Phoning it in

Posted byKatie SullivanPosted inCommunity, Rome Construction Crew, The DialogueTags:, , , , , , , ,

D: I can’t believe you’re typing this on your phone.

A: I know – watch out for autocorrect fails.

D: Auto-what? A it’s bad enough you didn’t listen to your intuition and do this at lunch. Must you add insult to injury?

A: Yes?

Anyway, this is supposed to be my first-of-the-month, Rome Construction Crew Update. I think, in light of the fact that I’m posting this in 3G, those updates and goals for the month shall be brief.

D: Can you actually manage brief?

A: With you? Not bloody likely! If you could refrain–

D: From being me?

A: I’d consider it a favor.

D: I suppose, under the circumstances–

A: Cheers, D. So, progress:

  • Part 2, first draft, is complete, as is the first read-through. I have some structural edits to make, but it’s decent.
  • Also have an outline for part 3 and wrote the first 500 words… The outline is on my google drive, and thus unavailable to me, but im pretty sure I haven’t trashed it.

D: Yet.

A: D!!

D: Sorry.

A: No you’re not.

D: Who’s wasting 3G bandwidth now??

A: You don’t even know what that is – but good point.

  • On a personal note, I’m doing better at the whole low-sugar, grain-free thing (paleo/primal), and resurrected my exercise regime. Weight is, for now, steady – higher, but steady.
  • Garden is in and flourishing. Late spring / early summer sucked weather-wise, but the potatoes are practically gleeful.

D: Can potatoes even be–

A: (Glare)

D: Right – oh look, a blue box.

A: Madman.

  • Finally, I’m waiting for the Part 1 beta readers’ feedback, but I think each “Book” in the Out of Time (working title) series, will a self-contained series. It feels more appropriate to Book 1 anyway, and means interesting things for Books 2 & 3.

Goals for July

  • Signed up for the July Camp (insert abbreviation jumble that means I’m writing 50k words in a month here). That will take care of Parts 2 and 3. 2013-Participant-Lantern-Circle-Badge
  • Develop and prep food/recipe cleanup project, which I hope to debut by month-end. D will not feature.
  • Start researching potential agents/markets. After much research, I know I haven’t the personal resources to self-publish in a way that would please my hidden perfectionist soul. Or impress enough people to at least make it pay for itself.
  • Complete my beta reading assignment – it has a deadline, so it’s a given (gotta have a few of those, right?!).
  • Set up all the delightful guest posts for my two-week child-free writing hermitage. All of you are fantastic. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
  • Read a book – preferably a frivolous, delightful book. I’m open to suggestions.
  • Also, I’m thinking of adding something along the lines of “The Story So Far” to this blog. It would be a road-map/synopsis of where I am in the Out of Time/Sean & Maureen journey and would introduce the players and the events a little better to give D and I a bit more context.

D:Make people feel a bit more welcome, perhaps? Help them understand the crazy universe that you reference willy-nilly as though we all had access to your head?

A: Says the character in my head.

D: Precisely. Are you done yet?

A: One more! I want to outline one longer piece of fiction and write two other short pieces that aren’t related to the Out of Time universe, and submit a piece I’ve been working on for the RCC.

D: Always have to have the last word, hm?

A: I learned from the Master, D.

Final last word (I promise): The time may be nigh (ok, in a year or so) for an adventure. If you could go anywhere, if things like Visas and Passports weren’t an issue, where would you go? How long would you stay? What would you do?

Published by Katie Sullivan

Descended of pirates and revolutionaries, Katie Sullivan is a lover and student of all things Irish. Born in the States, she is a dual US/Irish citizen, and studied history and politics at University College, Dublin – although, at the time, she seriously considered switching to law, if only so she could attend lectures at the castle on campus. She lives in Milwaukee with her daughter, two cats and a pesky character in her head named D (but you can call him Dubh). Her first series, The Changelings Saga, a young adult historical fantasy trilogy is available on Amazon. She can be found writing with said character at her blog, The D/A Dialogues.

38 thoughts on “Phoning it in”

    1. I am – I’m doing the camp one right now, but that will take care of Series 1, and I’ll either be done with Series 2 or needing a swift kick in the pants to get the last half done OR needing a swift kick in the pants to start Series 3, which will be D’s Very Own Story (gods help me). Or, I’ll need a break from this universe and will write the Love Story thing that I started with the Evelyn/Samuel love letters. Regardless, yes, it is my intent to write another novel in November!! 🙂

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  3. Impressive list, blue oxen and all. 🙂 Good luck on the writing. I hope you’ll keep us posted with your progress. (I have a lengthy database of agents, though they may not fit your book. Happy to share it.)

    Before I met MTM, I never went anywhere. I dreamed of seeing the world as a tiny girl and hoarded pictures of my father’s from his days in the army. I cried when I looked up and actually saw something in real life that he photographed in the 50s. Because I spent much of my life cooped up, MTM and I have traveled a lot in the past decade. Still, I have a very long list. 🙂 I’ve never been to Mexico, and we’re going there in November. Ireland: MTM did a stout tour on bikes in the 90s, but I’ve never been. (I know. I know. It’s beautiful there. I’d love to hear about it sometime.) Iceland: primarily for hiking. Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island: same, plus eating. Hong Kong: Went last year, but would like to go back for hiking outside the city. South Africa: Trying to put a Rotary team together to visit next Spring, but don’t think I’ll be able to go. The Seychelles: Just because they are so freaking hard to get to from here. Bryce Canyon/Monument Valley/North Rim Grand Canyon/Zion: If I could take a month in that part of the world, I would hike myself to death.

    As you can see, my list is very, very long. I often joke that I never saw a destination I didn’t like. 🙂

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    1. Oh, the wonderful weirdness of blue oxen and squirrels. . .

      Andra, your list rivals my own wish list (while I did live in Ireland for a few years, I haven’t been anywhere else – *curses*). Ireland *is* beautiful, but I wouldn’t go back. Maybe I’d visit, but I probably wouldn’t live there again – unless it was somewhere remote, on the western coast. I’m looking at coastal UK too – Tom wants to attend university there so I think it’s as good an excuse as any. From there, I’d head to Scotland – Inverness specifically (research!!), then Italy and Asia. After that, I’d give Russia a go.

      And I really want to go to Prince Edward Island – I loved Anne of Green Gables!!

      When Tom was really young, I always thought that if I had the money, I’d travel the world and give home-schooling a try – let the travel itself be part of his education. As it is, he’s smarter than me, so I’m really glad I didn’t have to do the math thing, but I still think about it.

      Thank you for sharing your list – and if you’re willing to share your database, I’d love to search through it (research is actually my first love. It’s why I write – had to have an excuse to sift through stuff)!

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    2. Inverness is really lovely. Another place I could spend more time. Great idea to set a book there. My stories always take me to weird places like, currently, West Virginia. Exotic, but not in the ways I imagined exotic. 🙂

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      5. Mmmm, yes, yes indeed we do. I think there’s script potential, there. I can help with random historical obscurities and oxen care (not really, but I feel like the oxen could be the new MP moose).

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      2. I have a full keyboard and (mostly) functional fingers. I’ll just blame it on the characters running around in MY head!

        I will keep D’s antics to myself…as long as he doesn’t create any blue oxen

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      3. Pesky characters (as an aside, I think this means I get to blame my bad spelling on the 7th century Druid – yes!!).

        Seems like a fair deal – no black market, and no blue oxen. I feel like I’ve accomplished something good this evening! 🙂

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      4. I’m going to develop a weird cross between the accents of a made up fantasy land and the deep, deep south…who knows what it will do for my spelling!

        I think you deserve a back rub…too bad D probably won’t be able to help with that…

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      5. Oh, that is awesome! That is a dialect I want to hear!

        No, D is useless for real, practical things. Luckily, my mother is a chiro – and I live above her practice. I just give her the sad face and she lets me use the roller machine.

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    2. He could (god, that’s scary… don’t give him ideas!) He’s probably already her black market dealer in squirrels (but that didn’t come from me, ‘kay?)

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    1. 🙂 I’d like to see D wrangle a blue ox… he and Paul Bunyan could swap a good few stories!

      Of course, I was just spelling “the” in that sentence relating to potatoes, but the phone thought it was Tyne…!

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      2. Hahahahaha! 🙂 I want an auto-phrase that I can send immediately after a autocorrect fail (I think this should come standard): “dumb phone.” Simple, and tells the other person you’re not totally insane (well, that they know of, anyway).

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      8. It would be economy building – you’d need certification, after all – and not just from Apple! I can see it – can it have a booth at the wordpress photo sit-in?

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