Up from the ground

[gwyn]

I didn't think I could make it to the end of this meme, with depression eating away at me. But yay, here I am.

1. There's a super sweet guy in my writer's group who's getting ready to self-publish a fantasy novel. He's been running cover ideas past the group and just showed us some new cover art, basically variations on the same concept. His protagonist on one cover has short dark hair, and on another long scraggly dark hair that makes it impossible to see his face. I commented that if they make his face more visible, I liked the long-hair version best because he has a Bucky Barnes Winter Soldier thing going on and that's never bad. He wrote back, "Bucky Barnes was really hot. Even I could see that." So he's now very happy about keeping long-hair version.

2. The blue I put in my hair has been hanging on for months and wasn't going away, and I kind of wanted to give my hair a little rest for a bit before I go back to the bold colors. I saw a new guy the other day and I really thought there was no way they could give me an all-over color with these patches hanging around, but hours later and a hell of a lot of money, the blue was gone and I had a really lovely coppery color that's not unlike my old real red before my hair started turning brown. Not something I want to do again (my back and my pocketbook are both saying OW a lot this week), but I'm glad it worked in time for my trip to the east coast next week.

3. I found a little portable foldable keyboard to use with my iPad so I don't have to bring my laptop on the trip in order to write. I don't know what app to get to write with, though. The keyboard is okay, it's not perfect but it'll do better than trying to type in-screen, plus it's purple, so.

3.1 The horrible book is off to the publisher, so I feel like I can breathe. Now I'm copyediting a fantasy romance from a writer who's really fantastic with the mechanics and loves suggestions, so there's not nearly as much work involved. I keep proofreading behind these incompetent copyeditors and it's so dismaying. This recent awful book, the CE didn't know the difference between pored/poured, and didn't know the phrase is en route. I despair.

3.2 I finished a second draft of a kind of (sequel? continuation? series? inspired by/remix? I have absolutely no idea how to post this thing) 2014 update to Every Picture Tells a Story. It's awful, and nearly twice as long, and did I mention awful (none of what I think some folks found sweet or charming about the original is in this), but I hope it will be finished soon. I have so many ideas and no clue what to tackle next, though.

Comments

[kass]

I'm just glad to hear your voice, sweetie. Always. *HUG*

[devilc]

I just want you to know that if work wasn't running me ragged, I'd post long loving feedback. But I'm doing two jobs and I'm crying from the stress of what's going on with the fucking safe today here at work.

But, I loved Every Picture Tells a Story. LOVED. IT.

And I think that the way in which Bucky's memory returned in Dark Approach is genius. This little tiny, subtle thing, at just the right moment was all it took. So different from the big dramatic moments that everybody else tends to write.

[goodbyebird]

2. Oh, your hair sounds super pretty! It's always a boost to get something like that done before you go on a trip :)

3. I've used both iA Writer and OmmWriter on the iPad, and enjoyed both. They're no fuss no muss, and the Omm one has lovely soundscapes you can listen to while writing if you want. Very relaxing. Recently I also dl Hanx Writer, which gives you the old fashioned typewriter display and sound while you type. Haven't given that one much of a test drive though.

Happy to hear you finished with the crap book and got something better to immerse yourself in. And I can't wait to get around to your fic! Fics just piled up on me when I was home, so slowly working my way through all the open tabs and AO3 notifications rn.

[umadoshi]

This recent awful book, the CE didn't know the difference between pored/poured, and didn't know the phrase is en route.

They...what?! *boggles* I have no words. Except maybe "can I have that person's job?"

(And given 3.2, this seems as good a place as any--except it always feels awkward anyway--to say that I'm tucking your fic away as you release it, which means it's on my terrifying to-read list and Will Get Read. I've only been reading something like one fic every month or so for the last year or two, which is frustrating when a good twenty or thirty a month probably come up on my reading list alone every month, never mind recs. O_O But despite my slowness, I'm looking forward to it!)

[sperrywink]

Go you for finishing the meme, and continuing it!! You get major pellets and kudos for that! \o/

keyboards for iPads are great. I couldn't travel without mine. (And haven't for 2-3 years now).

[queenofattolia.livejournal.com]

The CE thought it was "in route," didn't s/he? That drives me nuts - almost as much as "phased" when the writer means "fazed," or "flare" when what is meant is "flair"(or "breath" for "breathe," or "loose" for "lose"). I've seen the wrong words used very blithely in NYT articles recently, for God's sake. We're doomed.

Congratulations on the successful de-bluing of your hair. Your description of the color sounds beautiful. Sometimes we must bite the bullet for good hair, as painful as it is.

[mackiemesser.livejournal.com]

Item 3.1--were you at lease able to avoid the whole per se/per say debacle with the CE?