It's in the mail!

The first three chapters of the novel are in the mail. Now all we can do is wait. Of course we'll continue to send out submissions and continue to write the rest of the book.
Our first three chapters equaled 46 standard pages which is equal to 72 novel pages. So we'll either have an incredibly long novel, a few very long chapters or a lot of cuts to make.

I just finished watching the first episode of Nightmares and Dreamscapes. It's an anthology of shows based on Stephen King short stories. The first story they did was "Battleground" which I think is in Night Shift, but I'm not sure, I do know that I have read it . Anyway it was the craziest thing there were no commercials, which is unusual for a t.v. show. The other thing, no one spoke. The main character grunted every now and again but nothing, no actual words. Interesting.

Currently reading: Ultimate Spider-man #97, 52 #10, Ghost Rider #1, The Next #1

"Big words"

I've just spent the past two hours looking up "big words" to use for a character that pretends to be smarter than everyone else.
Don't worry I didn't retain much so there'll be no nothing that sounds intelligent written here!
After a while of writing I wasn't even sure if what I said made sense which could make the whole thing seem incredibly stupid or funnier because the character is trying so hard to be smart that they don't even make sense, which makes them look even more stupid or something like that.
Well the first three chapters are ready to be sent out. I'm trying not to get my hopes up but I have to say it's pretty cool!

Going crazy!

Despite the heat I have been using just about every second of spare time to work on our novel.
I think I'm driving everyone to hate me including my dog, after losing two hours of editing last night, due to my own stupidity of not saving it. (I'm sure Jenni's cracking up because when we met to work on the novel a week ago I saved about once every ten minutes, I'm just that paranoid.) Anyway when I went to send my file to Jenni and it was not there, I kicked and threw everything in my way sending my poor baby Kreeg into hiding behind a chair ( For the record, I wasn't throwing the stuff at him). Yes, my 110 pound beast that pulls me down the street with little effort was ducking in terror from the raving lunatic that writing has made of me.
I was just a little stressed because we had set a deadline of having it sent out by Tuesday. It's now tentatively Wednesday.

Currently reading: 52 #9, Supergirl #7, the Thing #8
Just saw: Cars

I'm back!

I am back on the internet.

While I was away I've been working hard. After sending out several query letters, Jenni and I heard back from a company that wants to read more of our stuff. So we've been working our butts off. It's really exciting!

I'm happy to be back on the internet and I'll try my best to keep my bills pay.

Just saw: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (It was so awesome!)
Listening to: Panic! At the Disco

Starving Artist(writer)

My internet service will be down for a little while(hopefully not more than a week) due to financial reasons. I'll try to post by using my friend's computers but I don't want to impose.

Write to you soon!

Just saw: Superman Returns (I bought my ticket before they shut off my internet and it was not refundable)

GET TESTED!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 27 is National HIV Testing Day. A day organized to remind everyone to get tested, even if it's not on Tuesday.

An estimated 2.8 million people died last year HIV/AIDS related causes. That's nearly 8,000 people a day.

Think of how many of those people thought it could happen to them, that they could be infected.

Please get tested!

If not for yourself, do it to know that you are not putting those you love at risk.

You can help the fight against AIDS!

Get tested.
Encourage others to get tested.
Stay informed.
Pass on this message.

For testing sights go to www.hivtest.org to find local, free, anonymous, needle-free testing. This sight also provides information on how to know if you're at risk and answers questions about testing procedures.

Lansing Area AIDS Network

www.aids.org
www.aegis.org

SAVE LIVES! GET TESTED! PASS ON THIS MESSAGE!

No comic book store, unfinished comic story, reading a few comics

This week has been crazy. At the top of the list my favorite comic book store closed it's doors this week. It's a crazy situation that might end in them just moving but still it's been sad.

I've been working on my realistic hero comic. I should name it so it's easier to refer to. Hopefully that will be done soon.

With Friday's paycheck comes more stamps for more submissions.

Today, for the first time in a long time, I was just inspired to write about how something made me feel. Not really in a prose story, just lines of thought. Almost poetry, I dare say.

Currently listening to: Tiny Dancer-Elton John
I've been reading: All-Star Superman #4, Astonishing X-Men #15, Superman/Batman #27, Robin #151, Flash #1, Daredevil #86, 52 #7, Superman Returns Prequel #3
Went to see: The Da Vinci Code

Not my friends

Despite the return of hot weather I have been working on my writing. Currently I'm working on the comic I think I mentioned before that's about a realistic superhero story.

Using MySpace I found a comic publishing company right here in Lansing that takes script submissions without art. And it's run by a woman! So I plan on pulling a submission together and sending it out. The company she runs does a lot of comicons. They'll be at Motor City Comicon and Wizard World Chicago. Between those two shows and a friendly mySpace message that mentions I bought some of their comics(I'll be ordering it when I get paid on Friday), perhaps I can make a business connection and get a comic published.

Speaking of myspace. I joined for networking and have added a few college and high school friends, but in the past few weeks I have gotten quite a few friend request from random guys. I check their profiles to see if I know them. They all seem to have hundreds of friends that are all girls in bikinis and those girls have thousands of friends. Then the guys will actually e-mail me saying things like "are you gonna friend me or what?". No, I'm not gonna friend you. I am not a myspace whore. If you want to be my friend and I don't know you, tell me why you want to be my friend and then I'll decide.
I'm not sure if myspace is worth it sometimes. Yikes!

Currently listening to: Kelly Clarkson-Breakaway(album)
Just finished reading: Ms. Marvel Issues #2-4
Just started reading: Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Al?

I just read an article about J.K. Rowling and found out that the reason she goes by J.K. instead of JoAnne is because her editor thought boys wouldn't read her book if they thought a woman wrote it.
Is this the start of A.L. Shaffier, comic book writer? Hmm...

After taking a few notes from Jenni, I spiced up my flash fiction story and submitted it. We shall see.

Current music: Shakira
Just read: 52-week 6, Nightwing #121, Superman Returns Prequel #2, Ultimate X-Men #71.

Query Letters

Hopefully Jenni doesn't care if I share this but we have started sending out query letters for our novel. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

I think I'm going to start putting notes at the bottom of entries with things like current music, what I'm reading or the last movie I saw. That way everyone can see what things interest and inspire me.

Currently reading: Superman/Batman#26, Human Target(TPB)-Living in Amerika
Current music: Nickelback, Green Day

Entry fee?

A while back in one of my writing classes we were given these cards to write random ideas on. Then we all drew and we had to write a story using the two cards we picked. I had chosen bubble gum and door-to-door salesperson. So I wrote my crazy story. My teacher put a note on it, saying that it was funny and I should submit it to a short-short contest.
Personally, I wouldn't normally submit a story of this nature. I'm sure it's a decent story (my professor never really held back when work wasn't good) but it's the kind of thing that you might find in a middle-aged, housewife kind of magazine. I'm fine with having a story published just about anywhere, so that doesn't bother me. The thing is that the magazines I can find that would fall into that category are all 'agented only' submissions. Did my professor realize this and that's what inspired the contest comment rather than a submit comment? I'm not sure but the biggest question is whether the story is worthy of a $10 entry fee?

Over a year!

I started thinking the other day that my one year blogger anniversary must be coming up around August. I thought it would be really cool to go back and read a few things. So I checked and I actually started in May. Okay, so I was a little off. I still went back and read a few things, of course finding a few mistypes along the way. I went ahead and edited them.

Breaking the rule

Submissions. I've been churning out submissions for every finished short story I have. May I say that I hate companies that won't except simultaneous submissions(the same story sent to more than one company at a time). I have to sit and wait three months for them to tell me my story sucks before I can send it to someone else. Fabulous. I often think I should just send it to other companies anyway. It's not like anyone's going to publish it, and it's even less likely two companies would, but I know the one time I do it I'll get screwed over for it because that, my friends, is how it works. So when a story is ready to go, I send it to all companies that accept simultaneous submissions, once they've all rejected it, I send it out to the non-accepters one-by-one.

I'm trying to put the finishing touches on another story so that I can start shipping that one out. I have to say I'm thinking of breaking a rule. Generally, in stories told in first person, the person telling the story shouldn't die because then who's telling the story. I, however want the character to die at the end. The last line of the story will be the line they have while they are about to die, their last thought. Is that even technically breaking the rule? I don't really think so. Besides even if they did die in the middle couldn't they be telling the story from the after-life. Wouldn't that be qualified as experimental, not wrong? If no one breaks the rules then aren't we just going to find the same old stuff over again?
My former writing professor told me I couldn't do it when I wrote the story for class. Now that I'm revising it I think it works better the way I had it, but what if every publisher/editor thinks the same way he does?

Another hot day.

It's still hot! The weather report says it's suppose to cool down tomorrow but that's what they said yesterday about today.

I went to see X3 and it was pretty good. I've heard a lot of comic fans express disappointment but I thought it wasn't too bad if you don't compare it to the comic book. Maybe the Phoenix story wasn't exactly like the comics but try fitting 30 issues into two hours. I also don't care about the 'permanent' (it's the best way to describe things without being a spoiler) things that happened in the movie. It's the last of the series, so it doesn't matter(at least I think it's the last of the series. The last scene and the scene after the credits lead me to think maybe not).
Anyway, it gave me an awesome comic book story idea. It involves some X-Men but is not an X-Men story. Now if Marvel would just give me a job, the whole world could see my wicked idea.

I hate the heat!

Blah! It's not even June and it's already in the 90's. I'm really upset by this. I live in the northern part of the country because I hate hot weather. If it stays this hot throughout the whole summer I will be really annoyed. The heat disgust me. It makes my hyperhydrosis flare so bad which puts me in a real bad mood. The most irritating thing is that I hate touching stuff. That means keyboards, pens, papers. I can't stand the touch of any of it and unfortunately I have yet to figure how to telekenetically use my keyboard. I thought about tape recording but it's really not the same. I'll just suffer through the annoying heat and write, no matter how unpleasant it becomes, because I love it. Sorry to complain. I'm sure I said the same crap during the heat wave last summer.

Bye "That 70's Show"!

I would just like to say good-bye to one of my favorite TV shows. The first one I've watched from the beginning to the end. It was hilarious and, I know this sounds wrong since it is a sitcom but, the characters were inspiring, especially when I was in high school. I'll miss you 'That 70's show'!

A girl can dream.

J.K. Rowling, Stephen King and John Irving will be doing a reading together at Radio City Music Hall on Aug. 1st and 2nd. I would just love to go. The cheapest tickets are $12 and going to New York would be so cool. Sadly, right now I can't even afford the $12 and some how I have a feeling the tickets won't be there long.

I can't even describe how exciting it would be to be in the same building with such awesome authors and listen to them read their work. Not to mention going to New York.

Finally moved in!

I am back! I am finally moved into my new house and while I haven't even come close to having everything unpacked, I do have my computer and most of my office up and running (pictures to come soon I promise).
I have also started back into my writing!

In way cooler news....Jenni and I have a near finished query letter. So it might not be long before were sending out proposals for a novel!

Fan letters

I was reading a book about getting into comic writing. One of the writer's giving advice, who's name escapes me right now (I can't look it up because the book is packed and waiting for transport), said that he had never written any comics before getting his first job writing Green Lantern for DC. They gave him the job because they had come to know him through the 100 or so letters he had published in the back of their comics. I haven't seen any readers letters in the back of DC lately but I have seen they are in Marvel. So once I get through this crazy, hectic thing called relocation, maybe I should start my letter writing.

Out of old, into new, starting my...space!

I'm still in the process of packing and the big move will begin on Monday. I'm excited, nervous, anxious, and just ready to get it over with.
I haven't really been working much on writing, mostly because my office is a room full of boxes. It's a little hard to find the room or the time. I'm hoping to get unpacked and set up as soon as possible. I don't want to waste anytime.
I did apply for a comic writing job today. Since I have no experience with an actual published comic book, I probably won't get it. Trying never hurt though.
My new house also has a pretty nice garage that I plan on using more for a creative space. My office will still be in the extra bedroom but the garage will be excellent for my giant project. So I plan on decking it out.

In hopes of networking with more writers, artist, editors, and cool people in general, I have started a myspace page. I know it's horrible but it might be beneficial.
Ashley's myspace page . I haven't decided on a URL yet so right now it's just the generic one. I'll link to it on my side bar too. Right now it's not too exciting but I hope to add to it little by little.

On a complete non-writing note, I'm participating in the Race for the Cure, to help the fight against breast cancer, on Sunday. My family and I will be walking in memory of my Aunt Jackie. If anyone would like to sponsor me or join me in the walk please visit my page on the fundraising website. Don't worry if you can't donate, I'll still love you. Thanks!
BTW sorry to everyone who has already read this message from me.

Good from the bad

A few months back I went to the theater to see the latest Zorro movie. As I watched the movie I got a brilliant idea for a character. A hero who, like Zorro, who is a real person and doesn't have crazy super powers. It's been done before but I had my own little twist to this character. It's the character's motivation that truly makes him stand out. And of course I'm not going to tell you what my secret weapon is because I love to be vague in fear of someone stealing my phenomenal idea.
I've got this great character. I'm really excited. I'm thinking of notes faster than I can write them down. Then I go to write the story. The introduction to the character was boring. I just said this is the character rather than introduce him gradually throughout the story. Oh well, I'll work it out later. Then I continued to write the story, eventually forcing myself 'cuz it ain't happening. It sucks. I just keep repeating the same stuff and that stuff is the character, his motivation and his plan. There's no story.
I demand that I come up with a story for this guy and I do but it's the same old thing. This awesome character isn't going to cut it alone. He can't have the same lame downfall to bounce back from then triumph. He can't just get stabbed, pull the knife out and continue to take down his enemy. It's just too predictable, boring, cliche, over done. Call it what you want.
So I promise myself I will come up with something. Every night when I am trying to sleep I think about the story I'm currently writing and develop the story or just keep going over it. Still nothing.
Then inspiration struck. Yesterday, a situation occurred in life that was unjust. There was betrayal of friendship, accusations made and a person who lost many things very dear to them. It made me angry, sad, frustrated and(insert various other negative emotions here). But out of every crappy situation comes something good. Tonight as I dwelled on the situation I thought of how an over elaborate version of these events would make my story whole. It's beautiful. My excitement for the story has returned.

I know sometimes I write things about projects and I give no detail of the project. I apologize for this but I hate to give the story away . If someone were to love the idea and I never developed it, it would be disappointing. Or maybe someone would write it first and better. Since I don't have good writing skills all I got are my ideas. But really the reason that I write about projects is to share my frustration and joy. If I was going to give the whole story plot and character away in my blog, well then there would be little point in writing it. I'm sure there would be some point but whatever. Anyway, I hope the few people who actually read this aren't incredibly bored and annoyed by my stupid stories about writing. Sorry. Hopefully, one day I'll get something published and there will be something more entertaining to read than my crazy blog entries.

Bye

Well since I will soon be leaving my house I thought I would post pictures of my first office. This is where most of my writing has been done for the last three years. Sorry, Batman fell down:(

On the move.

I've slacked off on the blogging lately for one good reason. I'm moving.
Last week my slumlord called and told me to get out because he wants his house back. So I spent last week in a panicked search. Thankfully I found a new place in a timely fashion. I'm moving in on May 1st. Now I'm on to packing, which if you've ever been to my house, you know I have a lot of stuff. I'm a collector of many things. Action figures, comic books, books, statues, comic art, shot glasses, DVD's, CD's. Each of the categories I named means I own well over a hundred of each category. I'm certain the comics go into the thousands. I also have an office with about four file drawers full of writing in some state of completion.

The funny thing is I never realized how much moving affects my writing. First off I have have submissions out that will be coming to this address. Yes I know there is forwarding but I've noticed things can slip through the postal service cracks. And we all know if there is one person that wants to publish me, it will be the one whose response letter doesn't get forwarded. Second, I couldn't start my big project because it's just too huge to move mid-project. So it's on delay. Also I'll need to make new business cards. Plus moving all my junk and the time that I waste packing, moving and unpacking in which I could be writing. Hopefully things go well and the transition is smooth and fast. We'll see.

One song

After my writing class pretty much made me hate the idea of writing short-fiction stories, I've been thinking a lot about what I want to write. I have a ton of ideas that would make great stories and I'm sure I'll get to write most of them one day if the fates allow.
In my down time I've been watching a lot of movies and two got me really thinking.
The first was "Walk the Line". When Johnny Cash is at an audition, in hopes to record his music, the producer he's playing for tells him to stop. The producer ask him if he got hit by a truck and you only had enough time to play one song before you go, one chance to tell people what you really feel about life, is that what you would sing? That's not an exact quote but you get the idea.
Then I was watching a favorite of mine, Rent. Roger, a song writer, is trying to write one song before he dies. But if you only get to write one song, what do you write about?
This all got me thinking. If I only have time to write one thing in my life, do I want it to be some lame vampire story that I only wrote because it met the requirements for my class? Do I want my one story to be written how my professor instructed so I can get an A? I want it to be written the way I feel it, I want it to say what I want it to say?
I just don't know what that is.

Experimenting

I haven't abandoned my blog. I'm still alive and I'm still writing.
Not to say that my creative writing class isn't good but it's kind of made me sick of writing conventional short stories, at least for now. So lately I've been trying some experimental things. One is a cartoon strip that works around my lack of talent in the art department. Another is a really huge project and by huge I mean actual size of the finished product. I haven't started yet because, due to it's large size, it needs quite a bit of preparation. Mostly because it's quite costly so there is no room for mistakes.
It's probably real annoying that I never give more detail but that's just me. Sorry!
Well these projects keep me away from my computer. That is why there's been a lack of "I've got writer's block" blogs.

Wasting time?

For several reasons, I skipped class tonight. Shameful, I know. Lately I have been discouraged about class anyway. I feel like I can't do anything right. The professor is trying to help and I am well aware that I am not a good writer. My trouble is that I am just not sure that great writing can be taught. Am I wasting my time?

Kreeg:Writer's Best Fan

It's a dark and stormy night. The perfect weather to write my terrifying story for class. The perfect time to write it since it's due on Friday. Yet as I sit down and try to type I find myself too preoccupied with things today. Last night I felt the same way and managed to type a few pages after posting on this blog. Maybe tonight will be a repeat.

I realized that I have never posted a picture on my blog. There are pictures on my live journal about my everyday life but there really aren't pictures about my writing. Tonight I realized that there are pictures of my biggest fan. While he may not be fond of my work, he watches every word I type.

Sorry he kind of blends. I could have taken the picture in a better light but I took it from my seat at my desk where I write, or pretend to anyway. He watches me the whole time. I can't close my office door, even to block out the real world and get into writer's mode. He won't whine he just bangs at the door handle as if he is trying to get in. He's not happy being locked in the office with me. Although sometimes he sits next to the desk. One thing's for sure, I never worry that he's going to tell me my work sucks. So bloggers let me be the first to introduce you to Kreeg!

Spring Break!

Since it is spring break I should be getting lots done but that is not the case. I've picked up extra hours at work because I need the money. I have been looking for a new car which is actually a lot more time consuming and a lot less fun than I had imagined.
I had been keeping up with my page a day but it has dropped off again. I keep promising myself that I am going to sit down and catch up. That has yet to happen. My professor did send me comments on my first half. That made me realize I had yet to read my comments from my first assignment in that class. I also haven't read the comments from my last workshop but I'm pretty certain I don't want to.
The rejection notices have started to flow a little more steadily because I've been getting my work sent out more steadily. Just nothing recently.
While November is national novel writing month March is NaNoEdiMo (National novel editing month). My plan was to edit my NaNoWriMo novel but that hasn't happened.
There are still a few days left, right?

Oxford 2007?

Today my professor has started his idea of e-mailing me everyday to make sure I write at least a page a day. For good measure, today I wrote two.

I recently found out there is a three week summer writing program that I would very much like to attend. It has an application fee of over $500 and the tuition, including room and board, is over $3000. Why the heck would I want to pay that much for a creative writing program? It's at Oxford University! The trip alone would be awesome and I could say I attended Oxford. I doubt it for 2006 but maybe 2007.

Not looking!

Class was cancelled tonight. I did get on a roll writing my story and managed to get a good chunk finished and turned in. I actually like it. I also think since class was cancelled that perhaps my deadline for workshop would be pushed back. Giving me even more time to push out a decent story to redeem myself for the crap I've been turning in. Of course if this is the case I can not wait until the last minute.

Here is a little crazy bit of information. When I was middle school I took typing class but I was in my newly rebellious stage where I wore old band t-shirts, wanted to be in a band and stopped caring about doing well in school. So I paid no attention in this class and the teacher never tested us to see if we didn't actually look at the keys. I talked with my friends about the latest rock music( I was obsessed) and just typed looking at the keys; it was quicker. Then through high school I barely touched a computer. My family didn't have one and I was too busy working to ever do homework anyway. Besides, whoever wrote songs of angst on a computer?
When I got out of high school and got serious about writing I finally bought my very own computer. The one I still use today, parts of it anyway. And I type slow and poorly. I look at the keys and often mix my letters up. I've thought of taking typing classes to help me get my thoughts out of my head faster but as with every thing else it just gets lower on the to do list.
Having no idea how to train myself on not looking at the keyboard I decided to work on mixing up letters. So now instead of noticing I misspelled something and figuring I'll fix it with spell check later, I now back up and fix it. As I was doing this on my paper today I noticed something.
I don't look at the keyboard. I don't know when it happened. Until this morning I thought I still did. I glance down occasionally but this whole entry I haven't looked. How wicked cool is that?
I know it's a common skill but I'm really excited I've accomplished something. And to think I could have paid money to learn to do it. It's so awesome!