Year: 2008

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. You can comment here or there.

I’m drowning in the Mayan fantasy.

I’ve got the premise, theme, and a buttload of characters. I definitely know the mythology. I even thought I had about 63K of backstory and character definition figured out. So what’s the problem?

I ain’t got no stinking structure.

My original thought was to tweak a few things in NSR and then give it away as a prequel here on the blog as I write the “real” story. However…I can’t get any underlying structure on the new story with these characters. The structure of NSR is cemented in my mind, and when I try to extend it to the new idea, it just doesn’t work. The stakes aren’t there for Jaid as a protagonist if I lose the on-sceen action of NSR.

So then I thought maybe I’d “fix” NSR to pull in some of the new threads (it was short anyway) and come up with the overall story arc. But that falls apart too. I can’t figure out where to draw the line. I don’t know if the problem is in genre structure specifically–NSR was paranormal romance and I want to move to more urban fantasy instead–or the concept itself. I see shots in my head for this story, but they don’t stick to anything yet. I could see this more as a TV show or movie instead of book. Maybe that’s my problem. I keep seeing these Prison Break-like cliffhangers, where the characters’ situations just get worse and worse…but what’s the END? What’s the resolution? I don’t know.

If I don’t know, then I can’t figure out the turning points and beginning–middle–end transition.

Basically I have all these cool characters and backstory out the whazoo. I have an incredible world and mythology. Yet no stinking story!!! It’s like having several gorgeous skeins of expensive, pettable wool and not a single knitting hook or loom to be seen.

I’m desperate enough that I pulled out my Syd Field screenwriter’s books. I started drawing pictures. I can map the paradigm for NSR all day. Can’t get nowhere else because that original story keeps staring at me. Hence the jackhammer request. Maybe if I bust that idea into rubble, the new idea will solidy.

Back to pen and paper for more doodles.

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. You can comment here or there.

I stand on the edge of darkness that yawns like a massive mouth of eternity. Let me tell you, that first step is a doozie.

I’m building a story that is large, intricate, and most of all, intimidating. I hesitate, wondering if it’s too big for me to handle. I feel like a juggler staring up at flaming stars tumbling from the sky, stars I must keep in the air at all cost. I’ve created over 30 characters for this story (and I have a feeling I’m not done). It’s a little Prison Break. A little Numb3rs. A little Ruin, the movie that totally ticked me off. And a bunch I can’t even begin to say where I picked this or that up. I’ve sponged ideas off everything I’ve ever touched and heard, and it’s all converging, now, in this story.

Yes, I speak of the Mayan fantasy, which has become so much more than I originally envisioned. Night Sun Rising was only a drop in the bucket. An insignificant speck in the worlds within worlds this story has become.

I remember someone telling me a book cannot be all things. It should be tight and lean. I remember, and I tremble a moment in doubt, yet this story has a mind of its own. A premise is unfolding, and if it’s as tight and mean and big as I think, it’ll be a killer.

After all, everybody has a line to cross.

Sorry, I’m still not in a position to share a Friday Snippet.

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. You can comment here or there.

This is still one of my favorite little stories that I ever wrote, dedicated again for this day.

What a Pretty Day

(it’s a feel good happy ending story)

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. You can comment here or there.

That Man picked up the monsters a bit early from school today so they could come get me at the airport. Only one of them actually gave me a hug, and she was asleep! 🙁 They made up for it, though, over dinner. They had a good week, although each of them were in trouble for talking in class and had to walk extra laps at recess.

I had to buy another book at the airport. I finished Poison Study in Memphis while waiting for my next plane. There were parts of Poison Study that I really loved. Although it fell apart a little for me at the end, it was still a really good read. The book in the hopper now is The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen. Excellent so far. I even found time to work on Ann’s synopsis! Go, Ann!

I’ve already made a pot of Caribou Coffee which I’m huddled around while I pet my personal laptop and try to catch up on e-mail and blogs.

I’m tired, though, and work starts up bright and early tomorrow. I’m so tired I actually thought I read “wolfshitter” in an e-mail instead of “wolfshifter,” which I thought was hysterical.

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. You can comment here or there.

That’s a techie joke that came up in today’s meetings with our vendor. See, I’m here with a very technical guy from my company, meeting a mixture of very techy guys, sales guys, and the base system guys at our vendor. I can more easily talk shop with the latter group of guys than the techy ones. (And yes, other than the secretary at the check-in desk, I’m the only female in this group.)

They got to talking about “pojo” today — plain old java objects — and wars — web archive, a way the java code is compiled — and although I knew roughly what those things are, the topics flying through the air were way more than I could follow. So I made a comment to the (relatively bored) back-end system guy sitting beside me that they were having a pojo war and I was sure glad I wasn’t involved.

Today was the think-so-hard-your-brain-hurts day. Yesterday was the oooh-I’m-getting-so-many-ideas-my-brain-hurts day. I stayed up late last night capturing my thoughts/summaries for my boss and re-drawing a bunch of business diagrams. I didn’t even crack a book open, let alone think about my own book files. That’s okay. The analytical side of my brain is firing on all cylinders and I’ll just have to ride it out. This is my life, and as odd as it may sound, I do get all fired up about these aspects of the Evil Day Job too. (Or else, I obviously wouldn’t be here.)

So in the end, I am in the pojo war, whether I admit it or not.

It’s been a terrific trip. We’ve learned a lot, shared a lot, and met up with people I’ve occasionally seen over the years. The only thing that would make this trip better would be if I could immediately go up to the home office and share everything in person with my coworkers. While I do love telecommuting from home, it’s times like these that I wish I could sit down with my coworkers and friends so they could see the spark in my eye while I diagram a bunch of stuff for them.

Oh, well. They’ll just have to hear the spark in my voice over the phone.

Tomorrow, I’m homeward bound.

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. You can comment here or there.

Boy oh boy, 4 a.m. was a loooong time ago. However, I had a pretty relaxing afternoon here in the hotel. I unpacked, checked e-mail (thank you for free wi-fi!), and even finished Omega Games. Yay!! Now I must not start my other book, or I’ll have it finished too fast and won’t have anything for the plane ride home. (Gee that’d be too bad if I had to buy ANOTHER book at the airport…considering I almost bought two in Memphis even though I do have a spare.)

The flight was uneventful for the most part. A little bumpy on the leg from Springfield to Memphis, and packed, every seat full. I hooked up with my coworker in Memphis — although we work “together” I don’t really know him well since I telecommute from home, so that was rather hilarious. He asked if I wanted him to put me down as a driver on the rental car and I about passed out. I really hate to drive in strange places.

We even got our preliminary “game plan” stuff out of the way for tomorrow, so the rest of the evening is mine to iron for tomorrow and simply enjoy the quiet. I already checked in with the monsters. Evidently Princess Monster dropped Littlest Monster on her head twice. Not sure how that happened…but everyone is okay and already fighting over who gets to sleep in the big bed with daddy, and who has to sleep on the floor. I can hear all the bickering already…actually…no.

QUIET. That’s what that noise, or rather the lack thereof, is. What a wondrous thing.

My eyes are killing me, so I might not try to write anything tonight. May just laze around a bit and hit the sack early.

Have a great week, everyone!

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. You can comment here or there.

I’m getting ready to leave extremely dark and early in the morning for our vendor in Birmingham. I need to get to the airport around 5:30 a.m., and it’s about a 30 minute drive…so we won’t try to fit in our traditional breakfast at IHOP. I’m going to try and carry on one small bag and my EDJ laptop. I’ve studied all the new restrictions, so hopefully I didn’t pack anything illegal. The only question, really, is whether the plane I’m catching to Memphis will be big enough to allow carry on baggage. (I’ve been on a few of those crop dusters that make you check everything planeside.)

I’m not taking my personal laptop this time, so I don’t know how much I’ll be able to check in. I’m hoping the hotel has free wi-fi so I can at least check my e-mail regularly. With agent e-queries in progress, I’ll be gnawing my fingers to the knuckle if I can’t check in and see if any news is unfolding in my inbox!

The hardest part of this whole trip…is picking my plane books. I’m pretty sure it’ll be Omega Games by S.L. Viehl on the way down…and Twilight Fall on the way home. I’ve been saving them for a special occasion.

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. You can comment here or there.

Shocking I know. We’ve all been slightly under the weather. I wouldn’t say I’ve been sick exactly, but I’ve only had 3 cups of coffee today instead of 3 gallons as usual. Okay, maybe not gallons, but my favorite Caribou hasn’t been tasting that great.

I’ve been trying to get back to the dark and early schedule, and while I did make it several days…I’ve been too out of it to get much done. Last night and tonight I just let myself read. I finished both BloodAngel and Lord of Bones by Justine Musk. Pretty good reads, athough I did have a few quibbles. I would definitely read another set in this world if there’s one in the works (couldn’t tell from her website, and Uninvited looks like a different series).

To make matters worse about feeling out of it, I have a work trip coming up. I leave very, very early Sunday morning for a few days in Birmingham. I think it’ll be an interesting trip, but I’ve only rarely ever gone there without my dear friend Wanda. What will I do without a nice long trip to Barnes & Noble for reading material on the flight back? (It’s sort of a joke–no matter how many books I bring, I always think I need to buy another book or two to tie me over.) I’ll be packing very, very light–hoping to carry on one small bag and laptop only–so I don’t know how many books I’ll be able to squirrel away.

I can’t share a Friday Snippet this week. I have a section I could share from my background work on the Mayan story this week, but it gives away some key elements of my worldbuilding. Maybe next week I’ll have a less crucial section I could share. Wanda has given me some invaluable first-hand information about swimming in a cenote that I can’t wait to use.

Have you read a really good book lately? Anything going on in your neck of the woods?

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. You can comment here or there.

[Edited to Add: Sorry, the formatting got all messed up. That’s what I get for writing it in a Word doc and trying to post it.]

In talking with Debra about Laurell K. Hamilton

Originally published at Joely Sue Burkhart. You can comment here or there.

Alright, I cheated a little. I actually had TWO copies to give away. So the winners of the signed S.L. Viehl Omega Games giveaway are:

Teresa Warner, who e-mailed me to enter, and

Ann!

Congratulations, winners. I will get your prizes mailed out hopefully this week, although I suck at getting stuff to the post office. Just ask Bethanie.