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Friday, October 10, 2008

Friday Random

Random Progress this Week: I wrote 16, 2350 words exactly this week, spanning three pieces of work. And I edited two point five chapters of DoJ and put them up for review. Considering I have weeks where I write barely 1k, this is very good. For the month I'm averaging about 1,805 words daily. And today I am going to kill my average because it's 5pm and I've written nothing.

Random Exercise of the Week: Trying to get fit, and avoid being the sterotypical suburban mom, I went belly dancing on Wednesday. The teacher is the gorgeous slavic lady who yells "Fitness!" when you aren't using your abs right. I hurt! And I found some more belly dancing lessons online so I can practice during the week. $3 fitness classes and free online are perfect for my budget.

Random Recipe of the Week: Muesila is what my grandmother called it, and I've spent years trying to mimic her off -the-cuff recipe that gave you crunchy, caramel-y, oats with raisins and apples. I've ditched the raisins, but you could add dried cranberries (or raisins) or pears, or whatever. The recipe is adaptable, and the measurements are my best guess.
Breakfast for One
2 tbspns butter (enough to cover the bottom of the pan and leave some pooling)
Oats (uncooked oatmeal) to cover the bottom of the pan
4 tbspns brown sugar (enough to cover the oats... you get the pictures)
1 apple chopped

- Heat the pan, without butter, on medium high heat until it's warm. Add the butter and as soon as the butter melts add the oats.
- Stir
- Sprinkle the brown sugar over the oats and keep stirring, you want to keep going until the oats start clumping and just before things turn brown and burn...... this is meant to be crunchy, so don't overdue the butter........ you could just make this part and mix into a trail mix if you wanted
- Toss oats with chopped apples or pears. You can heat the apples briefly on the skillet if you want.

Like I said, it's adaptable. Toss in chopped pecans or walnuts with oats, try dried cranberries or other fruit in the mix. You can have a huge bowl and serve it as a meal for one (instead of cereal which I hate) or you could serve smaller portions on the side with any eggs, bacon, or some other breakfast-y food. This is an excellent way to use up the half-apple your toddlers don't finish.

Random Reason to Like Harry Potter: I really don't like Harry Potter. I'm not a huge fan of YA. I don't like the child abuse factor. I don't like the whole cast of Mary-Sues. I don't like rampant stupidity as a plot device. But Sparkly Vampire YA Romance is worse! (check here and here for why). So, because HP isn't Twilight.... I like HP for today (warning- link has language acceptable for American public schools which means it's not acceptable for a whole lot of other people). *I'm still giggling*

Random Thing that will Drive me Insane this Weekend: Eldest has a 4 day weekend. It's 5:30... no writing has been done today, and she keeps popping up in my study. "Ice cream, Mom?" "Mom, can I eat?" "Can we sew, Mom?" Her little sister is still napping so the big one is going to drive me insane. Especially since she saw me searching the comics and wants big, pretty, pictures again.

Random Writing Question: How often do you throw out the conventions? Really, how often do you borrow known mythology and slang from the world around us and how often do you totally make up your own universe?

I had this discussion with friends earlier and someone made a very good point. The sci-fi and fantasy books that sell well are the ones that do something completely new. Instead of sounding like Tolkein fan-fiction or a rip off H.G. Wells the books that sell well, are unique. Harry Potter (not my fav but I seem to be a minority of 1) turned the idea of magic in the modern world on it's ear. Jim Butcher's Dresden Files did the same thing. George Lucas took the idea of space ships and aliens and made Star Wars, and we are all envious.

Have you gotten there yet in your writing? Or are you intending to keep the conventions but do them so new and wonderfully that everyone will think Tolkein's writing was a fanfic tribute to you?

Me.... I think my writing's unique. I'm pretty sure no one is doing what I do with sci-fi. My fantasy is a bit more cliched, but that's not my main genre, and I'm trying to improve on that.


So.............What's your random?

12 comments:

  1. My random...changing the POV of an entire series.

    Talk about insane...

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  2. Wow. I'm still dying with laughter over here. The Twilight thing . . . I'm an exception out here in good ol' Utah. I HATE Twilight. I read the series wondering what all the freakin' hype was about. I nearly gagged the whole way through. Ugh. (Meyer's word of ultimate, annoying overuse.)

    Thanks for the comics. I will periodically read them when I need comfort from the crazy Bella and Cullen fans surrounding me out here. There's even a kiosk in the mall that sells Twilight crap.

    If they were written well, I'd be okay with that. But, well, you know, they're NOT. At least HP is a worthy piece of fiction.

    Yes, my child's whining is driving me nuts today, too.

    Not sure if I can answer your random writing question. I don't write fantasy. And unlike you, I love YA. I write YA. Trying to move into more adult...

    But I don't see why that would keep us from corresponding. ;)

    I'm sure your fantasy sci-fi writing is fantastic! From how you've described it, you're being brave and doing something different. Let's hope some lucky agent discovers you! I'm sure I would enjoy reading your word even though it's not my preferred genre. Your blog is entertaining, if that's any indication. :)

    Have a great weekend!

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  3. I don't hate all YA, honest, I just run into so many YA books that I wish hd been fleshed out because I love the characters and the short YA format was just too little time to spend with them.

    I am trying to write something borderline YA for NaNo. It might even wind up being a midgrade novel. We shall see.

    But, authors are authors. I don't have to love their writing to understand they're writers and working hard just like me :o)

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  4. Thanks. :)

    My "YA" novel is 112,300 words right now. Yeah, it's long. But it really is a crossover piece. It works both ways. So how does THAT work out?

    It's really in no-man's land.

    Not sure if it has a chance out there, but I'll definitely take the chance!

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  5. 112k would be long for an adult novel. Usually they say 75-100k for debut novel in most my genres.

    Could you cut it in half and make it a dualogy?

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  6. Love the recipe, L! Printed it out and plan on trying it as soon as I am able :D

    ~Bethy

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  7. Yes, Twilight is rather terrible. Although I quite like Harry Potter myself, even if JK does borrow her plot from every fantasy book ever written.

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  8. Cut it in half?! NOOOOOO!

    Just kidding. No, it wouldn't work if I did that. Right now in my revision stage I'm working on cutting a lot of good, but unnecessary stuff out.

    However, I'm a firm believer that if I'm including everything absolutely necessary to tell the story well, and it just happens to be a little over 100,000, I'll keep it at that (until an editor tells me to hack at it some more). I swear, sometimes it's like cutting off my own limbs. ;) So, so painful.

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  9. I'm telling ya, editing is trench warfare! It's miserable!

    *gives Lady Glamis editing cookies for strength*

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  10. *longs for editing days*
    *stabs first, ugly draft of TP*

    Twilight - eh, has only just really hit my shores, and I don't plan on picking it up any time soon with the writer-reviews I've heard :D

    I like HP, but then I am a YA fan :D

    Li, I think your sci fi stuff is definitely unique. I loves it :)

    Me, it looks like I'm trending towards urban fantasy, a mix of YA and adult. Unique? Heh. I doubt it, but I guess we'll see :|

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  11. Lady Glamis led me to this site. I too am Twilight non fan. I never made it past book one (couldn't stop gagging to go any further). Loved the Gandalf/Aslan comic at the very end laughed till I cried and I mean that literally.

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