I finished the tutorial, uploaded my work and have been editing my series–everything seems to work very smoothly. I am very pleased with Scrivner. And, today, recognizing that my teenage heroine needs to be put a bit more in jeopardy, I killed off her protector in Chapter 2. It will mean quite a few edits through the rest of the book, but I think it is the right thing to do. And I had the perfect spot for it: instead of surviving the monster attack as the guardian had done before, she’s killed. Shows how dangerous those monsters are!
Trying out Scrivner
So for several years, people have been telling me how great Scrivner is, and as I am starting a new project, I thought it was time to try it out. Just got it a couple of days ago, and went through their very thorough tutorial, and have begun downloading my project into it–with an occasional review of certain procedures described in the tutorial. Haven’t really worked with it much yet–the project is still not fully in the program–but so far, it looks very useful, easy to use and flexible. Looking forward to getting to know its parts even more!
Life Throws a Loop
When Words Collide was totally awesome, as it always is (some have said this year was the best ever), but I missed most of it. Friday, Don saw his doctor because of shortness of breath and overall exhaustion, which is NOT like him. The doctor wanted tests done at the urgent care centre a few blocks away (and wasn’t impressed that Don was going to get there on his motorcycle). The blood tests showed elevated enzymes indicating a heart attack had occurred (or was occurring). The ambulance took him to the hospital (Alec picked up the motorcycle from the urgent care parking lot and brought it home, thank goodness) where he had more tests. Then: an angiogram, angioplasty and stent.
The good news is: he went in healthy (non-smoker, non-drinker who exercises regularly and watches what he eats), so the prognosis is good. Tons of people told me about their father/brother/uncle that had this done 7/3/20 years ago, and feel better than ever. So, Don is home, now, with an even MORE rigid diet, instructions to take it easy (ha!) for a couple of weeks and no work or driving for a month–and a new exercise program coming. Changes for everyone, but we are very positive.
I DID get to parts of the convention (you can’t spend all your time in the hospital–it’d have worn Don out) and got about 5 million hugs and best wishes. What an awesome group of people I associate with!
When Words Collide coming up!
Cleaning the house, packing books and paintings to sell, researching for my panels, making lists of things to do–When Words Collide is this weekend. I said I’d only be on 2 panels, but I am also attending 2 workshops, doing 2 readings, being MC twice and have 2 commitments to the short story contest–the weekend is going to go by in a blur. Oh, and a SFWA meeting to chair.
Sale!
Very cool! I was talking to the editor of the SFWA blog, Todd Vandermark, at Launchpad, and when he discovered I teach creative writing, he asked if I would do a blog post for the SFWA site. Cool! One of my favourite courses is “Backstory Secrets”–which, I have to admit, is mostly a combo of Robert McKee and Donald Maass, but with my own twist on how to apply it to writing. So, I wrote up 1000 words putting into a nutshell (with examples), and made a sale! Yay!