I’m off, into the proverbial wild blue yonder. Mom’s taking me to the old country. We’re going to visit some of the places our ancestors are from. I’m excited, AND I’m hoping that the break from routine will help my brain out a little.
I think that this just might be my new theme song… it will be playing when I’m in the plane, and I’ll be thinking of you:
“The HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say on the subject of towels.
A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to- hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you - daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.
More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with.”
~The Hichthiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
I really haven’t written all that much lately. It’s not for lack of wanting to either, it’s just that there’s really nothing there for me to put down. (Ok, there are a few things I could write about fiction-wise, but they are merely half-formed ideas and may, or may not stay that way…) I sit down to blog or write and the cursor stares at me, taunts me and I can stand it less and less. I’m blaming this pre-trip post-training stress and I hope that when I get back that I will be better able to focus.
Riiight. I’ll be focussing on getting my butt back into school. *sigh* I would like to be able to spend as much time as I liked just doing as I liked with the writing, but alas, the days of wanton writerliness are either far behind me or far ahead. Wait, is that me trying to talk myself out of something? I should probably work on inspiring myself instead, no?
I think part of the appeal is invention, or even reinvention of worlds, of characters, anything. Partial escapism, partial god-complex. Lol.
To that end perhaps it’s time I did that first-line meme I’ve seen on so many author-blogs.
Justice and the Werewolf:
Justice had a headache. The grinding from the back of the truck did nothing for the pain in his head and set his teeth on edge. He felt a little like he was chewing on tinfoil. He took another drink from his water bottle and willed the acetaminophen to work faster.
Dragons from the Sky
Liam wiped moisture from his face, not knowing, or caring if it was sweat or tears.
Dragonbreed
The sand was hot on Kalindra’s sandaled feet as it spread out before her, sweeping to the horizon that danced with shimmers of heat.
Infinity
“Don’t you love me anymore?”
Araya begins to cry. “I love you more than you will ever know.”
“I want to stay with you.”
“I know sweetie, but this is a very important mission I’m sending you on.”
Io’s eyes brim, but she nods. She’s so brave for a kid. She’s tiny, smaller than she should be for a twelve-year-old, but Araya has done the best she could.
Mar-ya of the Sands
Mar-ya came to the top of the rise and gazed out over the expanse before her. She placed a hand on her swelling belly and felt the life within her move. She knew, with the instinct of hundreds of generations before her that her time was drawing nearer, and that finding a safe place to give birth was getting more and more important.
Spider, Spider
Lia stared at herself in the mirror and made faces at her reflection.
The Resurrection of Cat-Girl
Ahlliandra opened her yellow eyes to the dim light that blinked on outside her door.
Desert Deconstruction
Mira eyed the smudge on the horizon that had been her home for most of her life.
The Demon Train
The watch fires marked the boundaries of Annie’s world.
La Loba
The bones told stories.
untitled
She didn’t remember being hit by the car.
and last but not least HIWTHI (I know what it stands for but it is still only a working title as I don’t think it fits anymore, not after 64k words - also, this may not stay as the first line…)
Marlon walked slowly through the night, flicking his lighter absently and only half-aware of the cigarette that dangled from his lip.
I kinda like the Marlon Brando-esqueness of the cigarette dangle, but I think I need something with a little more oomph as a first line. And yes, oomph is a technical term.
listening to: Massive Attack - Mezzanine
eating: ice cream and rhubarb
