Greg informs me that Sable is much better now that he's with our regular vet and we should wait and see how things go. He also pointed out that my day-of-the-whatever is off on some entries. Well... yes... I am sleep deprived. I'll sort it out later. Four critiques today and only three stories submitted today -- which was a pleasant relief for some people to see. I truly feel that the high submission rate problem will even out over the length of the workshop. We shall see. In the meantime, I've started a new story on the one subject that I find impossible to write about: Sex. I'll target this one for the week that Delaney is here because it really and truly is science fiction. Thus far, I have only the opening line: On Solaris, foreplay is five minutes of standing outside the recreation room door, waiting for the other couple to climax, dress, and prep the room for your fifteen-minute turn.
I do not expect to finish the story before the weekend because Sean gave me back my story submitted as the challenge to write a story without your greatest strength and thus my plans are to tell everyone to NOT read that story -- set it aside -- and I'll try to revise it in time to turn it in by Thursday so I can learn about revision. Revision is my very, very weakest skill and while I hadn't planned to revise anything written here until I returned home, I see an opportunity. Even better, this would sidetrack me for a bit and thus reduce my high ratio in the stack waiting to be critiqued. Thus far, all I've talked with seem to think this a good idea. Little do they know that it's probably not truly going to slow me down as much as they expect. A day maybe. A short breather. I've been repressed so long with so little time to write that I think I've got a wealth of time now in comparison to my usual schedule and thus I feel very much like a dog finally released from his cramped little kennel. I just want to run and run as far and as fast as I possibly can and not stop until I drop from exhaustion.
Yes, I am having fun. How did you guess?
Sean said that Tim Powers gave him a long list of detailed instructions for Clarion and one of these is that he must treat us to pizza on Tuesday night. Thus, we're meeting for pizza at 6pm. In the meantime, I am caught up in the story I thought about this afternoon. Solaris is the place where one of my characters grew up and Lucianne deserves a far better novel than the one I gave her. I thought it would be a good idea to use her as the character in this particular story as this story happens long before the novel and is a cruical reason why she left home. Delving deep into this event from her past will help me understand her better if/when I rewrite that novel or give her a better one.
As of 1630 hrs., I am about one thousand words into what is probably going to be 6,000 words (of which 5,000 will be very explicit sex). I will ask before submitting this one as I have concerns that the graphic nature may be too much for some people. This is assuming, of course, that I can pull it off. Sex is one of those places where I close the door in my writing. I do not include sex. I do not think I can write sex scenes well. But then again, I haven't really tried.
If this is read, I think it will be a unique angle and no, I am not tilting the ship.
It will be a depressing story.
Tonight, we had pizza and Sean revealed the secret handshake, a.k.a. as the brutal realities of the business. Reserves against returns, etc. Good pizza and much good information was enjoyed by all. I'm going to bed as soon as I finish this journal entry, finish the critique of a work submitted today, and do a little writing and possibly revising. Nite.