(no subject)

[rowyn]

A few of my friends have been talking about using their LJs more often, which has reminded me that my own LJ has been pretty barren lately. Unless you happen to be one of the eight or so volunteers to read the romance novel I've been working on, in which case it's been three entries a week (sometimes four) almost every week since February or so.

A Rational Arrangement has so far been the quickest and easiest novel I've yet worked on; I have been consistently plugging away at it since late January. It is, nonetheless, not ... quite ... finished. In May, I thought I would finish by September. By August, I thought maybe October. On November 1, I was sure I'd finish by 11/30. By the end of November, I thought in the first week of December. Maybe the second. At the latest.

It's the 13th. Pretty sure I'm not finishing it tomorrow either.

If this were any other book or story I'd worked on, this would be because I'd slowed down or stopped writing. But no. I've been writing steadily the whole time. It's just ... long. Very, very long. It is nearly as long as the doorstopper world-spanning fantasy I finished writing in 2004.

Book you are a light fluffy romance why are you not done yet staaaahp.

For my next romance, I'm thinking I'll have just one straight couple. Maybe that will be shorter. -_-

Hopefully this one will be done by year-end, because I make my writing goal for the year by a lot if I finish it. And I blow it completely if I don't, which would be kind of sad after all this steady effort. I have a minimum of seven scenes left to write. The way I've been going, those will probably be padded out a bit further.

... I'm not sure I can finish this in 18 days. I will try though!

Life outside of book-writing has also been good. Lut and I have been watching a few TV series regularly, both superhero shows: "Marvel: Agents of Shield" and "Arrow", based on DC's Green Arrow. I like "Agents of Shield" better. It has a sense of humor. I also like that they were willing to give Agent Phil Coulson a show, because I adore the character. I wish they hadn't decided they needed to stuff the rest of the cast with gorgeous youths to make up for having one normal-looking middle-aged guy.

Terry and Alinsa and I have been playing mostly the same rotation of games in the evenings. I need to learn some new ones so we can expand the rotation, but I have been too burnt-out to put any effort into gaming. :/

Work has been annoying. I still need to go through the helpful SQL advice I got a week or two ago (thanks, guys! ♥) and try to apply it, but I have been distracted by non-SQL stuff and have not gotten to it. Grump.

Comments

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

I've only seen maybe one episode of "Marvel: Agents of Shield," and my initial impression was, "Hey, Agent Phil Coulson is cool, even though it's very comic-bookish in the worst way to just resurrect him from the dead to make him happen," and then "Who are these other pretty people? Why should I care about them?" I will likely see more simply because Digital_Rampage has a whole bunch of them TiVo'ed, but we've been working our way through other series first (or, rather, when I'm over, it's like, "Hey, wait, do you have any episodes of Grimm? Or how about that new show, Almost Human? Let's watch all THOSE first!" And then, "Oog! Look at the time! Maybe we'll watch Agents of Shield next time...."

I saw a bit of "Arrow," but there was something about the pilot that struck me as unenjoyable. He just didn't feel like the "Green Arrow" of the comics -- a bit too vigilante, not quite likable enough. And, no, that doesn't mean he needs to run around in green tights as a Robin Hood wannabe to be "Green Arrow." However, that was just one episode; I have to allow that perhaps it gets better later. ;) I just haven't checked, and for whatever reason, Digital_Rampage wasn't inspired to TiVo the rest, so there's that.

[rowyn]

Yeeeah I'm not really recommending "Arrow". It's pretty melodramatic and grim.

If Lut and I find a source for it, we'll give "Almost Human" a shot. We watched an episode or two of Grimm a year or two ago and were not impressed enough to continue, alas.

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

I wasn't too hot on the first episode of Grimm, either. My impression was, "Gee, yay, lots of people running around with bumpy-forehead makeup." That aspect of it is still pretty silly -- the idea that there's a supernatural world out there, but it's exemplified by every single monster being, in effect, a person who occasionally appears in his or her "true form" with the help of a bit of high-end stage makeup. What, no talking cats or ravens? No will-o'-wisps? That's got to be pretty easy to handle via low-end special effects. It's a very strange "box" this mythos is trapped in.

I've mainly been following it because:

a) Digital_Rampage forced me to watch beyond the first episode.
b) The SUPPORTING characters are actually kind of interesting.

But I won't claim it's, like, the most awesome thing ever, and I confess that most of the time I'm just painting minis while it's playing. I'd probably trade it, if I could, for some more of "Tron: Legacy" for the sheer eye-candy factor. =D (Now THAT was a series where I couldn't get ANY miniatures-painting done while it was playing.)

Actually, insofar as the "secret world of the supernatural intrudes upon our mundane world" and "Big Things are happening in the background" idea goes, I'm actually thinking that "Sleepy Hollow" is shaping up to be better in that department. One big problem with Grimm is that our hero, Officer Grimm (obviously the single protagonist the series was named after) just WAS NOT AS INTERESTING as most of his friends -- at least, not after the first so many episodes or so, when it seems that the writers themselves were having more fun with the supporting cast. By contrast, I find myself a whole lot more interested in Ichabod Crane and "Leftenant" Abbie as leads, and even though the series has felt a bit episodic so far, it doesn't quite have the FEELING of that "freak of the week" trap that Grimm has fallen into.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

Shield is the best show on Television.

[rowyn]

Hee! So what's the runner-up? :)

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

I still want to read this doorstopper!

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Wow, I didn't realize you hadn't been posting *anything* else. Go captain inattention!

The board game site added a bunch of new games, but honestly 'different board games' is only a *little* bit different than 'same old board games'. I guess we could play the ones we don't like as much more often... but we don't like them as much.

Maybe we need to try another RPG or something. v.v

[terrana.livejournal.com]

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but A Rational Arrangement has turned out as anything but light and fluffy, and it hasn't had so much of the romance really. You don't get to call it light or fluffy after what you did to Nik.