A little this, a little that

I had such a nice day yesterday.  I had it all to myself, and alone time is very precious to me.  Hate to say it but I'm a bit antisocial, and more so the older I get.  I spent most of the day catching up on emails and cleaning out inboxes and just doing whatever the hell I wanted to.  Caught up on all the blogs.  And caught up on my critting too.  Read another fine installment of Mike Stone's ( mylefteye  to you LJ'ers) YA novel, Heather Berry 2 (I believe this sequel is called Heather Berry and the Council of the Sylvans).   Then I went to the gym and then to the mall for a little shopping.  Picked up a teriyaki chicken bowl for my dinner.  Critted a couple more stories and stayed up way too late.  Did not do any writing/revising.  But I have a few hours this morning and that's what I plan to do next. 

I had a thought or two about writing yesterday that seemed so succinct and vital to the writing process, but of course I did not write them down like I meant to and can I remember them now?  Crap, no.  I recall some of it, the initial idea that brought about the mental musing, but not the conclusion.  So I'll ramble a bit and see if it comes back to me.  Those of you bored can leave now.  ;-)

I wrote a story (and just sold it to MindFlights -- no word yet when it will appear) about a woman who loses her family in an accident and loses the will to live after, but ends up becoming an assassin.  (Geez I have a hard time condensing a story into a single sentence!).  And a critter (no, none of you guys) who's a friend made a comment in passing that more or less said  my main character had in a way wished for death because the accident was a wish fulfillment.  And hinted that I should talk to my family in that what I write doesn't reflect my own internal dialog.  It took me aback for a minute because while the story is written with the pure imagined emotion I would feel in that circumstance, in NO WAY does it reflect something I would subconsciously "wish" to happen. 

However, I have to say that sometimes I think readers do think that the writer puts something of herself into every story.  And it is true, I do put alot of myself into my stories.  But I also imagine a lot.  I think that's one thing writers have in common is an ability to imagine ourselves quite vividly in situations that are completely unknown to us, but to experience it as if it is real  Do you all do that?  Before I realized I was a writer, it used to drive me crazy that I could become caught up in emotion over something on tv or in a friend's life that didn't affect me or my life in any way.  Do you know what I mean?

I got to thinking about this recently because my last story had an element of child sacrifice in it.  Now I am so totally against any kind of evil befalling a child that it makes me a little sick to even think about it.  And yet I brought it into my story without hesitation and foisted it upon my main character.  And now when I do things like that, I can't help wondering if some of my readers think that I'm some kind of cut-throat weirdo because I use elements like that.  I certainly hope not. 

I just find it interesting that although I abhor violence of any kind, and am the meek and mild-mannered type, I can write about it in great detail and without hesitation.  I think it's a purging for me, a way to get out what I hate about it.  I write to show the horror of the act, not to approve of it.  I guess I'm wondering if I'm the only one who does this.  I imagine not.

Auction for Diabetes research

I just gakked this from another LJ.  Diabetes is near and dear to my heart, as I grew up living with the devastating effects of the disease because my father was a Type 1 diabetic.  I think sometimes the general public thinks that diabetes is not all that bad of a disease because it does have a treatment.  But what they don't see is that insulin shots are not a cure.  Insulin only keeps the disease in check and there are still all kinds of consequences.  My father was what they called a "brittle" diabetic, meaning that his insulin levels rose and fell and were hard to keep in check at a steady rate.  He often had insulin reactions, when he had too much insulin in his system.  He'd act quite crazy then.  I recall when I was very young, walking into the bathroom and finding him there calmly shaving.  And yet he'd pulled the sink away from the wall and water was running all over the floor.  There were the funny times like when he was trying to put his underwear on as a t-shirt.  And the scary times like when he got on the freeway going the wrong way and had a horrible accident and almost lost his leg. 

So for those of you with a novel in progress and who would like to help a worthy cause at the same time, here's an offer you can't refuse from agent Jennifer Jackson, or arcaedia : (Copies and pasted from her LJ):  In a little less than 15 hours, my entry in Brenda Novak's auction to support research for Diabetes goes live. It's a one day auction and the bidding starts at a mere $2. (Yep, just $2.)

I'm offering to read and evaluate a proposal (defined as three chapters - up to 50pp - plus a synopsis) of an unpublished manuscript. I will also meet with the winner at RWA National for a drinks date to discuss that proposal or other publishing questions. Since I know I have a number of readers on this blog who may not be attending, I'd also be open to meeting at other conferences I'm attending (such as Readercon or Bouchercon).

Bidding is here, and it's really easy to sign up and get a bidder ID.

ETA: All genres welcome! I represent suspense, mystery, thrillers, romance, women’s fiction, fantasy, science fiction, YA, and other commercial novel-length fiction.