Still on zombies . . . consider June to be the Month of Zombies.
Today I’m looking at one of my more memorable encounters with zombies. Last week I touched on ‘Warm Bodies,’ this week I want to talk about Shaun of the Dead. A marvellous little romp starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in which Shaun (Pegg) decides to change his life around by getting back with his ex girlfriend (who dumped him because she thinks he’s useless). Only problem is, he decides to take this action in the middle of a poorly timed zombie apocalypse. Shaun now has to not only save his girlfriend, but everybody else before he zombies eat everyone.
Now . . . I know this film isn’t about the zombies (you knew that too, right? It’s a zombie movie where the zombies are actually by-the-by. It’s about Shaun and his journey towards growing the hell up and being useful and proactive for a change) but it’s a great look into how zombies don’t have to be scary to be entertaining.
I like my blood, gore and guts as much as the next person, but watching a zombie shuffle down the road missing an arm or smearing themselves against a glass conservatory door is funny and just as entertaining for me.
And, if that isn’t enough for you . . . I do believe the success of films like Shaun of the Dead made little gems like this possible:
. . . No, you don’t have to watch the whole thing.
I’m a bit saddened that my literary zombie intake has been and remains so low. I know there must be plenty of decent zombie books out there, so this year I’m going to be looking into: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies at the very least as well as City of the Dead and The Rising (I firmly believe that anything by Brian Keene is worth looking at). Oh . . . and World War Z, I suppose though I’d probably choose the movie over the book, because, you know . . . Brad Pitt. *ducks* Don’t hate me!
Phew! That was pretty link heavy.
Anyway, zombies are funny and I wish there was more of them around. Vampires have been done to death now (*sniffle*) and while they are my preferred creature of the night, zombies deserve their props. I’m looking for someone/thing to do something new to them. Not necessarily Warm Bodies style (or zombies will end up glittery, angsty teenagers -_-) but different, y’know what I mean?
But . . . in the meantime, I’m happy to settle for this:
I’m no longer bliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind! *runs about gleefully*
Yes, the bug is gone! No more pinkness, redness, stickiness or tasty ointment that I can only taste because putting it in my eyes somehow sends it on a one way trip to the back of my throat!
It’s all good. ^_^
Actions Last Week
~Send x3 review requests for ‘MEO:TFS’
Two. I ran out of steam. I blame the temporary blindness. 😦
~Format ‘Sugar Dust’ for paperback release
Nope. Didn’t even look at it. Probably a good thing. Fiddling with margins and page numbers and those niggling little widows and orphans probably would have killed my eyesight!
May 2015 Round Up
~Collate comments from beta readers and begin tentative edits.
Only got one back so far. I need to chase the others. So . . . no . . .
Change That Shit Up!
So where does that leave me? Heh, in kinda the same position I was in at the start of May. Completed tasks struck out, changes/clarifications in red and new tasks in green.
‘Slippers & Chains: Sugar Dust’ back on sale as an ebook by end of June 2015
Get ‘Slippers & Chains: Sugar Dust’ on sale as a paperback by end of July 2015
Edit ‘Slippers & Chains: Second Base’ following comments from beta readers by the end of October (preferably by end of August).
Draft ‘Slippers & Chains Three’ (and give it a damn title!) by end of November 2015 (probably during NaNoWriMo)
Save editing ‘Slippers & Chains Three’ for Jan 2016
Switch to a more manageable newsletter schedule of quarterly postings with bonuses for new releases when the current ‘New Pet’ story is done.
Targets for June 2015
It hit me, somewhere in the middle of last month, that 1) I hadn’t included the re-release of ‘Sugar Dust’ anywhere in my goals and 2) that my plans need to change a lot. A lot. I need to slow down.
Get base photography done for ‘Sugar Dust’ cover art in photoshoot with Sarai
Commission the cover art and be ready to apply one to the other
Get ‘Slippers & Chains: Sugar Dust’ formatted for ebook and on sale
Decide if I want to publish this release through both Amazon and Smashwords, or take advantage of Kindle Select
Send this month’s newsletter
Activities For This Week
Outline brief for Sarai
Make the decision on where to publish and price
Complete half of the ebook formatting
Thoughts…
As you may have heard at the beginning of the week, Ileandra has a lot of work to do. She also seems to think I’m not due to claim use of DSB for nine weeks. That kinda flies in the face of a lot of the dates I had originally which is why there is so much red in this month’s round up. Things needed to change.
I don’t mind. I think I gentle month working on background guff actually means I don’t need to do as much writing as I’d planned. I’ll bet DSB is grateful for that.
But it does mean I have to think long and hard about November and if I really want to be working on ‘Slippers & Chains: Three’ in that month. I should be free to (it will be my turn, damn it!) but if Ileandra wants to get ‘Saar’s Legacy’ out at a rate of one every six months, I may need to step back. -_-
I look back at that title and wonder if I’m being callous and mean. I hope not. I don’t mean to be, I’m trying to be funny, honest!
For those of you who didn’t spot it on my Facebook here is what I’m talking about:
MAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Now I’ve had some sleep (but not enough) and some time (ish) I can talk about this is a more coherent manner. I’d like to start by clarifying the following:
I’m not beating on all authors who do this. It is a valid and sometimes wonderfully enriching exercise to explore existing characters in a way you’ve previously been unable to.
There. Right.
What I am saying is that in this instance, I don’t believe there is enough of the character Christian Grey to fill another book. I do realise that it would be the same story, but I feel strongly that E L James would have to do a great deal of work to ensure the character isn’t as flat and clichéd as he has proven himself to be.
Because this is a man that has a lot of potential to be interesting.
The 50 Shades franchise glossed heavily over how this man actually thinks, feels and treats his desire for a BDSM relationship. I think that’s partly why so many people screamed abuse. I still maintain his actions were abusive, but with more insight it might be possible to feel pity for him, even if I’m unable to empathise.
But if I put aside E L James and everything that sparked this post in the first place, let me gab about the idea of recycling.
Credit: Gerald_G
It’s a good thing! DSB has a folder called ‘Snippets’ on her laptop (more recently known as The Dumping Ground). Into that folder goes all manner of deleted scenes, fragments of dialogue, dumped characters and ideas. Nothing is wasted, nothing is deleted (properly) nothing is lost. Because she knows, as I’m sure many of you do, that ideas and ‘snippets’ can (and should) be recycled.
There are whole scenes from ‘Sugar Dust’ that I dumped because they had no space in the story. Information about Cindy that would have made a great novella all of their own with some expansion. I’ve kept them because I know that one day (maybe not soon, but one day!) I’ll be able to return to them and use them elsewhere.
In that regard, I think E L James has hit this one right on the nose.
I love it when the first day of the month is a Monday. It makes these goal posts so clear and clean. ^_^ I have a full month from today to achieve all the bits n bobs I want to achieve with no laggy days at the front. Let’s see what’s been going on.
Actions Last Week
Edit five chapters of ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ – skip the parallel timeline and focus first on the contemporary line in Leicester
Well . . . I’m not stuck any more, that’s for sure. Hang on. *counts* Four again. Something about that number! Anyway, if you’ve been keeping up with my Twitter, you’ll know that I’ve done HUGE chunks of rewriting and I’ve now managed to get back to the point where the rewrites meet the existing text.
It should be smoother progress now, but there’s no guarantee. Everything up to this point is pacier, with deeper insights and explorations of every key character. Even my villains are blossoming on the page now, something I think ‘Silk Over Razor Blades’ could have enjoyed more of (yes, hindsight is a wonderful thing. Deal with it, and move on, Illy!).
Getting the balance right so the villains don’t take over is tricky (they’re so much fun to write now that I know exactly what their motivations are), but as a result, Lenina is forced to be harder, quicker and smarter. Which is perfect for this section of her overall arc through the trilogy. Basically, I don’t care that I’ve only done four chapters; good things are happening to this novel. ^_^
Send out review copies of ‘Silk Over Razor Blades’ to those who have asked
Hmm. Well I gave away a copy to a woman who works in the museum I’ve loosely based Lenina’s employers on. Does that count? Ugh. -_- I’m waiting for an address for one person and the impetus to get off my arse for the other. I’ll do it tomorrow. I swear. *holds up pinkie finger*
UPDATE: 9:30pm
Turns out I needed address for both people! Humphhh! Which I now have. So tomorrow is the day they go in the post. Let’s do this!
Send five review request emails
Three. I read somewhere that a response rate of 7-10% is brilliant for sending review requests so I’m looking at this list of mine and thinking I need to send a whole heap more. Like . . . LOOOOOOOADS more. -_- Why, oh why do I find it so hard to ask for things I need? Even from people who want to help? *sigh*
Targets For May
Complete at least half the deep edits on ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’
Haaaaaaaaaaaa, not even close! ^_^ See above; I don’t care. Things are going swimmingly.
Issue this month’s newsletter
Sorted. And the last of the freebies have been given away too, meaning this newsletter is now quarterly. Phew!
Release ‘Silk Over Razor Blades’ (SQUEEE!)
In answer to that target, I’ll leave you with this old favourite of mine:
Changes To My Plans
Given the level of fiddling I’m having to do with ‘Walking the Razor’s Edge,’ something needs to change. Not much, but I do need to manage my expectations and be realistic about what I can actually do. Let’s be sensible here, right? After all, DSB only gives half of her attention to me. 😉
As ever, completed tasks struck out, changes/clarifications in red and additional tasks in green.
Publish ‘Silk Over Razor Blades’ through Little Vamp Press by May 25 in digital and paperback forms
Edit ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ to completion by end of September (including betas)
Publish ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ through Little Vamp Press by end of November in digital and paperback forms
Issue all remaining parts from the ‘Chapters of D’nai T’keyah’ novelette for newsletter subscribers (monthly), then switch to quarterly newsletters which should leave two updates for the remainder of the year.
Start deep edits on ‘On A Knife Point’ by end of December
Decide what I want to do with Dead or Alive in 2016
Send two more newsletters to subscribers. Ensure there are decent freebies to offer
Targets for June 2015
Complete deep edits on primary timeline of ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’
Update this blog (and website!) to show Saar’s Legacy progress and include sales buttons for physical copies of ‘Silk Over Razor Blades’
Make 30 separate requests for reviews on Silk Over Razor Blades (don’t panic, Illy, that’s one a day. One! You can do this . . . just breath deeply, okay?)
Contact Dave for discussions re ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ cover art
Activities For This Week
Edit the next five chapters of ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ following the primary timeline
Make seven review requests (in person/via email/via blogs/via strangers – let’s be creative about this!)
List which pages on the blog need to be updated
Email Dave to begin ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ cover art discussions
Thoughts…
BEHOLD . . . ! The holy diary!
I just had a look in my diary. Y’know, the one in which DSB painstakingly planned every week of the year to ensure I met all my goals. *snerk* Mad woman . . . and that was only five months ago!
Not that I’m miles off what she planned. If I follow that diary, I have three weeks to complete all deep edits on ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’. Obviously it’s going to take me longer than that, but Raven isn’t actually scheduled for anything major writing or editing wise for another nine weeks. Nine! I wonder if she knows about that . . .
DSB actually had a pretty good sense of what could go wrong and she budgeted for it. Which is great, considering the curve balls both Raven and I have come up against.
So while that list for June looks pretty heavy, Raven is going to be mostly quiet except for her work getting ‘Sugar Dust’ back on the shelves. That leaves lots of time for me.
Also, I keep looking at ‘Dead or Alive’ and licking my lips. I’m gagging to get on with working on that, but I know I can’t until ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ is clear. Which means those last two goals in my year’s plan may need to become one and the same. If I make ‘Dead or Alive’ my newsletter freebie, then I can justify spending time on it. DSB has been reading it at the Phoenix Writer’s Group for the last few weeks and even though the majority aren’t genre writers (or readers) it isn’t going badly.
Guess I’ll just have to see where things sit at the end of June. Ha, if that was ever a spur to get my editing hat on, right? 🙂
No, no, don’t shake your head, it is. But I like that about it. I rarely know what I want to discuss until I sit down to write and that type of spontaneity is kinda nice. It’s also a bit knackering and I’m starting to learn that ‘seat of the pants’ just isn’t me if I want to stay sane. Well . . . to some degree, but I also like need structure (you’ve seen my goal lists, right?).
To that end, blog posts from now will have a bit of structure!
Woohooo. Laaah-laaah-di-daaah.
I’ll pick a subject, split it into chunks and chat about one of those chunks for the month. The following month I’ll go onto the next chunk, then the next and the next until the subject is exhausted. Then I’ll pick a new one. ^_^
How does that sound to you?
From the title of this post, you can probably guess that the subject I’ve decided to cover for the foreseeable future is ‘fantasy creatures.’ Because . . . yey! ^_^ And, because I’m backwards (and not at all influenced by a great film I watched late last week), I’m starting with right at the arse-end of the alphabet with zombies.
So . . . zombies.
Those slow moving, dead faced, icky skinned, dead things that shuffle around moaning ‘braaaains . . . braaaaaaaaaaaaaains.’
Kinda cool.
I know very little about them. I’ve never written about them, I don’t read about them, but I do know they’re a genre specific creature that seems to pop up more and more wherever I turn my head.
Just last week I watched Warm Bodies, a film I’d heard of previously but never managed to see (thanks for the heads up, Pippa!). Even I, a zombie-layman, could see that this was something new and I spent a wonderful hour and a half learning about what passes for a zombie in 2015. Looks like the Resident Evil franchise has a looooot of catching up to do if > > > > zombies can spontaneously become human again with the right dose of love and affection :-).
Yes, that WAS a spoiler. If you want to read it, highlight the whole of the previous paragraph (or from > > > > up to the smiling emoticon) and the spoiler text will become visible.
My first encounter with zombies in any significant way was probably Resident Evil. The films rather than the games (both of which are AWESOME) by the way. The film franchise stars Milla Jovovitch *drool* and features some of the most brilliant stunt choreography and CGI I’ve seen for ages. The games . . . well, let’s just say I still think about Resident Evil 4 and think ‘I can play this one more time. I mean, I know what’s coming, right? It’s not going to scare me this time. It’s not going to- OH MY FUCKING GOD!’
Huh. Guess I know a little more about zombies than I thought.
Edit five chapters of ‘Walking The Razor’s Edge’ – skip the parallel timeline and focus first on the contemporary line in Leicester
Given the level of fiddling I’m having to do with ‘Walking the Razor’s Edge,’ something needs to change. Not much, but I do need to manage my expectations and be realistic about what I can actually do. Let’s be sensible here, right? After all, 
To that end, blog posts from now will have a bit of structure!
Writing: A Conversation Without Interruptions 