A Twist of Things to Come

Had a longish talk with my Beloved today. It seems there's going to be a labor strike in South Africa in the next week to ten days, and he really, really doesn't want to take us into that sort of situation. SA has 40% and no welfare programs to speak of, so high food and fuel costs mean many people will be hungry. You know what they say -- no society is more than three meals away from revolution. At the very least it will probably mean riots, and SA is already the second highest country in the world for annual number of murders (second to India, which has a HECK of a lot more people, and this is raw data-- number of murders not murders by percent of population).

So, yeah. Staying here. :) I think the boys will be pleased, actually, because they didn't really want to go. The plan now is that we'll go with him when he's not working and we can all stay together and hit the wildlife parks and things.

Also, the company's prospects for domestic work are improving, so the travel may not be as large a factor in our lives, soon.

So, pretty much good news all around. :)

***

Now, for the Unfinished Novel Meme, gacked from nearly everyone, but cristalia most recently, I think.

I figured it would be good for me, since I need to face my demons. And my biggest demon is the Fear of Success demon and the Self-Sabotage demon, which morph collectively into the Can't-Finnish-A-Long-Story demon.



Partially written novels:

Untitled Seer Fantasy Thing My first abortive attempt at a novel. It started in a dungeon, which was probably the best thing about it. I have about 150 pages on it. It's not that bad a story, aside from being Fantasy which I never read much of besides LotR, so it may not suit the genre very well. I may come back to it at some point.

Boyhouse A distant future, a feminist dystopia. *cackles madly* This one... I still love the idea, the story. It fizzled when my youngest was diagnosed PDD as a toddler. I spent a lot of my time working with him, getting him the early intervention stuff they said would help him. I don't regret a bit of it, but this one is at the top of my list to finish, after the final draft of Shift. Or maybe before, if I can't decide on a voice and POV for the Shift re-write. I have about 250 pages on this one, I think.

Complete first drafts:

He Smelled Like Pennies This one is a memoir about me and my mom and some friends in my youth. I basically wrote it to heal myself, and share a bit of my experience with people. Those who've read it claimed it was powerful and moving, but I must admit it rambles. I need to print it out, cut it up and organize the stories into a better narrative flow, if I want to try to sell it. The truth is I can't bear to open the file anymore. I'm still a bit raw from writing it. It's around 60 to 70,000 words, and non-fiction, so it probably doesn't belong in a novel meme. It is something I finished, however, and proof that I can do it. Finish something long, I mean.

Shift Young adult shape shifter Lethe tries to save her sister from a monolithic government/corporation that wants to rid the world Shifters, accidentally starts a revolution. Probably could be a series. I love this story, but since a friend who knows people in the industry suggested I re-write it from the boy protag's POV (and in first person) to be more marketable, the wind has left my sails. I'm stalled. This is the most frustrated I've ever been with a story, I think.

Fanfiction. Yeah, you heard me. :P *pththtt* During the time I was unable to really concentrate on writing -- years and years of time, honestly-- due to various life things, I started writing a fanfic/smut epic in which a well known Jedi character is a pleasure worker, titled Help Me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, You're My Only Ho. *snorfle* I SLAY me. It started with a list of things I'd never seen in fanfic or smut, and a labyrinthine plot making them at least remotely feasible. Along the way, I managed to work in Ent-like creatures and some interesting original characters. I've enjoyed it, but been rather unfocused about finishing. I'm very close to the end now, and ticking off things on my list. Consensual tentacle sex, check. Autofellatio, check. Character beaten senseless with his own severed arm, check. The best part about it was the freedom, because it's the first thing I ever wrote not really caring what the hell anybody would say about it. (Well, okay, and also knowing that mostly in TPM fanfic people don't gripe at you that much about what they don't like.) I used it to work through some bad stuff, too. I think it was my mom's death that made some of the torture scenes turn out so extreme. I was really angry.

Anyway, it's almost done, and I'm really pleased with it. It survived two crashes, each time collected from scattered bits and pieces, and it could use an all-over line edit (which I suspect it will not get). It feels good to write something for free, for fun, and not give a flying frak whether some editor or agent would like it. Plus I think it has given me confidence I didn't have before. I managed some really nice moments in it, and I'm glad hominysnark encouraged me to keep writing it, when other things went dry. :) I think it helped me displace a bit when I got stuck on something else.


In any case, I managed to write some short stories, and even to sell one this year while wrestling with various mountains of crap/novels. ;) So I feel pretty good. I think I may do a list of short story ideas, too, because that will likely be what work on next.