http://magicalwords.net Fri, 16 May 2008 13:15:09 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en About midway through the publication of my book, Mad Kestrel, my editor's assistant accepted another job. Since he'd been my primary contact from day one, I was terrified! Who would answer my questions and keep me in the loop? I needn't have worried -  Stacy's smart, reassuring ... http://magicalwords.net/2008/05/16/misty-massey/special-guest-friday-stacy-hague-hill-of-tor/ I work a paycheck-job, as a middle school librarian. Which means that once a year, I am pulled out of my library to serve as a testing monitor, for the two weeks of standardized tests the state requires of our children. The first portion of the day sees me running ... http://magicalwords.net/2008/05/15/misty-massey/oops-was-this-my-day/ We talk a lot on this blog about being driven to write, the manner in which we write, the focus of our writing. And deadlines. Let me not forget deadlines… Sigh.   Quick deadline update: I managed to get my (okay, Gwen’s) last contracted mystery book off to the editor three ... http://magicalwords.net/2008/05/14/faith-hunter/when-life-gets-in-the-way-%e2%80%93-getting-%e2%80%98er-done-%e2%80%93-a-rambling-blog-about-stuff/ This isn't, I'm afraid, going to be much of a post. I'm in the home stretch of THE PRETENDER'S CROWN, which has just crested 175K in length (ai!), and which has, oh, somewhere between one and seven thousand words left. I'm hoping it's around 4K, and then all I've ... http://magicalwords.net/2008/05/13/cemurphy/home-stretch/ In the course of speaking about my books, I often tell people that I write "organically."  And I'm not the only one; I have friends who use the same term when speaking of their own work.  But what does this really mean? Look up "organic" in the dictionary, and among the several definitions ... http://magicalwords.net/2008/05/12/david-b-coe/writing-organically/ I don't know about you, but I could use a break from the Democratic infighting and UN officials pretending to be surprised that Myanmar doesn't want any Western help, so today's Friday Fun is all about having a good time! Here's three trillion dollars...what will you buy? Define a word, ... http://magicalwords.net/2008/05/09/misty-massey/friday-fun-linky-dinks/ With the impending release of the Speed Racer feature film, I've been remembering the original Speed Racer. (Yes, I'm that old. *grin*) While other people were cheering for Speed to defeat the evil genius and win the race at the same time, I was watching ... http://magicalwords.net/2008/05/08/misty-massey/whos-that-cute-guy-in-the-back/ Miz Misty is posting this for me… Isn’t she a sweetie! And why am I not posting my own blog? Because my muse and my deadlines got together and …well… read on… Deadlines loom over me like a sabertooth lion, all teeth and fangs, poised on an overhanging ... http://magicalwords.net/2008/05/07/faith-hunter/muses-and-deadlines/ I don't typically do my research--hm. I'd better start this again. :) I'd been about to say, I don't typically do my research until after the fact, except that's wildly untrue. Before I started the Walker Papers, I read every book about shamanism I could get my hands on (and ... http://magicalwords.net/2008/05/06/cemurphy/on-research/ About eleven years ago, after my father died, my siblings and I were going through the apartment in which he and my mother had lived the last few years of their lives, when we found the first books I ever wrote.  One of them was called "Jim, The Talking Fish."  ... http://magicalwords.net/2008/05/05/david-b-coe/the-writing-imperative/