Kindle Markdown Event: The Breast of Everything

My version of a post-Holiday sale! 

Whether you're breaking in a new device or just wanting to make the most of that pre-New Year's slump with a cool read, please note that starting on December 26, with a one-day-only bargain basement price of 99 cents, I will be running a special markdown promotion on the Kindle edition of The Breast of Everything on Amazon. 

I know, I know!  What says post-Christmas better than a book about a talking breast that might be...um...Let's just say She is that She is. Maybe you've been curious, but didn't want to risk the regular price on something that sounded so odd. Maybe you've read the book and liked it, but were leery of recommending it to a friend. Here's your chance to buy or spread the word! 

Those who miss Day 1 will still have two days to practically steal a copy for only 1.99!  That's right: less than the cost of a ride on the NYC subway--and surely equally entertaining! Starting December 29, the price starts inching up: first to 2.99, then 3.99 (12/30) and 4.99 (12/31), before returning to the regular low price of 5.99 on January 1. Shop early for the best price!

Mark your calendar and be sure to share widely! 

Christmas in Whoville

Five more days til Matt Smith's final Doctor Who episode. Notice I didn't say "appearance." 'Cause, since Day of the Doctor, and even moreso Night of the Doctor, I'm not ruling out the possibility of any Doctor or Companion somehow reappearing down the road. Still, this will be the last substantive view of this particular Doctor and I am sad for it.

Part of the joy in a good continuing series is that you get to hold onto characters you've come to love. Then the evil day comes that either the actor leaves or the series ends.

If you're lucky, the writers are able to orchestrate a graceful exit. This is something that Doctor Who does especially well. I still miss any number of characters, but I can enjoy subsequent episodes without feeling (for example) a Donna-Noble-shaped hole in the proceedings. Perhaps Julian Fellowes should take a few pointers on transitioning characters; decisions around the actor attrition has Downton Abbey jumping more than a healthy number of sharks.

When it comes to closing an entire series, it's best when the creative team began the show with an exit strategy in mind and then were allowed to see it through. We're always going to miss living in these worlds with these characters, but at least we feel a sense of ... damn, I hate the word "closure" but there's no better way to say it. Even if the story arc didn't include a pre-determined conclusion, a team has a chance to make it work if they're given sufficient time to wrap things up. Last year, Eureka! managed well; Fringe a little less so. I continue to miss both shows (and think they both had a couple more solid seasons to give) but I feel more comfortable about where I left the people of Eureka!

The worst thing is when a series ends abruptly. I may never forgive HBO for the Carnivale debacle. When they decided to pull the plug prematurely, there simply wasn't enough time to bring this very complex, layered plot to a satisfying conclusion. The final episodes were a desperate mad dash to reroute character arcs into sone kind of resolution. What had been a rich, fascinating story was crippled by a feeble, sometimes ridiculous ending. Years later, I still feel robbed! And, btw, when people talk to me about renting/streaming Carnivale, I'm not shy about warning them of their eventual disappointment. If you're ever fortunate (?) enough to find yourself running a series, I suggest you take Carnivale as a cautionary tale: prepare each contracted block of episodes as if it might be the last.

Getting back to where I began this... Soon Whovians around the globe will be getting the gift of a Christmas episode that makes us say good-bye to a favourite hero. Like all good stories, the story of the Eleventh (ish?) Doctor is coming to an end. And a new story, which we will also learn to love, is about to begin. Transition is always bittersweet.

Another NaNo Conquered!

Last night, while it was still November 22 in my time zone, I hit my 50K words, thereby crossing the finish line of my fourth NaNoWriMo. (pause for cheers)

This year I'd interrupted an active WIP to do NaNo. Okay, maybe "interrupted" isn't fair. Work on Under the Bus had stalled. Partly because the fiction-writing section of my brain was struggling to let go of The Upsilon Knot sufficiently to focus on a less colorful contemporary story. Enter good old NaNo! Nothing like a deadline to force concentration. That was the good news. Bad news was the project I'd decided to work on. I have a self-sabotaging habit of playing by the rules, and NaNo rules say to start a brand new project. I certainly couldn't dare work on another Upsilon project (last year's solution), not while I was having such a time separating from that world. The most likely candidate waiting in the wings had its own world and a handful of characters whose stories I wanted to tell. Problem was, it had no plot; without a sense of direction, it's hard to write at this pace. Even worse, the project I call PDQ is set in a thoroughly depressing dystopic future. Enough said.

Somehow, astonishingly, I kept on and even found my way to a...well, more a framework than a plot. Last night I made my 50K. And NaNo continues 'til the end of the month; I could keep writing until the bitter end, as I have every other year.

I've always been proud of breaking 60 K. However, NaNo did the trick; I can't wait to leave the world of PDQ and leap back into Under the Bus. As they don't even start to verify wins until the 25th, I've made the following decision -- which I'm posting here to make sure that I stick to it. I'll keep working on PDQ 'til the 25th; I still have some left from the list of scenes I'd identified. Then one more day, to jot down all my mental notes regarding the order of scenes; should I return to this project some day, I'll want to have all of this on hand. The day after Thanksgiving, I'm back, 100% fiction-writing energies, on Under the Bus.

(pause to let out giant sigh of relief!)

See you in December

It's the most wonderful time of the writing year! By which I mean NaNo. I've got a nice clean notebook for unplugged productivity (like when I'm on the subway or waiting to go into a a movie). A new Scrivener project has been named and stocked with ideas. And my counter widget is up on this site, the critical tool that forces me to sit down and write whether or not I feel like it!

You might think it counter-productive to put a 1-month hold on a work in progress to start on something new, but consider that both the current WIP and "The Upsilon Knot" began as NaNo projects. NaNo forces me to plunge into the thick of a story, with no time for hesitation or puttering around. The work pours out; a lot of it is even usable. The charge I get from this is well, well worth the exhaustion.

This November, I'll be diving into a future world that revealed itself while I was watching the lunchtime foot traffic near the Flatiron building. Hey, inspiration can find you anywhere -- even on the Shake Shack line!

and they are us

You know those dystopic novels all the kids are reading? Ever wonder what happened a few generations before page 1? Maybe something like this: government shutdown by fundamentalist minority; rising civilian gun violence; erratic weather; increasing percentage of immune disorders; decline in goods production; gambling-based economy; erosion of stabilizing middle class creating an unbreachable divide in the citizenry... On the bright side, one of you may be the 3x-great grandparent of the teen-aged girl who's going to save the future.