Musings

The bad news is I’m not getting a lot of work done. (I think I’ve written about two pages today). The good news is I’m having a lot of fun. Wednesday night we went out to dinner and a movie with George, Parris, Raya and Wanda June. We shared dishes at Santa Fe’s terrific Chinese restaurant, Chows, and then went off to see Sweeney Todd. I wasn’t all that keen to see the movie, I don’t like Sondheim, but I wanted to hang out with my friends.

The direction was terrific — what else from Tim Burton and Johnny Depp was wonderful as was Helena Bonham-Carter. The art direction was dark and brooding and lovely. And I thought it would never end. It seemed to just go on and on and on, and I kept seeing everything coming from twenty miles away, and I kept trying to appreciate the music.

It was Carl who summed up Sondheim better than I ever could. We were driving home, and he said, “There really wasn’t that much singing in the movie.” I did a cartoon double take, and said, “How can you say that? I’d be surprised if there was more than two or three pages of actual spoken dialogue in the whole show.” To which Carl replied, “Well, most of it just didn’t sound like music.” I nodded in hearty agreement. I know I will get howls from folks who love Sondheim, but taste is a very personal thing, and I just don’t like his musicals. I’m old fashioned, I want to leave the theater or the movie humming something.

Friday night we played in a Vampire: The Masquerade game that Daniel Abraham is running. We had a lot of fun and laughs, but I was twitching because Vento was due to arrive between midnight and 1:00 am. We headed home at 9:30, got changed into long johns and fleece lined jeans, and went to wait for the truck. I had a thermos filled with hot water, and a bucket full of bran, corn oil, carrots and apples so my pony could have a hot bran mash when he arrived.

We were pleasantly surprised when the truck arrived at 11:30 pm. We lead them to the barn, but the road to the barn was a sheet of snow and ice and this was a giant semi so we had to unload him on the road. He was a bit nervous, and he slipped on the snow when he came down the ramp. We then had a quarter mile walk to the barn. He was an amazing sight, a glistening white horse against a field of snow with a waning moon overhead. I was terrified he’d be silly and slip, fall and break a leg forcing me to put him down, but nothing horrible happened. We got him to his stall, got a heavy blanket on him, I fed him the mash, and scratched his neck while he ate. Then home to try and sleep and dream about the morning when I’d get to spend time with him.

Today I unpacked all my tack, and took the Iberian prince for a walk in the indoor arena. When I arrived his barn neighbor had been taken away to be ridden so Vento was neighing and piaffing in the stall. It is going to be so easy to teach this horse the piaff. I took him into the arena, and he was a bit “fresh” in the beginning. Some horses just keep working themselves into a frenzy, but after a bit of spinning around me he calmed right down, and just went strolling along. The sweetest moment was when he saw his reflection in the wall of mirrors, and trumpeted to himself. He wanted to see that other white horse so I took him up to the mirror. He tried to touch noses with the other horse, but it was thirty degrees so his breath fogged most of the mirror and the other horse disappeared. Vento then turned and looked at me with this accusing expression in his dark eyes like “this is your fault, you made my friend go away.”

Tomorrow I’ll lunge him lightly just in the halter. I don’t want him to work too hard until he acclimates to the cold and the altitude. He’s come from sea level to 7000 feet.

So, now I’m going to go back, sit in front of the fire and write on my novel.

Melinda

I just finished getting everything arranged for Vento to be picked up on December 27th. He will arrive in Santa Fe on the 28th at sometime o’clock. I’ve met horses at 2:00 am and at 1:00 pm. It just depends on the drivers, weather, how many horses they have to pick up and drop off. I’m spoiling him outrageously by getting him a box stall for the ride. He’ll be able to move around and put his head down to eat hay which is far more natural for horses. And he is a stallion. I know he’s sweet, but having him tied next to another horse just struck me as potentially stupid. I’ve had horses get stepped on by their neighbors and then I’ve got a cut foot to contend with. Vento will be all alone in his box, and unless he clips himself because he’s nervous he should be fine.

In some ways I really wish my coach was going to CA for the six weeks. I went out to pick up eggs and rum to make homemade egg nog this morning, and it is 20 degrees. Time to pull out the long johns, thermal riding breeches, and thermal boots.

Melinda

I’m taking a break from working on the novel to reflect about the ongoing writers strike. We really aren’t being unreasonable here, folks, and if you want to help us sending an email to the various big networks and studios stating your support for the writers will help. Think about this — they are offering us a one time flat feel of $250 dollars for an episode or a movie that will be downloaded in perpetuity, potentially millions of times while the studios get money each time and the writers, actors, directors get nothing.

Finally, the studios are losing _in a week_ what it would cost them to give us _all_ of our demands for the next three years. This isn’t about reading an equitable agreement, it’s about breaking the union. We can’t let that happen. Please support us.

Melinda

I’m in the midst of the rewrite of book two in the Edge series, and I was closing in on that middle section. Even back when I first wrote the book it felt slow to me, but I kept telling myself I was exploring character and relationships, and it was okay. From the beginning I had been looking at this action set piece as the climax of the book, and in my head that had to come at the end. It was the climax, right?

Well, I stepped back from the book and tried to look at it as if it were a movie up on white board, and suddenly it hit me that the climax would also make a hell of a second stage rocket. It would also punch up the pace in the middle section of the book. It makes this a much bigger rewrite, but it just feels completely right.

It also solves some problems at the end of the book where it felt like there was an awful lot happening after the “climax” of the book. I was trying to work in these scenes because it’s very important to me to make a time jump between books two and three (fingers crossed there will be a book three), but it felt like the book kept dribbling on after it should be over. I think I’ve got a powerful end for this new, restructured book, and I’m very exciting.

I’m not using this as an argument against plotting and outlining. In fact the reverse. I wouldn’t have spotted this if I couldn’t pull back from a work and look at the scenes I need, the tent poles that they’re building toward, and how those big scenes will anchor the entire structure. I think this is an example of not getting to wedded to your ideas and conclusions. I also realize that I didn’t subject this book to a rigorous plot break. I just started writing and then Tor said they wanted another book, and I just kept going without stopping to do the spade work in the beginning. Let that be a lesson to me. Still I’m happy because I’m going to end up with a better book at the end of the day.

Melinda

Good Morning, folks, the Wild Card web site, hosted by Tor Books is officially launched. The address is http://www.wildcardsbooks.com. There’s a lot of fun material on the site, and we’ll be adding more as we go along. Carrie Vaughn is going to be writing webisodes about the rest of the season of American Hero.

Please check it out.

Melinda

On Wednesday night I drove through the snow into Santa Fe to see The Golden Compass with Ian. It looked fantastic. Amazing visuals, particularly the architecture. I thought the costuming was terrific, and the young girl playing Lyra was splendid. Now the bad news. They were trying so hard not to offend anyone with Pullman’s themes that they ended up making a movie that wasn’t about anything.

Frequently I complain that a movie is too damn long. This movie wasn’t long enough. It felt breathless it was so rushed, and they committed a nearly unforgivable sin (at least for me). We had a “once out of the well moment” that I think was the result of not having enough time to let the story unfold. They also cost themselves precious time by repeating information.

When Lyra first meets the armored bear he gives us his entire tragic story that will explain why he is a drunk. Then we get to the climactic battle between the bears and we hear again everything that we heard earlier. They could have held the reveals until the moment Iorek challenges the king. I also think the studio made a terrible mistake using Ian McClellan as the voice Iorek. Every time he talked it pulled me right out of the movie, and I found myself looking around for Gandalf.

I did love the daemons and I want one. Of course mine would probably be a horse, and it would be hard to get it into buildings. Still that was wonderfully realized. I haven’t checked to see how this film is doing at the box office. I suppose as a S.F./Fantasy writer I want it to do well, but I hate it when they gut something and leave us with nothing but skim milk.

Melinda

So we were out on the picket line at the College of Santa Fe where they are shooting BROTHERS this morning. It was bear ass cold — 29 degrees and the wind was whipping — but we had an amazing turn-out. I had no idea we had so many screenwriters in the area. We flirted with getting arrested — the college was claiming that we were trespassing on private property which is not true. They are running a commercial operation with a movie theater that caters to anyone in Santa Fe, and a film studio, but we’re getting a ruling from the City Attorney so that can’t keep us out. We still managed to get in and hour and a half of picketing, and gave some teamsters are strike info so they may start honoring the line.

The cops suggested we move out in front of the big sign for the college on Cerrillos Road which actually worked out well because a lot of people saw us, and honked and waved and showed solidarity.

After it ended George, Parris and I told folks were were going to Tecolote for breakfast/lunch, and three people joined us. One was one of our strike captains, Tracy Kelly who wrote for the Bold and The Beautiful, and the other was a young man, Andrew — unfortunately I never caught his last name. The final person was Ed Khmara who wrote LADYHAWK and ENEMY MINE. It was a real thrill to meet this man, and he was so modest. George had asked him what he wrote, and he said something to the effect of, “Well, I wrote a few movies, but you probably haven’t heard of them because they came out years ago.” Then he gave us the titles, and stared at us quizzically as we went nuts. We’re going to try and get him down to Bubonicon next year. Wouldn’t that be the coolest thing?

Tomorrow we are picketing in Albuquerque, and I’d driving down. We’ve got to win this one, and we’ve got to stick together.

Melinda

So, I heard from the vet. Vento passed the vet exam with flying colors. The vet said he “had a great personality”, and then went on to add that often horses are just, well, horses, but Vento seemed like a guy who really liked people. Now my vet just has to sign off on the x-rays, and he’s mine. Turns out my coach isn’t going to L.A. for six weeks so Vento will come home just as soon as I can arrange for transport. I may have him right before Christmas. That is a real trip — a white stallion for Christmas. Too bad I can’t tuck him under the tree.

I can’t tell you how exciting this is for me. I’m including a photo of me riding Vento. My head is turned because I’m listening to my coach, and please keep in mind this is only the second time I’ve ever ridden this horse, but I think we look pretty good together. I hope this is my equine companion for many years to come.

Melinda

I listened to a bit of Mitt Romney’s “I’m not a member of a cult, and the elders of the church will not be running the country” speech, and I was left breathless and frankly frightened by many of his assertions. He basically said that if you are not religious, and I mean, go to church on Sunday religious, you have no business holding office in America. He then said that he would appoint judges who would interpret the Constitution from a Christian background. As Keith Olbermann said, “the founding fathers are spinning in their graves.” Romney also said there could be no freedom without religion. Personally I think there is only freedom when you can be free from the tyranny of churches, popes, prelates, preachers and gods.

It seems like the Republican party is determined to run for office American Aytollahs. Or budding fascists like Rudy.

We live in perilous times.

Melinda

I’d be interested in getting people’s input on how they title books, and what they think of doing something different with chapter headings other than just _Chapter One, Chapter Two, etc._ Thanks to Vic Milan book two in the Edge series has a new, and great title. THE EDGE OF RUIN. Vic also titled the first book, THE EDGE OF REASON. I confess that titles are the ban of my existence. I pour over Bartlett’s, I try different word combinations, and my titles (for the most part) suck. What tricks or techniques do other folks use? I’m really interested because I’d like to get better at this skill.

Next point. Music is a vital component in my books. It represents one of the underpinnings of the rational world, and my protagonist is an accomplished pianist and singer. I’m doing something different in book two. My experience writing in first person was so rewarding in the second Wild Card book that I wanted to try it in my Edge novel. I had a number of view point characters, and I think it would have been hard to keep distinct voices for the four view point characters if all of the them were in first person, so I decided to put my hero’s section in first, and the others in third. I’m also using the first chapter/prologue as a means to direct the reader’s attention toward my protagonist by presenting a number of people all of whom are thinking about or trying to reach my hero.

As I was reading through some of my musical texts I came across a couple of definitions that seemed really right on point about what I was trying to do with the book. In essence I was thinking of this book as if it were a concerto grosso. The movements of a concerto weren’t exactly right, but it seemed that hero’s sections were a ritornello, a short reoccuring passage that unifies a piece. The other voices are just that, voices commenting and orbiting the main theme/character. In a way they are a fugue, and there are nice psychological resonances to that word — fugue.

I know a lot of readers hate it when they open a book, and they first thing they hit is a prologue so I wanted to avoid that title. I also didn’t want to call it chapter one because I pull in a number of POV’s in that first section, and most of them will never be a point of view again. This is a statement or an exposition if this were a composition. So what do people think? Is it just to precious and artsy to use unusual headings? Or does it matter? Do people even notice chapter headings or just read right over them?

Melinda