Mel Melcer

New Web Page and LTTR

meldmel2000@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 15 Dec 03 04:01:00 UT

Hey, Im turning on a new leaf. I have a new web page, and so this is going to be my new blog. No major changes though -- I remain an accidental blogger, and proud of it. ;-)

Im ending the year with a LTTR marathon. Ive seen FOTR tonight, TT is going to be tomorrow and The Return of the King on early on Wednesday -- really early, as the show starts one minute past midnight. Second viewing so far is no less impressive than the first. If anything, it left me hungry for all the bits that had been cut out. I must get the extended version DVD -- though nothing bits watching this epic on a big screen.

Watching it tonight made me want to write fantasy, lol. What is so appealing of those epic tales? Is it the odds -- the ultimate sacrifice to avert the ultimate evil? Is this what makes it so catharsistic? The way it makes our daily squabbles look small and trivial? Aristotle insisted that real tragedy had to have high characters -- kings and queens, whose downfall carried significance beyond their own existence. Only that could bring about the true catharsis, the purging through pity and terror that cleanses and ennobles.

That brings about another interesting question, though: how to strike the right balance (or make the right choice) for our characters. Should they really be larger than life so what happens to them has larger meaning, or should they be just like us, realistic, erratic but ultimately insignificant if not just boring? Standard genre approach is to show heroes, people beyond the ordinary, like Aristotelian kings and queens. Literary world tends to dwell on the everyday and trivial and turning that into fine art. On the one hand, I sympathize with this approach and want real people in all their frailty and mediocrity should inhabit the pages of my prose because thats what people really are. But then, its the larger than life heroes and heroines that we want to remember. Heroic tales have impacted our cultures and our collective psyche so much more than the best tales of the ordinary life. Everybody remembers Ulysses; who can mention Prousts characters? Or even Kafkas (except for Mr. K)? Though arguably, Prousts and Kafkas works have bigger artistic merit than Homers tales (although its hard to compare, really).

Oh well, Im ranting. Its 04:00; maybe Id better go to bed?

Back with some quizzes

meldmel2000@yahoo.co.uk — Fri, 7 Nov 03 23:14:00 UT

What's in a name? I don't know, but you're 'Romeo
& Juliet!'

Which famous Shakespeare play are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

You are Donnie Darko. A whole new breed of
schizophrenic. You see people arent sure what
they think of you. You sleepwalk and end up
where-ever Frank leads you. Some people really
like you and dont know anything thats going on,
and others.. well they fear the truth. You
believe the world is going to end.. and for you
it will but there isnt anything you can do
about it. You listen to frank cause he saved
your life, and you in turn will save someone
else's but you still die. Good Luck Donnie, you
are truly great.

Who is your inner CRAZY person?
brought to you by Quizilla

Doing Nothing Is Hard

meldmel2000@yahoo.co.uk — Sun, 14 Sep 03 20:06:00 UT

Not working is very time consuming. And difficult. Im speaking from experience. Partly because you feel like you finally have time not to do anything, which is so pleasant at times, but at the same time theres the guilt-monkey sitting on your shoulder ALL THE TIME, telling you how you are squandering your time. I speak from experience, having just finished a two-year (!) sabbatical. I dont know where the time went. True, Ive written two novels (of which one is shelved and the other Im now re-writing) but still I feel I could have done so much more. I wish I had more discipline not to waste time on things that dont matter. And the guts to decide when I am NOT going to write, instead of sitting in front of the computer because the guilt monkey wont let me leave, even thou all I do is play solitaire.

And all that inspired by Jeds toadys post.

Saturday

meldmel2000@yahoo.co.uk — Sat, 13 Sep 03 20:52:00 UT

Two weeks left till I leave for VP. Im so excited. I want it to give me new writing energy, to push me out of this apathy that makes me dread writing more than enjoy it. I dont know how it can, cos I dont know whats causing it, but still.

I got going on chapter three re-write. Its not bad, but not great either. I had to do some thinking but I think I managed to bring up the bridging conflict. Not easy, given the real one is unknown to the protagonists till some one third of the book.

Sent Moon Arising to Ideo. Wonder what theyll make out of it. I asked Jan to read it the other night and he did, and then stared at me with this blank expression.... Sorry, I have no clue what this is about. Oh well.

Interstices and such

meldmel2000@yahoo.co.uk — Sat, 6 Sep 03 02:01:00 UT

I should report on the World Con but everybodys done it already, and since Im officially the Worlds Worst Blogger, I wont bother. (Say, was it a rhyme?) Ill just say that everybody was really nice, Hannah, Amber and Lisa were great roomies, and that I hope to come to BosCon next year, if only to see the first Brass Monkey awarded.

Theres been some discussion going on interstitial art and the speculative in spec fiction. Which makes me again think of what is it what I want to write. My shorts (and flashes especially) sound very different to my novels. They sound better, too--or at least more like I like them to sound. More lyrical. Stylish, if you will. Novels are different--but they need to be different. They demand a different tone from me. Wonder why. Are they more idea-focused? Is that it? And is it bad?

One of the issues in my latest WiP is the conflict between the demands of hard-sf world building and the tone of the story. Ive got critters telling me I have to explain how this world works or they wont buy into the story. But I dont want to explain. Its not what Im about. Sure, the worldbuilding is there; Ive done my job. But I dont want to spend pages explaining technical details. So I risk being to vague to hard sf readers. And anyway, the whole thing has a very mainstream sensibility--though its set in a future world without which the story would fall apart, to its sf all right. The thing is--I dont care. I dont care if its sf, how much sf, etc. Theres enough worldbuilding there to support the story, Im sure. And its the story that matters to me. And frankly, its a thriller. SF thriller, OK, but more a thriller than sf. Or is it?

Did I mention being the Worlds Worst Blogger? Oh, well. Rambling off. Bed time.

TorCon

meldmel2000@yahoo.co.uk — Wed, 3 Sep 03 11:14:00 UT

I'm back. I've survived, though barely. I'm SO tired! I feel like I haven't slept for a week. Of course, I caught a cold, too. And the journey back took forever. Oh, well.

It was a blast. I loved it. Not the Con itself--most of the panels were a waste of time--but meeting all the people. The OWW Zoo crowd was fantastic; so nice to put faces (and bodies) to the names. I also met a bunch of very nice VP people, and other folks whose journals (or fiction!) I read. I wish I'd taken a camera. Cory Doctorow did a great job with pictures, though--I'm even on one of them (page 7). Yay!

Now I need to recover in time for VP. Something tells me I'm not going to get much sleep there, either...

::says she and falls over::

I'm going to VP!

meldmel2000@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 18 Aug 03 01:04:00 UT

I wonder if I already qualify for the title of the Worlds Worst Blogger. I can never make myself do it. Always something more important to do. Anyway. I got accepted to VP. And Im very happy about it. Ive revised the first two chapters of Slant to be workshopped. I hope to have the third discussed there too. Otherwise I dont know what to expect (sigh). Still, Im determined that it will be helpful. I dont know how, but it will.

Another development is that Im fed up with shorts. Just cant sell anything. And Im sure its not simply my writing. Seems I cant produce interesting enough topics. Got a few rejections with good writing but this or other. Maybe I should really focus on novels. Given it takes me about as long to polish a short as to write the first draft, that seems to show which sits better with me.

In other news--Ive got a job. Which is partly good, because I needed the money, and partly bad because it makes me more tired that its worth time-wise and it usually breaks my day so much I cant make full use of the rest of it. I guess Ill have to get used to schedule writing/reading and husband around somehow.

Oh, and Im going to Torcon. Should be fun. Its going to be my first WorldCon, so Im bracing myself....

Update

meldmel2000@yahoo.co.uk — Thu, 3 Jul 03 23:02:00 UT

Diving went well, except... the cold drink afterwards gave me a nasty throat inflammation. I spent most of last week coughing myself to sleep (any time during the day) and watching Wimbledon. This week is better, but Im still coughing.

The Belgian girls lost in the semi-finals. :-( I was really supporting Kimetje today but it didnt help. Next time.

Sent some stuff out but I dont have high hopes. Im going to send Moon Arising to SH, maybe theyll like it. And Ideo is sitting on Ozymandias. Little hope for this one, though if it were to sell Ideo is probably the best market for it--weird and literate.

Last weeks have been fairly productive--three new stories done, one Im quite happy with and one that needs work but might work. The third one Im not sure about--I tried to write a scary story but Im not happy with the result. Its not scary enough to be horror, and the characters are too flat to be anything. Need to rethink what Im doing with this one.

Im a bit stuck with what to work on next. Finish the stories or get back to the novel? Or write the crime story that is knocking around my brain? Choices, choices... Logic tells me to finish what I have almost ready now. But man, I hate editing!

P.S. The three baby hedgehogs are doing great. They were fighting over an egg today. Yammy!

Good News, Bad News

meldmel2000@yahoo.co.uk — Fri, 20 Jun 03 03:47:00 UT

Bad news: one of the baby hedgehogs is dead. ::sigh::

It was to be expected; they are so young--too young to survive without a real mother. The other three are doing well, though, and thats a consolation. And now that theyve made it so long, they have a good chance of surviving. ::grin:: Oh, and a parrot bit me. Somebody walked in on Tuesday saying they have a stray parrot in their garage and would we mind taking care of it. Bjorn and I ventured to catch it, and we did--but the little bugger wasnt cooperating at all... Oh, well. It will heal. ::wink::

Good news: Im going diving tomorrow. Yay! First time in three years. Its just a refresher in a pool, but still... Im delighted. And I got an opinion from a good diving doctor that my medication shouldnt interfere (at least if I dont go too deep as I might be more susceptible to nitrogen narcosis). Great! I looked at the photos from Dahab--diving in the Red Sea, riding camels to get to some secluded places where no road would take you... Ah... I get all dreamy. I want to dive again!

New Stories

meldmel2000@yahoo.co.uk — Fri, 20 Jun 03 03:36:00 UT

Im a terrible blogger. Just cant get to it. Once an introvert, always an introvert, I guess. Anyway.

My writing is lousy there days. No energy, no drive, no nothing. Discouraged, is the word. Blah. But keep going anyway, or pretending to be going. Wrote the scary story and tabled it the moment it was done. It sucks big time. I wonder if its worth my effort trying to salvage this one at all. ::sigh::

I have more hope for the Little Mermaid retelling story I have up now. It misses something, though, and Im not sure what. I left it alone for a while and hope it will sort itself out in my head. In the meantime, Im busy with Dragon City. It is an experiment, and Im really not sure where its going. No, thats not true. I know where it is going, I just dont know if Ill be able to pull it off. Oh well. A nice experiment, anyway.

Animals Again

meldmel2000@yahoo.co.uk — Fri, 13 Jun 03 01:55:00 UT

Some photos I took today. The hedgehogs are a week old. They are SO sweet.

Back to Birds

meldmel2000@yahoo.co.uk — Mon, 9 Jun 03 17:16:00 UT

Its spring again and young birds are en mass falling out of their nests. Which means Im back to the bird shelter feeding the little buggers. They are wonderful--so happy to get fed. The best is a little owl somebody found in the forest under a tree. A fur ball with yellow eyes and huge appetite. And we got a whole nest of baby woodpeckers. And a hedgehog hit by a car. He (she?) eats well, so prognoses are OK.

The little ducks eat a concoction of three sorts of worms (from the deepfreeze, luckily). Most others are happy with pieces of cows heart (guess who has to cut it?) The owl eats frozen baby chickens--feet and all. Strange to feed one bird to another. Nature. ::sigh::

Anyway, anybody for frozen rats? I bet you its delicious in the worm dressing...

Brain Power

meldmel2000@yahoo.co.uk — Sun, 8 Jun 03 21:21:00 UT

Your Brain Usage Profile
Auditory : 64%
Visual : 35%
Left : 55%
Right : 45%

Detailed Profile:

Mel, you are mildly left-hemisphere dominant while showing a slight preference for auditory processing. This overall combination seems to indicate a well-working blend of logic and judgment and organization, with sufficient intuition, perception and creativity to balance that dominance.

You will at times experience conflict between how you feel and what you think which will generally be resolved in favor of what you think. You will find yourself interested in the practical applications of whatever material you have learned or whatever situation you face and will retain the ability to refine whatever knowledge you possess or aspects of whatever position you are in.

By and large, you will orient yourself toward intellectual activities and structure. Though not rigid, you will schedule yourself, plan, and focus on routine and continuity of operations, rather than on changes and disruptions

When changes or disruptions occur, you are likely to consider first how to ensure that such disruptions do The same balance is reflected in your sensory preference. You will tend to be reflective and measured in your interaction style. For the most part, you will be considered objective without being cold and goal-oriented while retaining the capacity to listen to others.

Preferentially you learn by listening and maintaining significant internal dialogues with yourself. Nevertheless, you have sufficient visualization capabilities to benefit from using graphs, charts, doodles, or even body movement to enhance your comprehension and memory.

To the extent that you are even implicitly aware of your hemispheric dominance and sensory style, you will feel most comfortable in those arenas which emphasize verbal skills and logic. Teaching, law, and science are those that stand out among the professions, along with technical sales and management.

Not sure I agree with the planning vs. disruption thing... Anyway, if you're interested, the quiz is available here.

Saving Private Lynch--the true story

meldmel2000@yahoo.co.uk — Fri, 23 May 03 01:04:00 UT

Check this out.

No comment.

Neil Gaiman's world tour

meldmel2000@yahoo.co.uk — Tue, 20 May 03 20:50:00 UT

Neil has made it to Brussels, and I made it to the bookshop where he was signing. Got American Gods signed and drawn in (a weird looking guy and Believe! next to him); bought Coraline and got this one signed with a drawing of a winged mouse (or rat). Cute.

Neil was very friendly, though he looked about to fall over. Im surprised hes managing to stay friendly; he looked like he hasnt slept for days. Oh well, the price of fame... ;-)

He said that when he finished American Gods he told Gene Wolfe that he thought he finally knew how to write novels. But Gene told him the old truth--that you never learn to write novels, you only learn how to write this one.

Oh, and someone in the line ahead of me brought in a manuscript for Neil to look at... All nicely printed and bound, and with a transparent cover. You should have seen Neils face! He was trying to be polite... I was chuckling to myself. Luckily, Im past that stage now. At least that one!