Random-Ass Facts about My *Newest* Novel Project

Yep, it's that time again. I'm working on something else, which y'all will know it as Dolls. And yes, might as well share with y'all some stuff about the project.

• This used to be a Silent Hill fan fiction before I took the arduous task to divorce it from its source. It took me two years, on and off, to do it.

• Its original title was An Absence of Innocence.

• I first started writing this when I was 19. And here we go, 7 years later...

• It is set in my home state of Texas, though in cities I haven't been to since I was a kid (Houston and Galveston).

• The full current title came from a Sylvia Plath poem.

• Remember when I said three characters from another story made an appearance in Spiders? Well, the three are in this novel.

• The two main characters have the last names of Buckingham and McVie. And unlike Spiders, this was a coincidence. I had the characters created for separate works originally, but when I had them join forces... well, there you go.

• The name of the neighborhood that the main characters live in used to be the name of the town they lived in the events of the fan fiction: Briar Lake. It was supposed to be half a day's drive away from Silent Hill. Now it's a fictional neighborhood in Houston.

• One of the main characters has a former dream job of mine: record store clerk.

• Some of the nightmarish elements in the story were loosely inspired by dreams I had, especially my run of nightmares about haunted houses I had when I was 19.

• Here is the novel's theme song ('cause we gotta have this too): 

Thank you for your time to indulge me concerning a novel project that no one may actually read in its final form for about eight years.

Here, have a LOL:

*meme does not belong to me*

Random-Ass Facts about My Current Novel Project

While hard at working on A Wilderness of Spiders, I came up with a random thing to procrastinate on... a random list of facts about the project.

Read at your own discretion (or boredom, same thing).

• This was LOOSELY inspired by my time as a bridesmaid for my best friend's wedding. It was thankfully not chaotic and tragic like the events of the novel (it was actually a huge blast and there was a mariachi band). And maybe the movie Bridesmaids, even though I have never seen it. I heard it was good...

• An addendum to the first fact: none of the characters were based on anyone I knew in the wedding party. Everyone was awesome and drama-free!

• One of the main characters was loosely inspired by my little sister. She approves of this. :D

• The novel plays with the legend of how bridesmaids were supposed to be the guards of the bride in tradition. 

• Yes, there is a stab at Fifty Shades of Grey. You're welcome.

• The main character listens to this song as she travels to the bride's place. I love this band.

• I may or may have not deliberately named three characters after two Talking Heads members and The Cars' drummer... o_o; (You get a prize if you guess the connection to two of the musicians!)

• An early title for it was Nowhere to Hide and then West End Girls (after the Pet Shop Boys song).

• It is supposed to be my attempt at a feminist mystery/thriller. I want that genre to exist so badly. Get on it, writers! I don't want to invent it!

• It takes place about two weeks before the 2012 elections. So when I was planning it, I had no effing clue who was going to become President. I wanted to capture the pre-election tensions going on around the time. (Not times we all want to recall, eh?)

• It takes place in the span of ten days. The prologue and epilogue are the exceptions, taking place in late 2004 and in mid 2013, respectfully.

• There wasn't supposed to be a wedding scene, but I added it in after thinking of it as a "deleted scene" and realized how awesome it would be if it was actually in there.

• I created my first atheist character in this novel. She's really awesome.

• The common connection that three of the characters have is a shared love for the music of The Band. And yes, they listen to The Last Waltz a lot in the novel.

• One character names "Gangnam Style" as her favorite song of the year.

• One of the police officers was named after a suggestion by my little sister's friend. Shout-out to her!

• Three characters from a previous novel idea make cameos in here. WTF, y'all? Stay in your own universe!

• And finally... this is the novel's official theme song.

Have I sufficiently bored you yet? No? Then go look at some LOLcats or something. Why are you still here? Here, have a random picture.

*meme does not belong to me*

World Backup Day

Apparently, today is a day that spreads awareness on backing up your precious computer files. And so here goes my day off, rearranging all my files. But I've been playing chicken for too long, not saving my novel and other things too.

My zip drive and external hard drive haven't been updated in over two years, most of the files dating back to college. I deleted some files by accident and began to panic, but I realized they were backups of backups of backups (Inception, anyone?) because why would I save files of "novels" (that was the main folder's name) in just one area? I'm not that ridiculous. Either way, even if I lost anything of importance, I don't recall what was in the folder anyway.

So, don't be silly like me and wait to backup once a year. Do it today. And every week.

Want to check out more about today and learn how you can too, save your precious computer files? Click here.

P.S.: Man, I hate the new Blogger upgrade.

"How high is her post count?" "It's almost over 200!!!"

It's now fourteen (well after this, thirteen) entries until I reach the amazing landmark of 200 entries on Musings of A Crazy Lady Writer.

Now comes the question on what the hell I'm gonna do to commemorate this event. I had considered finally posting a picture of myself so y'all can finally put a face to the name. Maybe making a huge announcement, like another novel project chronicle... or also a little bio of my life, so far. Or even an in-depth review of one of my favorite albums.

Maybe all of them? In a week-long celebration brouhaha?

Well, as it gets closer... I'll let y'all know.

Blog post... on spaaaaccceee!

For the last week, my mind's been in space. No, really, it has been. All I've been thinking about is the skies and the mysterious beyond above us. It all started when my sister brought up watching the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (she had seen it and loved it). I had wanted to see it for a long time, but didn't have the drive until she started talking about it. It also helps that she owns it on DVD.

The first thing I did was dig up the trailer and watch it. Looked interesting. And, if you've been aware of pop culture since, well 1968, you would be shocked to see all the references to this film in surprising places. So, it made more sense to see it and not just to "get" the references.

Before I watched the film, I found myself faffing about the Internet (wow, what a shock) and looked up photos on space, mainly on Jupiter (since 2001 has a subplot about an exploration trip to the planet). More faffing about led me to other pictures of space. Upon seeing this image, tears welled into my eyes. What beauty! These clouds of stars looked like solid rock formations! The colors looked like something from the more pleasant of acid dreams. And to think this all is somewhere beyond the familiar skies...

This photo nearly struck me dead. In all that alienating darkness, in the great distance, therein lies the home we all call Earth (the speck in the middle of the right beam). I felt small suddenly, but humbled. This world just seems so big, and here we all 6 billion are, all contained in that wee speck.

This looks like something out of a dream I could have. Imagine floating below all that. It would be tempting to touch. What would it feel like? Sea foam? What about watching it, all of it swirling and twinkling like living glitter paint?

Watching a sunset, especially in a nice town, is always a treat. One on Mars would be no different. Just gorgeous.

~

After all that, my sister and I sat down with refreshments and watched the movie. It was her second time seeing it. While the same amazement that struck me when viewing those photos did not happen, the movie affected me in its own way. Sure, the story is fairly straightforward, but again it does remind us that "damn, the universe is big".

Besides the philosophical business, it reminded me that films with special effects can have some substance (unlike certain films that are popular with the kids these days). For its time (remember, this film was done in 1968), the film managed to do some amazing things: portray how light and sound operate in space and show zero gravity pretty convincingly. The darkness of space has always been haunting, how the stars we know and love are insignificant specks of light in the vastness. This film didn't shy away from that, adding to the eeriness of isolation and hopelessness when the rising action takes place. Not much talking takes place and music is also a rare treat. With such minimalism, aside with the stunning visual effects and design, it may amaze some of this generation that such a film could still stand the test of time. The great thing is, even with over forty years under its belt, 2001's effects have aged spectacularly well. The acting was wonderful, even when faced with silence.

~

After a few days passed, I did some research to understand more about the movie and its development. I then came across two videos that made me appreciate the visual effects all over again.

Needless to say, I fell in love with the movie. Definitely on my top twenty for sure.

~

I don't know what this all is supposed to be for, or what my point is. I guess it's nice to be reminded once in a while of the amazement of the whole scheme of things. And how a good film can inspire the sense of wonder we should never lose.

And, just because y'all knew it was coming: the Discovery Channel song. You know you want to sing along to it.

~

The tl;dr version: sci-fi masterpiece inspires repeated views of space photos and realizations of humankind's place in big-ol' universe. Said person writes post to see if people would actually read it.

A strange fact about myself

I cannot watch end credits to movies.

Before you go WTF here, lemme clarify.

This is a fear/strange-ass superstition that has followed me since I was a child. Dunno how it started, but this is what I believe: if I watched a whole movie, I had to stop before the end credits, well, ended. I was afraid of there being some disturbing imagery at the end and... the TV would explode and kill me. Yes, you heard right.

Oh child self, you had a crazy imagination. Sadly, though, it has followed me. It struck as recently as early last month. My sister and I were housesitting and watching Angel Heart, and we were watching the end credits (which had bonus footage. Damn films doing that, making me even more scared of end credits). When it got to the final bits, I was struck with a pang of fear. I stopped the DVD and my sister asked me why. I then told her what I just explained.

Is it stupid? Hell yes.
Do I know it's an irrational fear? You bet.
Does that stop me from being scared? Sadly, no. There was only one time I sat through the whole credits without the fear (the second viewing of Silent Hill at the movie theater)

So, there you go. Random fact.

/random and possibly pointless post

Some random things and an update...

Apparently, as I just discovered reading old journal entries... February 20th, 2005 is the first instance of me using the moniker "crazy lady writer". I would go on to write sometimes-dumb-and-sometimes-clever points between "crazy" and "lady writer" as a signature.

E.G.: my personal favorite "the crazy 'I wish procrastination didn't exist' lady writer" XD
Ain't it have always been the truth, eighteen-year-old self?

~

Journal-keeping was fun on the computer, but quit after October 2006 (I think). Doing it with pen and a journal kept my handwriting well-tuned and plus, my laptop was made for writing novels, not silly journal entries.

Man, I could be a whiner in my journals. Then again, I can count how many times I acted just so on this blog. Madeleine L'Engle said something along the lines that journals were meant for that, and that there is no shame. But she noted that it was a private journal set aside for that purpose. So, yeah. All bloggers (from the crazy message-board lands of Livejournal to the untamed wilderness that is Wordpress) are totally listening to that advice. /sarcasm

And hey! I'm guilty of this too.

~

After completing Blues and "wasting" (i.e.: playing The Sims 3 and finishing The Bloody Chamber, of course) two days with no writing, I'm stuck in the sad conundrum of

What the Hell to Write Next

I had considered an old idea that I tried writing last year, but failed due to a fun onslaught of anxiety. There is also writing a short story every week. For every three stories I complete to a first draft, I get a cookie (okay, not a cookie, but a book). The other idea was to write four novellas for a whole novel-like thing (like Different Seasons by Stephen King, which is where I got the idea from).

I have no idea what to do. So, for now, it remains unknown. So, my sabbatical will last a little while longer, on account I have no fricking idea how to proceed from here.

Dammit.

*Happy flail* Part Two: The Revenge

Apparently, there is buzz that Verizon Wireless might get their hands on the iPhone. That would effing rule. For a while, I've been obsessed with having one. For one, there is the feature to make ANY OF YOUR ITUNES SONGS a ringtone. Also, they're pretty cool in general. I had customers let me handle their iPhones to look up the email coupons and the Amazon pages of books they're searching for. So, I've grown fond of the little buggers.

The big plus is, if all this does come to pass, I don't have to sign onto AT&T (nothing against them, but I'm very happy with Verizon). Plus, word is that the iPhone might be cheaper and not as harder, better, faster, stronger like the original, but still a little beast to be reckoned with.

~~

*realizes something*
*stops flailing*

Why am I waiting until midnight to work on my novel?! AAAUGH!

Random note on YouTube...

My sister recently asked me why I don't go onto my YouTube account these days, and regulars with sharp eyes would notice a link to that profile is absent from "My Other Haunts". That is because, until Warner Music Group and YouTube reconcile (restoring all my old favorite videos, mostly of the Fleetwood Mac and Talking Heads persuasion, and even Jerry Harrison and Guster ones), I refuse to log back in.

~

Stupid? Yeah, I know. But it is just backwards how WMG is looking at it. It's free advertising! Plus, it's not like these old videos are getting any airplay on MTV and VH1 (God forbid music video channels actually play videos *rolls eyes*)

In case you ever wondered...

Here is the origin of my pseudonym here.

God, I forgot how much I loved these guys...

Hey, kids! Here's a math question:

what does Editors + Talking Heads song = ??

This awesomeness.

Some minor updates

Y'know, it has occurred to me that blog entry titles are not that important. So anyway, I finished American Psycho. It took me three days to read it. I rock.

I also went out and did stuff. The highlight was the discovery of my own little black dress. I also ate at Sushi Zushi for the first time. Good service, great food, yet a little on the expensive side. I recommend it.

Other than that... nothing much else. Just working a lot.

Oh God...

I'm obsessed with an Australian pop song. It's my preteen years all over again!

Quick update, in bullet form!

• Working on a paper at the last minute... ugh.
• Got two more Murakami novels. About four books away from finishing my collection.
• Deciding whether to get a twitter or reboot my Facebook profile.
• Vienna Teng's new album rocks hard.
• Listened to Guster's Ganging Up on the Sun for the third time. Still awesome.
  
• Happy birthday, Dad! (a day early, but still... :P)

Yeah for randomness...

Let's talk about video games...

I thought I had gotten tired of gaming... which is sadly true. I booted up Rock Band 2 and found myself no longer caring about the three bands that I've created. I even loaded up The Sims 2 (and the first two expansion packs) and found myself uninstalling it all twenty minutes later.

There are a few games though that have gotten my interest. Fallout 3 and the potential for the DLC is one of those.

There is also:

BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams (the sequel to BioShock, which justified my Xbox 360's existence)
Max Payne 3 (loved the first one, am enjoying the second one)
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (is it me or does the title sound like one for a fan fiction I could write?)
Velvet Assassin (Assassin's Creed in WWII? My sis and I are so there!)
LocoRoco 2 (I credit its first installment to help me get over depression...)

There is also The Sims 3, but after failing to get into its recent installments... eh.

I hope, if these are my last gaming endeavors, let them be good ones.

It's true! It's trruuuue!

Yes, Silent Hill will be remade.

But, I swear to God if it is a Wii exclusive, I will sic the Otherworld on the developers.

P.S.: Title is a minor quote from Rugrats.

It's time for another random post!

I think I'm a secret fangirl of Joyce Carol Oates and Margaret Atwood. That is all.

Oh noes! D:

It seems my favorite Silent Hill forum is down. Hope things are okay. I love that site, the people are classy and super-friendly.

I also completely forgot about my blog on Gamespot, which was mostly for gaming. I think I'll start talking about that here. Nothing against GS, but it makes things easier for me. *looks at games* Holy smokes, I have Max Payne 2! I forgot about that one! I also have Mirror's Edge and other games. I also plan on buying the latest Tomb Raider and Fallout 3. And all those untouched PS2 games. I got a busy holiday ahead of me!

Wow, uhm... there's, I guess, no more to say for the moment. So, I leave you, thinking about books...

Regards,
Lindsey

Icon update!

My sister made me a lovely icon from the Waterhouse painting of Miranda from Shakespeare's The Tempest.

I'm also fooling around with layouts. Hope to find one that works.

I leave you, listening to Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies", slowly approaching its 666th listen. Aaah!

Regards,
Lindsey