ooo, metaphysical shopping

Last night I got to see Ereq at the gym. He's this guy who is the model for one of my characters in the next book (One of the next books, I should say. The Ternion Archive series is coming back into play early next year, for sure. Great stories there, just need to fix the writing and tweak the POVs.) Anyway, he's broad and well-built. Ok, yeah, he's hot, but that's not just why I chose him. He just moves differently than other people, as if to his own, internal soundtrack. He touches the things around him a lot. Like if he's by a half-wall, he trails his fingers along it. He's also an observer, like me. I'm sure he's well aware that I'm watching him and thinks I'm totally hot for him. Actually it's research for the book. A book I hope to sell one day. So, see? It's work.

Mostly.

I think I made a metaphysical leap, too, last night. I was playing with the first chapter of that book and I realized that I'm thinking in terms of characterization rather than description. I'm trying to craft scenes in my head that portray the characters, not describe them in words. I think I've been doing it for quite a while now--Hinteland was the real springboard for me in terms of craft. But I haven't planned a book in so long that I realize now my whole approach has changed. Hopefully I'll keep improving the self-awareness of my process as I go.

This morning seems to be about organization. I've sent some long overdue birthday cards. I've emailed several people lingering in my inbox. I printed all my crit subs for next week. (I know. Way to go, me. Five days early, once.) I've sorted my miscellaneous agent search into something coherent so I can mail queries to people who might actually be interested in representing my project. What a snore. No wonder people settle, eh? The good news is Hinterland is really in the final nit-picking polish stage. I've toyed with posting the query here, but it's been on Crapometer and it's running through the crit group this week.

I'm also organizing a few things for the magazine, since we had our big, relatively painless Planning Meeting For Next Year. (I say relatively painless because I can still taste the garlic. Blech.) We're going to start soliciting artwork, so get your paintbrushes ready. We're also starting a blog soon, which will require trolling the Internet for more writing-related info and writing about it. (And how is that different than what I do now? Oh yeah, the writing about it part.) More on the blog later.

My fellow editors also volunteered me to contribute to Editor's Corner. They think it's my turn, apparently (though I'm still working on another editor to do it instead). The other two editors submitted fiction. I'm not really interested in that, so maybe I'll write up an essay or I'll put up a pretty picture or something.

Meanwhile the husband is hiring me to do market research (yea, kinda like the agent thing only about companies and industries I'm totally not interested in). It pays ok, though. He also keeps sending me jobs off Craigslist, too. There's a message in that somewhere, but no time to think it over now. I'm heading out to the mall.

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