To think I was going to participate in NaBloPoMo — or whatever the abbreviation for “post in your blog every day in November” event squashes into. I certainly would have failed miserably if I’d attempted that particular challenge. It’s been terrifically busy at work the past month, and when I get home I’m too tired to do much more than what’s required — and blogging has never fallen into “required” category for me, sorry to say!

One of the reasons I’ve been more tired than usual is that I’ve been trying to get up at 5 in the morning, to get in a spell of writing before going to work, leaving my lunch hour free for a walk or some other exercise. Sadly, neither is working out too terrificaly well. I’ve only accomplish either one about once a week so far, but the alarm is still going off at 5 a.m., so even if I do spend the next hour hitting the snooze button instead of writing, I’m not really sleeping either.

Needless to say, progress on the novel itself is going slower than hoped for, but it is still going. I’m having a few structural issues, or I will have once I get further into the story. It’s not about the plot of the story itself, but about incorporating background stories and myths of the storyworld (necessary for both the heroine and the reader to understand) into the storyline. I don’t want to simply have the heroine be handed a book to read that explains everything, so to speak. Nin suggested I look at Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum, Hal Duncan’s Vellum and so forth, but I think those have a too much post-modern edge to work well with the rather humble voice of the novel so for. So I’m still experimenting with ideas, and hope that the right idea will pop out at me eventually.

In the meantime, I took the first half of a nearly finished short story I’ve been working on for ages to my writer’s group the week before Thanksgiving, and it was well-received. I’m hoping that I can get the second half finished to take to our next meeting; I’d really like to have it ready to start submitting before the holidays. Which doesn’t leave much time, does it?

Please pardon our dust.

I never get tired of boasting about my kids. But I think I’m justified. The work shown is the first page of a graphic novel that Lucy — who will turn 11 in less than two weeks — has recently started. Click to enlarge, s’il vous plait.

The funny thing is that she doesn’t think it’s good enough, so she’s going to redo it. She’s too young to be afflicted with an inner critic!

“We’re talking about story-telling, the most basic human need. Food? That’s an animal need. Shelter? That’s a luxury item that leads to social grouping, which leads directly to fancy scarves. But human awareness is all about story-telling. The selective narrative of your memory. The story of why the Sky Bully throws lightning at you. From the first, stories, even unspoken, separated us from the other, cooler beasts.” — Joss Whedon

(Sorry for two Whedon posts in a row, even they are two weeks apart. I have other things to post about. I really do. Someday, I may have time…)

If you’ve poked your nose onto the Internet at all today, you’re probably aware that Joss Whedon (of Buffy and Firefly fame) has announced a new television series. While I’m not a rabid fan, I do like to keep up on my Joss Whedon news, mostly hoping to hear that someday there will be a new Firefly movie, so I curiously followed the links to read more about the new show, Dollhouse. The concept seems a bit, erm, troublesome (prostitution with an SF glamour cast over it?) but I’m willing to give it a shot, because it’s Joss, and I expect if anyone can approach that sort of thing without being exploitive, it will be him. I probably wouldn’t post about it at all, except for this brief exchange in the interview, which made me laugh all over the place:

Joss: [Eliza Dushku] was trying to protect herself, and I was trying to get a free lunch. In the middle of lunch, I came up with the idea of this show and the title by accident.

Interviewer: Tell me this isn’t that easy for you…that it just came to you in between bites.

Joss: I went to the bathroom and came back and said, “I figured it out.”

That, folks, is the creative genius at work!

Of course the fans who are rabid are going wild. Fastest fansite ever.

In mildly related news, I’ve been a watcher of Desparate Housewives for three seasons (I love the camped up adventures seasoned with just a touch of what it’s really like to be a mom/wife), and the addition to Nathan Fillion (formerly of Firefly) to the cast has only increased my interest. Only they need to give him more screen time: he had two measly lines in the most recent episode, but with those two lines he totally blew away the rest of the cast. Seriously, I can’t even remember what else happened on the show. There’s a depth and sincerity to his performance that just totally captivates, and I hope his stint on the show gives him the cred to get a new, powerhouse series of his own, or even feature films (even if they aren’t Firefly!). In the meantime, I will satisfy myself with his too-brief DH appearances, and pray that they don’t diservice his talent by giving him any tawdry affairs with the ladies of Wisteria Lane.

What do get when you mix one superhero…

…with one Mistress of the Night…

…and toss in Jack and Jackolina O’Lantern?

Candy, of course!

And two tired but very happy kids.