HumDrum Updates

I've been in Jersey for nearly a week now, so if my creepy neighbors broke into my apartment and did terrible, terrible things to my stuff, I still don't know.

I was planning on heading home today, but my parents are insisting we all sit down and have A Talk about My Future, And When I'm Going To Stop Mooching Money.

The problem is, I don't know. I never get the jobs I apply for because either A) I'm totally unqualified and really have no business being interviewed at all, or B) I'm totally qualified, but someone out there is even more qualified, and probably fellated several people on their way to the office.

And I don't really know what I want to do. I want to write, yes, but I can never think up any good ideas. I want to review movies and books, and be several famous people's personal assistant. I would be a great agent or publicist or editor. The problem? No idea how to get those jobs.

I'm going to have to move, I suspect. I can't afford my apartment, and New York City is slowly beating me to death. I love it, but maybe a location change would do me some good. I don't really know. Job hunting sucks.

It's cold and wet and rainy, and I want to just lie here and read. But I will be a good, productive member of society, and just send out more useless job resumes instead.

At least I get to see my friend Kay on Friday, when she comes in to graduate. It's rough when all your best friends live in different states. I protest this chain of events.
- LV

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Money Is Best Spent On Books

Which is why I never have any money. But that may change, as I have a job interview tomorrow at Barnes & Noble (a different one from the last one, obviously.) It's tedious, mind-numbing soul-crushing idiot work, but it will give me money, and benefits, and it will keep me busy and surrounded by books, and I DO get a meager discount. It should tide me over until I get my dreamed-of job as an editorial assistant (my REAL dream job, as a writer, is still just a dream.

Haven't heard back on my short story submission (I keep promising to send it to people, then chickening out because I worry it isn't that good, and rejection by strangers is much easier to deal with than by those I love and respect.) And I know that I said I would post some writing. And I will. I just don't know WHAT to post. I could post an article, a paper for school, a short story, a poem, or an excerpt from a longer piece. It's really hard to decide. I also don't want to be told I'm a bad writer on my own blog, because that would be kind of tragic on a massive scale. But I promise, as soon as I figure out what to post, it shall be posted. Some time this week. Honest.

My outline for my novel, which is having a hard time deciding how funny vs. morbid it wants to be, is getting pretty damn long (six pages at this count, on the computer, and estimated nearly thirty chapters, although I need to add some stuff to it or other bits won't make sense). I've decided to write the actual story in notebooks, because it's hard for me to write creatively on the laptop (I spend way too much time editing typos).

I just worry my story is WAY too much like other authors, although I've never heard of an idea like this. I'm not even sure how good it is. The idea, I mean. I haven't written the story yet, so who knows if that will be good. But I already feel very fond of the characters, which I consider a good start. Especially David, who gets the short stick and poor Thanatos, who may be the nicest evil demon out there.

Anyone know any good books/websites on old gods and magic? This story has gotten way more fantastical since its original conception (I originally envisioned it as a dark, sad short story. Now it's a full-length book with a heavy dose of humor and the ridiculous).

Incidentally, can a book that involves serial killers, Death himself, and the demise of a major character still be funny? And can it still say something (about life, and the afterlife, and finding a meaning in your world) while making you laugh?

I'm just worried I won't do the story justice, that I'll chicken out on the darker stuff and make it ridiculous, or become ponderous and Deep when I should be poking fun at what I'm talking about.

It's an issue. I'll figure it out.

Anyway. Going to a reading of a friend's play tonight with people. Went to the gym earlier and took out my frustrations on a punching bag. It's been a fairly nice day.
- LV

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Lazy Sunday

Finished (I think) editing my story, which I am extremely pleased with. I'm going to let it sit for a day, then do one more pass. Then I'll send it out to be mocked and maligned by the publishing world.

I spent a long time just writing down any story idea that popped into my head. Most of it is science fiction/fantasy style, which shouldn't surprise me as much as it does. As we all know, I have a deep love for both genres (note DOCTOR WHO, ANGEL, HARRY POTTER, and the works of ALAN MOORE, WARREN ELLIS, NEIL GAIMAN, GARTH ENNIS, and dozens of others), but I never thought much of writing it myself. It always seemed (still seems) ridiculously hard to create a fantasy world. So my experiments in the genre are still firmly rooted in 'reality,' so as to scare me a little less.

I think MICHAEL CHABON has the right idea. He writes in any genre he wants. He doesn't just write humor, or romance, or historical fiction - he writes about whatever the hell he wants. I don't want to confine myself. I want to write horror, and comedy, and memoir-stuff, and chick-lit, and fantasy, and non-fiction. So that's what I'm going to do.

I also wrote an outline for a novel, which I don't think I've ever done before. Usually I would just throw myself into it, which is probably why after 10 or 20 pages, I would have no idea what the hell was going on. The outline itself went in a totally different direction than I originally intended, because I am convinced that if I include ANY real romance in this story, it will end up in the 'fantasy romance' section, and I will never be consoled. So no real romance - just lots of pretend romance and misunderstandings, which is more realistic anyway. It's sort of a TERRY PRATCHETT/CHRISTOPHER MOORE-style idea, but I'm hoping it will be good. Obviously - that's why I'm writing it.

I still want to expand my thesis and get it published. 63 pages, which seemed horribly long when I was writing it, is not nearly long enough for a whole book. But I'm reluctant to add more unless I have interest from a publisher/editor/agent/person with money. Can I just submit my thesis, with the promise of more pretty pages, or do I have to write the whole damn thing before I can start shopping it around? See, I need an agent to answer these questions. Or someone out there could. Answer it. Now.

I either have the flu, or a sinus infection. It's irrelevant, because either way I feel like shit. I want my head to stop pounding, and my nose to stop running. Medicine is failing me. I might splurge and get actual food, in an attempt to boost my immune system. Is pizza good for your immune system?

I applied at the bookstore nearby, which is actually hiring (!), and have an interview on Wednesday as a concession bitch at a movie theater. I might bail - 7.50/hr is actually worse than what I was getting paid at my last job. And that's BEFORE taxes, people.

Been reading FRAGILE THINGS by NEIL GAIMAN, which I bought when I applied at the bookstore, as well as rereading SHERLOCK HOLMES and AMY HEMPEL. I'm studying the structure of short stories, seeing what works and what doesn't. 

That's all, really. Quiet day. Sick Day. Going to read, and write, and watch the Food Network, which is my guilty pleasure channel. The weather is lovely; if my head clears a little, I may take a constitutional around the block.

- LV

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