rm | sundries

Last night, all night, I dreamed about Patty and I in Britain.

It seems clear that my flight to Zurich will, quite reasonably, involve being on a plane with colleagues. I like the people I work with, but I like my quiet time. I also find flying stressful and physically painful and prefer to do it either with people I'm really close to or alone. And if I get the middle seat because I'm the smallest? I don't even want to think about it.

Started mapping on ConSweet last night using Scrivener. After a I Didn't RTFM moment where I thought I deleted all my work and freaked out (also, sinus headache) and Patty consoled me, I found it all and it worked just fine. So I've made notecards for a couple of key scenes. Have put in a few chapters, and made areas to write about the character arcs for my main folks.

I've already bumped into a few problems to be solved, including the fact that I still need a name for Evan's show, and that Evan, also, still needs a last name. This is a real problem because everything I come up with turns out to be some nobody in IMDB, and I have to come up with something that doesn't match that of anyone working in this damn business).

~~I'm also realizing Hope is feeling a bit underdeveloped, so I need to get more in touch with her.~~ Thing I just solved it. Question: how... I'm not sure how to phrase this. Basically this book isn't going to be graphic (it's chick lit, so it mostly fades to black), but it's totally sex-positive. Does that work under the rules of chick lit? Or does the girl who has casual sex (and a lot of it) in non-toxic (i.e., not drunk, not unsafe, not breaking agreements) have to be some sort of "evil slut." Because she's not, and I'm not changing that, but I'm wondering how large of a wall to beat my head against I just created.

Additionally, since emails, texts and twitters are going to be various key plot points, I should probably nab a bunch of accounts so I don't have to change all this shit later, and also decide on how to format this in the text. I should possibly also register some sort of domain for my anonymous gossip site villain thing. Can a website be a villain?

I really want to write a tiny bit pre-NaNo so I can put up an excerpt on my NaNo site, as I have this fantasy that I'll be one of the lucky books to have a cover designed for it, and that will propel me into publishing success.

Anyway, Scrivener, people! Get Macs. Use this! It's gotta be utterly gorgeous for cowriting too.

I've been doing a lot of freelance writing about film festivals lately. This is not scintillating.

Despite the notices in our building dated October 8 saying three business days, my fucking rent check still hasn't been processed through. Tonight is the tenant's association meeting, so as much as I don't want to go, I will to find out more about what is going on in general and what to expect and so forth. I hate being a grown up sometimes. Last night I even did laundry so we could have more warm blankets on the bed (that turned out to be very good). But hey, the heat is on (and, knock on wood, in a leak-free way, so that's a pleasant surprise).

Gamely battling the monthly PMS-induced pothos thing. I hate the fragile ego of my ambition.

Have what promises to be an amusing afternoon actorly interlude today.

Yup, know about the diet ads that should not be running on my frigging site. Working on it with AdSense.

And now, work to do!

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After a I Didn't RTFM moment where I thought I deleted all my work and freaked out (also, sinus headache) and Patty consoled me, I found it all and it worked just fine.

Oh man... I had that moment in Scrivener too. It was hell until I figured it out. I thought I'd lost 6K.

If the pain of flying is the ear thing, I have a recommendation for you. EarPlanes, or something like that. They are ear plugs for when you ride on planes to help with the pain of the pressure. I tried them a couple of years ago and they work.

Walgreens or Duane Reade or CVS should have them, same section with the regular ear plugs. EarPlanes is only one of the brand names. I got mine at Walgreens and they had their own.

I've always had ear pain and pressure from my first flight. These things are the first thing to really help.

Earplanes make it better for me, but don't always help; it really depends on the make of the plane I'm on, oddly enough.

Oh, and make sure your sinuses are as open as possible. Which is sort of what caused my problem.

I've had allergies forever and really don't think of them much anymore. Well, my first flight was in the fall when my allergies are the worst. Takeoff forced everything back into my ear canals and made the pain worse.

I make sure I bring nose spray with me so that they are clear. Something the moisturizes, too.

But travel safe when you do go!

it really depends on the make of the plane I'm on, oddly enough

I can easily imagine there being a difference in the pressurization curves between different models and manufacturers of aircraft; I don't know whether one type is quicker to reach "cruise" pressure (~8000ft equivalent, IIRC) than another, but it seems like a reasonable hypothesis.

Newer planes, regardless of model (i.e., something that's just come into service, versus something that has been for a decade even if they are the same model) are always better for me. I've started keeping lists of all of this, so when there's no price or time differential I choose by plane. I'm sorta compulsive about it (I can wind up having to lip-read for days if I have a particularly difficult flight, so it's a pretty serious consideration for me).

That, and the fact that Earplanes help to some extent, seems like more evidence that it's a rate of change issue. Newer planes are more likely to have a system capable of gentler/more controlled transition. This would apply within "families" of airplanes as well; the 737-300 and 737-800 are similar on the outside, but have a number of systems differences.)

This article on ear pain when flying probably doesn't tell you anything you don't already know. I use the Valsalva maneuver when necessary, but I'd be particularly careful about it in your situation ("It should be noted this maneuver, when used as a tool to equalize middle ear pressure, carries with it the risk of auditory damage from over pressurization of the middle ear"); actual medical advice is best. (This comment is totally not it.)

I keep meaning to ask (since you mention it today)...

I have a friend who wants to write car reviews professionally (her dream is Automobile Magazine). The reviews she's posted in her personal space are excellent, so I'm confident that from here it's a matter of connections and learning to tailor to a house style.

I know you mentioned a site where people can start writing, get paid a little for it, and build up some recognizable-by-real-paying-editors chops. Could you remind me where that is? If you have any other advice for her, I'll gratefully pass it along.

AssociatedContent. There's an unbelieveable amount of crap on the site, but you can make decent money there (I've made thousands there writing when I feel like it),and once they identify you as someone who can actually write they basically function like an agent, passing on assignments to you from other online markets -- they don't necessarily pay well -- I've never gotten more than $25 for something, but they are also usually quick writes -- 80 - 500 words, so it's pretty simple.

Thanks!

A website can totally be a villain. Totally.

Names! I love names and naming things.

I _hate_ naming things.

So, if you want to help: I need a title for a space adventure TV show that's probably best described as an American cross between Babylon 5 and Torchwood with new BSG-like production values (i.e., ongoing, cogent narrative arc involving multiple alien cultures, but sexy -- looks good, not as dark as new BSG).

Ooo fun.

Io Station - the loneliest outpost ever, based off a moon orbiting Jupiter.

Red Station - the second loneliest outpost, over Mars.

Ultraviolet - space agents and scientists battle space pirates and physics!

Perihelion - a station orbiting a faraway star, last great attempt at space exploration, cut off from home.

Novy Mir - the next great space station, with more Russians.

Io Station has immediately and completely rocked my world. Now I need to come up with a summary of the show, its actors, writers, producers, look and oh yeah -- the fandom and its shipping wars!

Space 2424 - Jack Bauer in Space!

Velocity - sometimes called The Escape, last refuge of human colonists in an unfriendly galaxy.

Base One - I totally tried to think of some wacky Ari joke and failed, but it still could work, somehow. First contact jokes abound instead!

Red Shift - the furthest we've ever been, stretching the understanding of human nature through time, space and alien contact.

I'm not necessarily a representative sample of your readership, but "non-toxic" promiscuity -- so long as it stays in the confines of what you've outlined in your entry -- doesn't strike me as the sort of thing that most people would have extreme moral reservations about. At the very least I think it's certainly possible to write a charismatic character who acts as you describe.

Oh, I know people will be fine with it, but chick-lit strikes me as a genre with really specific rules, most of which I'm already breaking, but I like to know what I'm doing to myself going into it.

My understanding of chick lit is that the girl involved does sex. A lot. And feels no guilt. Until she meets the one she loves and then there is guilt for every sex that is NOT with the True Love.

Hope that helps

Yes. Awesome.

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Freelance Writing

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