The ongoing saga of David D. Levine's writing and other adventures.
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I'm a geek, fan, and writer who lives in Portland, Oregon.
For more information about me, please see my
web page. If you have questions, comments, or just want to chat, you can send me e-mail. Or you can post a comment on my LiveJournal. |
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Word count: 121011 | Since last entry: -562
I've finished with this pass through the manuscript. My attempt to cut 30,000 words has failed; I cut a grand total of 8162 words, and in the next pass I suspect the word count will go back up a bit as I add backstory and a few other things requested by my beta readers. But I believe all those words are needed. If a publisher asks for cuts, I'll just ask them what they want cut. At least it is tighter than it was.
Work on the bathroom continues apace. The tile has been laid on all the walls up to and including the mosaic band all the way around, and a little bit of it includes the chair rail above that. It looks gorgeous, and will look even better once it's been grouted. There's still a couple of days' work to do on that. This weekend we will pick out cabinet knobs and the paint color for the walls.
In other news: my story "Sun Magic, Earth Magic" is now available for everyone to read for free as part of issue #1 of the new webzine Beneath Ceaseless Skies. The direct URL is http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/story.php?s=9. There's also a discussion forum if you want to talk about the story with other readers.
Also, the schedule for Wordstock, "Portland's Festival of the Book," has been posted. Looks like Jay Lake and I will be appearing together on the Community of Writers Portland Stage at 10:30am on Sunday, November 9. I hope to see a bunch of you Portland people there.
Looking a little further forward, there'll be a group signing by a number of local SF and Fantasy authors at Powell's at Cedar Hills Crossing on November 20. Mark your calendars; more details will be provided later.
Posted 10/10/2008 22:37 [e-mail me] [post comment] [permalink]
Word count: 121573 | Since last entry: -216
The bathroom remodel is driving me insane.
The cabinets were installed today, and we are not completely happy with them. The linen cabinet was over four inches too tall; we were able to have enough cut out of the middle that it fits under the ceiling, but some drawers are higher than we'd like. I think we'll live with that. The medicine chest is too shallow and has no shelves and no mirror; one of the drawers in the vanity opens on the wrong side; some of the drawer fronts don't fit properly. Those will have to be addressed. The cabinet installer, who is Ukranian like the tile guy, was heard to mutter something in Ukranian that included the English words "professionalism" and "idiots." Also, part of the wallboard had to be torn down to move a backing block that was misplaced (it was supposed to be fixed before the wallboard was put up) and there are some chips in the tub's enamel that I don't think were there before.
We should not have to hover over the workmen to make sure that everything is built and installed according to the approved plans, nor to ask them to not damage the items that have already been installed. Grr.
But the sink is in and looks gorgeous. The tile floor is very nice (though we now wish we'd laid out the design rotated 90° from what we did). And the toilet is back, at least for tonight... though there's no door on the bathroom. Still an improvement from the outhouse we've been using since Monday.
Also today we met with our financial guy. Our financial plan anticipated that there would be a couple of downturns during our retirement, but the size and timing of this one are unfortunate. However, unless things get much worse than he anticipates, I should not have to go back to work.
I put in an hour of work on the novel tonight but was not able to cut more than a couple hundred words. These climactic chapters are pretty tight (or else I'm just too much in love with them). There is one scene that I might be able to go back and cut if I really need to, maybe a thousand words' worth, but it does contain some useful information and character moments I don't want to lose. At this point I'm resigning myself to a final word count around 120,000.
I wish there was something we could do to relax that didn't involve calories.
Posted 10/08/2008 23:13 [e-mail me] [post comment] [permalink]
Word count: 121789 | Since last entry: -597
Spent about three hours at the coffee shop this afternoon, mostly reading over my own deathless prose. Unfortunately, all of it seems necessary, and I only managed to cut a couple of paragraphs here and there for a total of about 600 anti-words. Also, it sucks. (How can it suck so badly when every individual sentence is so brilliant? Ah, the gymnastics of the writer's mind...) Nonetheless, I will soldier on and complete these cuts, followed by a few brief additions and tweaks to address some review comments, followed by another stab at the synopsis. With luck I will have a completed package ready to be elevator-pitched at World Fantasy Convention over Halloween weekend.
No, "elevator-pitched" does not mean "pitched down an elevator shaft."
Vasily the tile guy has completed the floor and is now working on the wall tile, starting with the baseboard. The bathroom is looking better and better even as the bathroom project drives our daily lives farther and farther from sanity. Currently we are using a porta-potty in the front yard (and isn't that fun when the need arises in the middle of a rainy night?), the clothes washer is not usable until the cement in the basement sets, and the living room is half-full of boxes of tile and the just-delivered cabinets (which are beautiful, but stink of fresh stain).
Did not watch the debate. Frantically refreshed various political websites for reactions and post-debate polls, though. Cautiously optimistic.
Posted 10/07/2008 20:56 [e-mail me] [post comment] [permalink]
Word count: 122386 | Since last entry: -392
Work on the bathroom resumed bright and early this Monday morning, when the tile guys arrived. Unfortunately, it soon became clear that we did not have the "bullnose" tiles (with one rounded edge) needed for some outside corners. Fortunately, those tiles are a stock item, and Pratt & Larson Tile is right nearby, so with the wave of a credit card they were quickly obtained. The tile guy set up his water-cooled saw on the porch and with many a cheerful "gzannng!" he began laying out the floor.
Unfortunately, laying out the floor required removing the toilet, and it won't be back for a few days. We have a portapotty for the nonce. Whee.
While the tile guy was "gzannng"-ing away, the plumbers returned to complete the jackhammering-up of the rotted pipes in the basement. The good news in all this is that the next stretch of pipe proved to be in better shape than the first one, and so they didn't have to carve quite as large a trench in the basement floor as they'd expected (this also implies that the sewer pipe beyond our basement wall is also in good shape).
In the afternoon I got an email from a friend who recently spent some time in the hospital and needed help with her grocery shopping (she's not yet able to drive, and pushing a shopping cart is also a bit much to ask). I seized the opportunity to escape the noise, and instead went to Costco. This was only a slight improvement in terms of reducing my stress levels, but I can use the karma points.
After a nice dinner of Tomato-Miso Soup, I heard a cheery voice from outside: "Ahoy the house!" This turned out to be our friend Sam, who has been known to pop by unexpectedly and is always welcome. We showed her the progress on the bathroom and basement (the basement was finished when I got back from Costco, and we scratched the date and a peace sign in the wet concrete) and chatted most amicably for an hour or so.
Then I sat down and cut about 400 words from chapter 10. Less than desired, but better than nothing.
Posted 10/06/2008 23:10 [e-mail me] [post comment] [permalink]
Word count: 122778 | Since last entry: -277
A rare day with no workmen. Took it easy: slept in, gym, laundry, dinner with friends, watched The Amazing Race. Edited one chapter, but couldn't manage to squeeze out more than 300 words of cuts even with two editing passes. Some days are like that.
Posted 10/05/2008 22:59 [e-mail me] [post comment] [permalink]
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