just won a free trip to unwind and de-stress. Where would that destination be?
HELL. No, seriously! Think about it! What's a better way to unwind and de-stress then, idk, realize that things could be way worse.
The horrible thing is that this was seriously the first thing to pop into my head when I read this.
10. Who do you call an inspiration in your life?
ohohohoho, you almost made me write something naughty here!
11. IPhone or Android?
Kindle Fire.


Uhhhh pretty sure I'm one of the last people to get tagged based on my blog list, but HEY WHATEVER! Time to dig in and post some links!

1. Dan
2. The East Coaster
3. Lara Schiffbauer
4. Melissa Sugar
5. CV Marie
6. Karina Lawrence
7. Misha Gericke
8. CM Brown
9. Halford
10. Sabrina A. Fish
11. fairbetty

Your odds of being tagged were high if you've recently been active on my blog.

Or your name happens to be Dan.

ANYWAY you want yours questions, right?

1. What is the single most annoying trope that makes you want to claw your eyes out?
2. If you could alter history and claim credit for any book ever written, what would it be?
3. How many kids were in your HS graduating class? (or are in your class right now, if you're still in school)
4. If you were guaranteed massive success either way, would you rather traditionally publish or self-publish?
5. What's the most you've ever paid for an article of clothing...for yourself?
6. Singer, Model, or Actress - who you gonna be?
7. Chef, Driver, or Maid - who you gonna hire?
8. Bath or shower?
9. You're scheduling for a delivery to your house during normal business hours. What time do you request, and why?
10. Could you survive a whole year or more in a traditional Japanese apartment? (for the record, the one in the video is 10x nicer than mine, although mine is technically larger. Yay.)
11. Favorite Pokemon. And you can't cop out with "i dunno pokemon" because here's a link, pick the cutest one!

Shazam! Also, I would love if everyone answered the Japanese apartment question at least, because ahahah my life.

ALSO I LIED. HERE'S A PICTURE OF MY CAT.

RAWR STRING RAWR.

Hubpages Wednesday: CLICK HERE FOR CATS (and music)

THE POWER OF MARU COMPELS YOU!

In this very special edition of Hubpages Thursday Wednesday, I post pictures of cats that are NOT MY OWN. Scandalous. But not as scandalous as Maru the Cat

This week I've got two big hubs for you - both figuratively and literally, that is. Figuratively, have a gander at the internet sensation Maru the Cat: In Profile, and In Boxes. He is the only cat in the world I deem cuter than mine, and for good reason. Because he is Maru. And your life is null and void without his Youtube videos streaming in your life.

The second, literally big, article is Top 10 Japanese Pop (J-pop) Albums, in which I wax on and on about...the best J-pop albums. I like to think of myself as an expert in this sort of thing - so take my advice and listen to some great music! Please, Zwei needs more fans.

That's it for this week. Join us next week when I continue to implore you to read my crap!

Weekly Writing Check-In: CAAAAAT.

Due to all the traveling (and full days of work) this week, very little writing or editing got done. I think I wrote a total of three lines last night, and that's about it. Mostly caught up on my sleep now, and my regular schedule returns this next week, so I'm hoping to finish up this chapter I'm on now so I can get back to editing.

Some of you (okay, none of you) may remember my lamenting of probably never writing certain characters, in particular a cat named Sadie. Well, after getting The Sims 3 Pets expansion pack for Christmas, I decided that it was time to bring Sadie to life...in a computer game. I loaded her little fur-butt up, and, behold! She lives!

I gave her the attributes of "Genius", "Quiet", and "Friendly". Three pretty safe features for a pet sim, but that's how I start stuff out. I've only played the household for an hour after adding the cat, but I'm already loving all the little interactions that I may have to think more about actually adding her into the series somehow.

And that's my week. First week of 2012 has been completely unproductive. Good thing I don't make resolutions.

Cats! Forever! And ever!

LOOK AT MY KITTY. LOOK AT HER.

I like cats, so it goes without saying that most of my characters like cats as well. This is one of those instances where I don't feel bad at all for projecting my own likes/dislikes onto my characters - because cats are amazing and if my characters want to remain, you know, my characters, they damn well think so too. (Blackmail works on characters, did you know that?)

That said, while my characters like cats I very rarely...have cats in my novels! I can think of only one instance in which a character actually owns a cat that gets a fair amount of screen time, and she ain't in the series I'm working on at the moment...nor is the cat coming along for a few more books. However, in my notes for both of my series I can see where I had planned for cats to be hanging in the background as stress relievers for my characters, or you know, great comic relief cause catz r funn3h. 

And now I would like to talk about the cat that may never be.

Her name is Sadie. She's a simple black American short-hair with charming green eyes and the proper catitude that says "all this? it's mine. yeah, the TV too. Oh, you're saving the world? Too bad. TV's mine." In my notes Sadie belongs to one of my female characters starting in CROSS//Revenge. These are old notes, however, and Sadie is currently not slated to be in Revenge at all. Or any other book in the series, probably.

I don't know what happened! At first it was that I couldn't justify this character just going out and getting a cat between novels. And then she's not in a spot in her life where taking care of a small creature is very feasible. So Sadie was going to wait until the end of the series when everyone is settled down again and can have a cat. But now I still don't see it. Sadie may never ~come to be~ in this series.

I know. I could just shelve her and use her later in some other novel or story. But you know how cats are. They know what they want and there really isn't any arguing with them. Sadie may be fictional, but she's much the same. She wants to belong to this particular character in this particular series, or she's just gonna stay in the Imagination Shelter forever (luckily, it's no kill!) I still don't have plans for the frisky feline yet but the final books are still a few years away from any official planning, so who knows! Maybe Sadie will appear in CROSS//Repent or later. Or maybe she won't.

Maybe she's run away from home and go shack up with someone else...like you?

How about you? Are there any things that you share with your characters, and yet they never show up in your stories? Or are there characters that you SWEAR you're going to use and then never do? Dish.