Okay, enough of that nonsense. Feeling sorry for yourself is all well and good, but it accomplishes damn all and is a waste of time. A natural occurrence, like a hurricane or simple monsoon, but in the end nothing changes except the amount of time one has left on this world, and that's reduced by however much time was spent in the wallow.
I'm back and determined not to just whimper because things I can't affect are changing. As I have said many times: Life is dynamic and changing. Static is death so change is good. It's a royal pain in the butt most of the time, but it's good because it keeps us fresh and gives us new opportunities.
I signed up for yet another writer's site last night, one run by Amazon and one that is highly recommended by other members at Authonomy. I didn't have a chance to spend too much time poking around on it because I was still in the midst of my Bond-a-thon.
Man! Daniel Craig is one good looking guy. Then again, so is Pierce Brosnan. I dunno... Blonde or brunette? Hmm. Hard to choose because both have their own appeal and both look damned fine in evening clothes.
Sexist piggy, aren't I? Well, as I say to anyone who cares: I ain't dead yet and until I am, I have the right to look.
I finally saw all of Casino Royale last night. I had seen it in bits and pieces - mostly the scenes at the casino during the poker game, and didn't realize the end had anything to do with the beginning or middle. That's the problem with catching things at odd places. I did see it all last night, and it is a really good movie - lots of action.
I'm hoping that, despite staying up until one o'clock this morning watching Quantum of Solace (which had a good premise, and was interesting for being the sequel to Casino Royale, but wasn't a very good movie) I won't fall face down on my keyboard at some point. It is only seven o'clock and I've been awake for the better part of an hour. We'll see.
With so many choices to choose from, I'm not sure what I want to work on today. Book Two of Elizabeth's Braid is nudging me, so maybe that. That's the problem with having so many books. Even though most of the ones I have on my computer are complete, in the sense of having a beginning, middle and end, they're really not complete. There are still little niggles and things to pick.
'Genevieve's Piano' has quite a lot of work based on the crits I got several months ago. I was a bit heavy-handed in places, so need to tone it down.
'Matters of Friendship' also needs work, although that one is pretty straightforward. I just need to move things around so that Allison, as reluctant as she is about things, moves in to Peter's house to help him and his family with Lara's illness. Again, it does make sense in the framework of the story, so trust me.
'In a Green & Shady Place' has been reworked - earpiece and all - but I'm not quite believing it. Gordon has asked Melanie to dinner and, to that point, it's fine. He picks her up from her hotel and announces that he's flying her to France, to his villa. There's a solid reason, so that works, but once they're there, it starts to get a bit shaky. I know what the problem is, but I'm not sure how to fix it without getting silly.
Sometimes writing a story is like that. There is one scene in a well-known, bestselling story I read several times and every single time I read it, I snickered in derision because it is so laughably stupid to anyone who knows about horses and riding.
In this scene (which I didn't write - it was written by a highly popular author in the 1980's), a man on a polo pony retrieves a woman's hat.
Small thing, right? Uh, no.
See, polo ponies are tall, like at least sixteen hands or about five and a half feet tall at the shoulder. Most are seventeen hands (four inches = one hand) from the ground to the withers (the hump where the horse's neck meets his back). Add to that the depth of a saddle - about three inches, including the blanket and padding, and the distance between a man's seat and his waist which would be the bendy part, another eight or ten inches, probably. He's straddling the horse, which affects his range of motion, coupled with his holding this damsel in distress in front of him on the saddle. It's purely laughable that he would be able to hold onto her and bend down far enough to reach her hat without both of them landing on the ground at the horse's hooves.
And that, for me, is where it's rubbing. I'm too stubborn to allow myself to rest in stupid because I can't figure out how to make it work. It's like a tiny flaw in a seam or something. I know it's there, but I can't quite see what it is or how to fix it. If I leave it, it's going to bug me. If I don't, it's going to make me crazy trying to fix it. I think it needs to rest, to go off on its own for a while until I have a clearer eye.
Then there's my Elizabeth's Braid series. Four books, all intricately tied together, with Robby calling my attention. That's book three which follows Melissa and Stephen, and precedes Geoffrey. Maybe that's the one on which I'll work this morning, before turning my attention to something else.
It's a bit like being at a dessert bar. Do I want the chocolate mousse? Or the truffles? Perhaps the brownies with a little whipped cream and cocoa powder. They're all really good in their own way, but how to choose?
Well, if that's the biggest struggle of my day, it won't be too hard. In the meantime, I hope your day is lovely!
Best~
Philippa
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nice share, thanks
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