Haus of Rhi

The Trunked Novel Rewrite is dangling on the cusp of what will be a violent and messy scene wherein the MC, Jaedyn, attempts (unsuccessfully) to extricate his father from being ravaged to pieces by wild, mind-driven carnivores. The other MC, Renji, hasn't quite yet come to terms with the fact that his love interest has gone from being female...to male...in the general course of my apparent machete-wielding. His introductory chapter is horridly stalled. Hey, Renji? I promise, I'm doing it with surgical precision. Really, I am. Even if it doesn't appear that way. The excessive blood spatter is disturbing, yet unavoidable. I guess I'll get back on track with that one when he settles down. Black's sequel, Blood Red, has hit a Snag-Lag also. Konaton is disbelieving, Jhez is offended, and I threw my hands up and left them alone to stew. Andrej Pejic .... the face of Black. Through the course of yesterday evening, though, I did manage to find the face of Black....

Or, A Ramble About Craft. I don’t pretend to have a “New! Improved!” perspective on writing, or any artistic expression, regardless of the medium, for that matter. I don’t have all the answers. I don’t have any answers, come to think of it. I just have the moon outside my living room window. And a philosophy. It’s not even an opinion – those are like anal sphincters. Everyone has one. They pass some rather rank gases and other matter, too. No thanks. Blind eye, writer’s block, deaf ear, clumsy hands. No matter what your chosen or preferred medium of artistic expression is, you’ve either heard these kinds of expressions before—or have experienced them firsthand. The composer who sits down to play, only to stare at the blank grids, and hear nothing in his mind. The writer’s Blinking Cursor of Doom, mocking. The painter who looks at the canvas and sees…nothing, not even negative space. Or the one who claims their mind doesn’t see in enough detail. Or what their hand does draw isn’t wh...

I am such a software whore. I had to. Take a screenshot. Because I'm so in love. Which is typical of who I am, I guess. I am the most disorganized person. The state of my home is "lived in". Don't look in the kitchen unless you're wearing a full bio-hazard suit. But give me a tool that does what it's supposed to, and does it well, and does what I need it to-- and all the sudden I'm so productive I don't know what to do with myself. I imagine my daily wordcount will increase as I get used to Scrivener, but right now I think 1500 or so a day is fine. It's sure as hell more than I was doing a week ago. When I was lucky if I got a couple hundred out, on the days I didn't have off. At this rate I might have Blood Red done before its prequel is even sold. *blinks* Anyways, without further ado: Scrivener Porn! Please note how many different projects I'm working on (separate windows along the bottom). Whichever one strikes my fancy on An...

...I now have the sequel to "Black" crawling around in the back of my head, slapping my logic circuits with a rubber mallet, too. The working title is "Blood Red", the POV character is Black's twin Jhez, and the previously interviewed Konaton, with a few tweaks, looks to be making an appearance as ... well, fuck. An anti-hero. Lacking Darling Daddy as the antagonist, it appears Mommy Dearest will fill the role in his stead. Jhez is not the easiest muse to work with. Especially not right at the moment. Hopefully her badassery will mellow out soon. I mean... it's threatening to teeter over into bitch  at the moment, and while she's good reason, it doesn't endear her to anyone. ...Are you listening to me right now, Jhez? You hearing this? It doesn't. SRSLY. *sighs* Jhez, of course, is too busy to listen, explaining to Garthelle why an Audi wagon with all-wheel drive is NOT an acceptable off-road vehicle. So on that note, this writer throws...

In the form of software. Behold, The Scrivener. For Windows. And many endless thanks to Aleks for introducing me to it. If I have to, I'll fork out the funds to purchase the official version when it goes live, because there is nothing better than a tool that works the way you want it to. Seriously. I'm sorely tempted to spam my blog with screenshots, I'm having so much fun with it. Of course, I feel like I'm playing, even if what I'm really doing is compiling some fifteen to twenty years of revisions, world-building, and concepts, and filtering the treasure from the trash. I feel like I'm doing that in a good many aspects of my life, as of late. Have finally made the decision to quit smoking. It's going to have to be a gradual thing, as this introvert still needs to maintain her gainful employment, and a modicum of sanity while interacting with others on the job. Thankfully, however, my current position does not present anywhere near the level of str...

The only parts worth saving from what I've worked through thus far are the intangibles, the world-building. And even that, I've had to revamp substantially. Yes, this is the Notorious Story, the one I've been working through, endless revisions and rewrites, for the past two decades.  Because there's a story worth telling in it, and it only needed my maturation as a writer to tell it correctly. And through all that, I've refused to give up on it entirely. Could not bring myself to discard the gem at the center, that deserved more than I was, until now, capable of giving it.

About a month ago, I finally broke down and purchased a new coffee maker. Just a cheap 20-dollar one, but it's awesome and creates 12 cups of ambrosia in under ten minutes. Which, no, the last one couldn't do any longer. I tortured myself many a day with that unwilling demon. Anyways. Over the past few days, I began noticing that when the brew cycle ended there was only 10 cups of coffee in the carafe. This baffled me. I actually yelled  at it the other day. "I have only had you a month , you piece of shit. I know the water quality is less than stellar, but there is no reason why you can't function optimally for SIX MONTHS before deciding to take a shit on me." Yep, that's how quickly I go through them. Oh. And yes, I really do talk to the devices in my house. And the dog. And Shark the Goldfish. At any rate, this morning I distracted myself with leftover coffee thermos contents while the fresh pot was brewing. It brewed a full twelve cups. So .... I ca...