Month: May 2015

Now that Phoenix Comicon is over, it’s time to get back in the swing of things. I’ve got a few submissions to read, critique, and return, a submission of my own to send in, some revision/editing to work on, some critiques from another project to read, and some submissions from that project to read/critique/return as well.

Then tomorrow, back to full-time real-world work. I’m just a glutton for punishment.

It was very nice to have the time off though, even if it was a relatively busy weekend. I got to take my time and enjoy the con while still having free time to spend with family. I feel refreshed and ready to take on life as usual. I definitely needed this break from the norm.

Here are the pics I’ve taken at the con. They’re mostly just from day one and day two, because my husband and I had our nephews with us today and I didn’t want to ruin their fun by stopping cosplayers for photos when the day was about the boys.

And now for a nap! Whew!

I’ve poured over the programming guide. Looked at everything there is to do for the first couple of hours of con. I am ready to implement the plan…

The plan to not plan very much. Yeah, there are a couple of panels I still would like to see. Do I have to see them? Not really. And that’s just fine.

I’ve spent so much time recently living in stress that I’m relishing the knowledge that I basically only have to plan on what I’m going to wear.

Two more days of con talk, then back to my regularly scheduled nonsense 🙂

It is so nice to go to a Comicon and not really have much planned.

The past three years either my husband or both of us have been working for one of the gaming groups, so we have had to squeeze in panels and shopping and entertainment in between the scheduled stuff we were signed up for.

Just being able to go at our leisure has been great. This is how Con was meant to be experienced.

Tomorrow we’ll have monies to get goodies or do other stuff we might be interested in. Or not. It’s our Con.

It’s that time of year again! Time for Phoenix Comicon, the one convention a year that I make every effort to attend.

This will be my fourth year in a row attending, and my third year cosplaying. I’ll be wearing some form of cosplay each day of the con, though not all will be very sophisticated. I’m taking it easy this year.

My “big” cosplay will be Amy Farrah Fowler from The Big Bang Theory. My supportive husband is even cosplaying as Dr Sheldon Cooper (if you don’t know, watch the show!) the same day. He’s not big on cosplay, so it means a lot to me.

I’m also doing an original character, a “lazy” cosplay (basically a cosplay dress that I bought off the rack), and a reboot of a previous cosplay but with some changes. I just don’t have the energy to curl my hair & my wig from two years ago is ruined.

I’m hoping for a fun and relaxing long weekend. Viva Comicon!

Excerpt from Kamikaze Butterflies:

Let Not the Past Repeat Itself

Three generations have passed

Since the death of a father

So great, so grand

But not so sound of mind

Locked away he was

‘Til the end of his days

Until the internal struggle exhausted him

And he succumbed

Now comes a daughter

So great, so grand

Who fears the father’s fate

Will the great grandness of the past capture her?

Though her condition may be mild

And her coherence still in place

It looms, the terror of the past

A darkened cloud within

Will exasperations escalate

Until the daughter

So great, so grand

Succumbs to the great grandness

That consumed the father

Pray, good friend

To whichever God or Gods you pray

Pray that the legacy has not been passed

Pray that the past remains the past

Pray that the daughter will never suffer

The great grandness that was fatal

I think I’ve finally got it.

First I couldn’t figure out that nagging paragraph that was the start of the mess, then once I thought I had it figured out, I wasn’t at my computer to fix it. Then, life, as so often happens, got in the way.

Now, it’s just me and my computer, both friends and nemeses, ready to get this out of the way.

I’ve had my breakfast. I’ve had my energy drink. My cat is off somewhere else in the apartment, fed and happy, presumably sleeping now that he’s woken me to get what he wanted.

Let’s do this!

That damn screen keeps staring back at me. I’ve been looking at the same paragraph for an hour and still can’t figure out how to fix it.

I wouldn’t be so frustrated if it was just a minor issue, but the problem that was pointed out to me is major. I can’t just tweak the paragraph; I have to rewrite it, then figure out how to make the rest of the chapter fit with the changes I make.

I have a three day weekend coming up, but don’t think I’ll be slacking off the whole time. I’ve got some major changes to make on a certain chapter in my WIP (based on some feedback I’ve received), and depending on how much is changed I may have to make changes in later chapters. That’s the thing about writing a story: if you make a change that affects something down the road, you have to go through the whole story to make sure you don’t write any plot holes in there.

I truly appreciate the critique group I found, because it allows me to see my work through fresh, unbiased eyes. The members of the group point out errors or faulty plot devices that need work that might have seemed like genius to me at the time.

This particular area that I need to fix is a tough one, and though it has been several days since I got the critique pointing out the flaw I still haven’t figured out how to rework it to make it more believable. I’m up for the challenge though. And I’m learning that I can take critique better than I thought I would. This is a good thing, because when it comes time for editors (and a  publisher perhaps?) to rip it to shreds I’ll have developed a thicker skin lol

That’s kind of how I feel lately. Not like I don’t have a care in the world, but like I can’t seem to make myself care about much of anything in the world these days. Like I’m here physically, but I’m not “here,” y’know?

I had wondered why I wasn’t able to stay awake much, and maybe this is it. It’s not technically a depressive episode–I don’t think–because I’m not technically depressed. I’m not sad or down. I’m not really anything.

I’m hoping the upcoming three day weekend, followed by Phoenix Comicon, will lift my spirits a bit and get me motivated to feel something.