Archive for: December, 2009

Goodbye to all that

Dec 31 2009 Published by brian under personal

So here it is, New Year’s Eve, and wouldn’t you know it, I’m sick. Been getting there for a couple of days now. My spouse went through it last week, so it was pretty much inevitable that I would catch it, but I’m not too happy about the timing. Can’t I just enjoy my New Year’s Eve in peace?

Of course, given that this has been a pretty sucky year overall, it’s probably just as well. Yes, I finished my MLIS, but that was the only bright spot. Still not working yet as a librarian, and thanks to the state of the economy, I’m not sure when I will be.

And I might as well jump on the bandwagon and agree that the 2000′s were a terrible decade, despite some really wonderful stuff that happened to me personally. Meeting my best friend, and then, through her, my spouse, were the major highlights; finally getting back into school came a close third. But overall, it was a difficult time for just about everyone.

So, I’m glad to put this year and this decade to rest. Here’s to 2010. Nowhere to go but up.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go try to get my overflowing sinuses under control. See you next year.

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Attention librarians: Books available

Dec 17 2009 Published by brian under books, libraries, personal

I have a few books left over from my MLIS program that I don’t need anymore. They’re available free to anyone who wants ‘em; all I ask is that you pay shipping. All are in fine condition, no marks or writing.

Carol Kuhlthau, Seeking Meaning: A Process Approach to Library and Information Services
Patricia Senn Breivik, Student Learning in the Information Age
Henri-Jean Martin, The History and Power of Writing

If interested, drop me a line via a comment here, through Twitter, or with the “Contact Me” link below the picture on my site.

UPDATE: I’ve removed the Martin from the list. I didn’t particularly enjoy it; while it’s very informative, it’s terribly dense and not a lot of fun to read. But I did learn something from it that immediately became an important part of the Roman alternate-history epic I’m plotting. So I’m keeping it.

The others, however, are still available. If I get no offers here, their next stop is eBay.

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Writing, writing, writing

Dec 10 2009 Published by brian under writing

So, I finished my NaNoWriMo novel with no trouble. Well, with a little trouble; I lost a lot of ground during our Thanksgiving trip to visit the in-laws. Thankfully, with the help of one 5000-word day (on my birthday, no less!), I was able to get back on track. Finished my 50K shortly before midnight on the 30th.

I’m actually quite satisfied with how it turned out. My spouse is reading it now and she says I’ve got the science down, and the plot, while slow at first, is interesting. But I really need to work on characterization. I agree; that’s always been my weakest point, and this book was no different. With one exception, everything said by the characters was there to advance the plot. Lots of telling rather than showing.

But there’s quite a lot of reason for hope. Part of it is that one exception. This book has one character, a ship captain, who entered the story halfway through (after being mentioned several times beforehand), and who quickly became possibly my first fully developed character. There’s a speech she gives early on, about her career, where she actually managed to surprise me. I wasn’t sure where it came from when I was writing it, and it felt like it hadn’t really come from me, but from her.

In other words, she came to life. At least briefly. And I was shocked, and very pleased, when I was done writing it. We’ll see what my sweetie has to say about what happens to her at the end, but I think she’ll like it.

So, where from here? I took a week off from writing after finishing NaNoWriMo, but I’ve started again now. I’m hoping to be able to keep up the momentum, and especially to learn to create more living characters so that it becomes second nature. We’ll see where it goes.

Ray Bradbury said once that you need to be prepared to write, and discard, a million words, before you can succeed as a writer. I’m well on my way toward that, although I’d hope to publish something well before then. But I’m beginning to see his point. Slowly but surely, I’m learning.

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