So, I finished it. …

So, I finished it. "Bodies in Motion" clocked in at 6600 words (my longest single real story, I think) and roughly 11.5 hours. I worked on it from 9 a.m. to 12:30, but there were a few breaks for meals and reading in there. I nearly got entirely sidetracked by a Terry Pratchett around 4500 words, but I got back to the story with an effort of will. :-)

It needs work, of course. Shmuel already found a part where I accidentally cut some stuff I didn't mean to, so I need too back and patch that. And I'm sure my writers' groups will hack it apart (I'm not actually sure if I'll be sending it to them right away. We'll see.) And I need to know at least a little more about what astrophysicists do ('cause my protagonist *is* one), and whether it's plausible for Northwestern and Yale to be hiring them. And if I got the name of the journal right. And if, in general, I was clear. The protagonist is somewhat oblique (and more than a little confused), and I'm a bit worried about that. We'll see what y'all think.

Talk to me! Tell me if you liked it! If you're not on my readers list, why aren't you? (I should probably get off the net right now and go work on other things for the rest of the day and not come back to it until tonight, 'cause otherwise I'll just be checking every five minutes to see if anyone has sent me mail about the story yet. Maybe I'll do that soon.)

I did have a lot of fun writing this piece. Not the least of which was making the family tree, linking Raji to Minal (from "Season of Marriage" and "Minal in Winter") and linking them both to Chaya (protagonist of "Bodies in Motion"). It got complex very quickly, and it took some thought (and some historical help from David) to start getting the dates right.

I don't want to write a 'family saga', exactly. But I do like the idea of interlinked stories about people in one family -- some more attached than others. (Oh. I just realized I could probably cannibalize "Goddess Blessing", which I think is on my stories page, and incorporate it somewhere into this set. Hm. I'll have to think about it -- it has magic, of a sort. Not sure if it would be a good idea.)

I'm also trying to decide if I should attempt the men's stories at all. So far, we've got three women. The men are in the story, but I don't tell it from their point of view. I guess there's no need to make a firm decision in advance. If one of them jumps up and down, shouting, "Tell *my* story", then I will. None of them have yet.

Doing the family tree also brought two other stories up. I'm going to let them simmer for a while before I try to write them, though. For at least one of them, I actually have to do *research*! Besides, if I don't start doing my actual work, I'll be out of money very quickly. And if I don't go write that book review for Clean Sheets, my new editors will shoot me. And I'll deserve it.

One final note: Yesterday I worked with Clannad's _Anam_ on infinite repeat. For 15 hours or so. I have *got* to find another CD I can work to. Alex L. had a Bach CD at Clarion that worked great, but I don't remember which piece it was, and the Bach I do own (a compilation) doesn't work at all. Too bouncy. Maybe I should buy some more Clannad. Maybe I should contact Alex and find out what that CD was. This morning I'm listening to Enya's _The Memory of Trees_, and while I don't think I could write to that either, it's certainly a relief to be hearing something different.

Off to make my morning tea (and Shmuel, I felt so sorry for you when I read your journal entry of the 31st. You poor baby! I would have felt just crushed.)

1:45 p.m. Okay, I've still gotten exactly *one* response to my story. Y'all hate me. Or you hate the story and you don't have the heart to tell me.

In the interim I have managed to write a rather skimpy book review (at least it's done), and decided not to do a newsletter for last week. I'll just be very virtuous about getting this week's done in time. :-) Umm...have I accomplished anything else? Finished that damn Pratchett, washed my hair, wrote to my tech writing boss about some details, cleaned up a tad, drank one mug of chai and one mug of peppermint tea, talked to Heather about some UNIX stuff. Hm. Lots of stuff, not much of the productive-type stuff. Okay, I'm going to log off and call Jeff before it's too late.

8:15. How did it get so late?

Well, in some sense at least, I took most of today off. Karen came by around 2-ish, and we talked some about books and some about this set of stories, which was helpful, and some about family, and some about incorporating family stories into writing...or not (and yes, Arthur, I know we had the same conversation last night :-), and why (and why not). Interesting; frustrating. Eventually we headed out; I dropped off the rent and then we went to putter around the Rockridge area. She discovered a bread store she really likes (liked on the East Coast, that is, and didn't realize it was a chain), and I introduced her to the gourmet store where I get my Queen Anne and Golden Ceylon tea, and my clotted cream. (They also had little jars of Thai green and red chilies, which I found today and picked up! And I got a jar of Ethiopian sauce, which I had with chicken for dinner, and they were serious about the 'hot' label on it. Very hot and tangy...)

After that we went used clothes shopping for a bit (I found two skirts, one practical and one cute :-), and then went to Pendragon Books. I had somehow never been there before -- a good store, I think. I came away with _Green Shadows, White Whale_ by Ray Bradbury (which I am now halfway through), a autobiographical account of his visit to Ireland and his work on turning Moby Dick in to a screenplay, very funny and filled with very Irish stories; also bought Bujold's _Komarr_ (which I have read, but now own), John Christopher's _Beyond the Burning Lands_ (I am slowly filling out my set of his books), and Philip Pullman's _The Golden Compass_, which I had never heard of but which Karen recommended highly.

And then she went home and I went home and I ate and read some more and now I'm doing this journal and wondering if I'm going to get any real work done today. Probably not. Still recovering from yesterday. I feel less sick, though! Sniffly, but no longer absolutely miserable. Tomorrow I'm going to work hard, gosh darn it.

I did talk to Jeff, btw, and he wants to see that porn piece. Huzzah -- I could use the money. I *will* work on it tomorrow.

And finally, a present for you, my munchkins. Remember way back when, when I promised you Yosemite pictures? Well, with Jed's help, the photos are up, and you get an adventure story with them...enjoy!

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