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[Sep. 4th, 2008|09:56 am]
I'm happy with my query! Thanks to Paichka,[info]shweta_narayan and [info]cathellisen  for ideas and brainstorming! This feels so good.

Still working on the synopsis, and waiting for three beta responses. Two said they finished but are thinking about their comments. One is still reading (eep).

:D
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[Sep. 1st, 2008|09:33 pm]
In the open-ended meme, [info]cathellisen   [info]cathellisen asked,

1: Do you feel a bit like an outsider in America, or do you think you've assimilated?


That's a great question. I've lived in the Bay Area for seven years and never once felt like an outsider, but the Bay Area is a wonderfully diverse place which is very accepting of everyone who is different, and of course I am very different from your run-of-the-mill American. But I fit very well in the Bay Area, where most people shared my multicultural outlook on life and the love of organic food. Ph.Ds and graduate students are a dime a dozen in Berkeley, and poetry lovers are on every corner.

The Midwest is very different. If the Midwest is what America is about, I don't feel at all like an American, although I love it that the people are so nice.

2: would you rather be recognised for your poetry or you prose? (tricky!)

Read more... )
</lj>
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[Aug. 31st, 2008|09:16 pm]
I have a new pic in my profile. It makes me happy.

BTW, if anybody wants to play "open meme," please feel free to ask me any three questions. I will answer them, and ask you three questions in return.



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Query Hell [Aug. 31st, 2008|07:44 pm]
[Tags|, ]
[Current Mood | distressed]

I posted the second version on my query on AW. It still isn't nearly close to done.

Why the querying is causing me much anguish:

1. My MC is an antihero, and nobody quite believes (from my query) that he would want to save the day. Why bother? He himself is never threatened. When I say "duty," people ask me to explain why duty is so important to him. If I said, "love," would anybody ask why love is so important to him? A sense of duty is built-in in Ranruvan.

2. The query sounds voiceless and unemotional, and my book is anything but. My book has been described by readers as intense and compelling and emotionally vivid. The query's flat, because the query is from the MC's POV; but the MC never has a voice. It's  told by his slaves and his enemies (some eventually become former enemies, but still). There are five distinctive and voicy protags, but none can carry a query. [info]cathellisen  thinks that Paret can do it, but one of my betas told me today that Paret is too passive. It is a common complaint.

3. The book has a braid structure. Here's what Cat said about it,
"It felt to me like a rope woven around steel, all these different threads to build it, but the core was always one story."
Beautiful, hah? But this structure does not lend itself well to querying.

Karen Duvall from AW offered me a lot of good advice, culminating in "this is tough, maybe ask your betas to write a query for you and see what you can take from it."
 
Seeing what I'm going through with this, it doesn't seem like a very fair thing to ask of my betas.
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Rose, summarized [Aug. 28th, 2008|10:15 pm]
Good: [info]cathellisen finished reading the beta draft and thought my book rocks. I won't repeat what she said for the sake of modesty, but it made me so happy I printed it out.

So-so:  my query for Otherblood sucks ostrich eggs. Cat volunteered to help, so I am not completely despairing yet, but damn this is hard. The MC never gets to speak so he doesn't have a voice, everybody else is voicy but they're not the MC. Plot revolves around the MC, but the novel's best selling point is the voice. Catch 22.

Bad: The interdepartmental conflict I briefly mentioned previously became much worse today, and I am sure I'm not doing my best.
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[Aug. 26th, 2008|03:09 pm]
Being a coward is not fun. I am a coward. I'm fighting against myself tooth and nail and often win, but other people just have it easy. I'm not envious, just.. sad.

My novelette "Exile in Wakewood" has seen two markets. One R was a form, another R was personal (JBU).
 I parked the story. The beginning needs to be changed, and I don't know how. I don't know why my character does a certain thing. And that thing has to happen for the story to take place.

I really want to send it to "Beneath Ceaseless Skies," but I am afraid of a form rejection. Or something. I am afraid of something. I guess because this story is important to me, and it seems I failed with it, and I don't want to touch it because it is painful to be rejected, makes sense?
A cowardly kind of sense.
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[Aug. 26th, 2008|10:40 am]
My poem "To a Skylark" sold to GUD issue 4.

A funny story about this poem: I wrote it after  "An Exile in Wakewood" was rejected by Sword and Sorceress. I promptly sent it to GUD, then started having second thoughts, so I posted it on AW poetry forums for critique. One person said weird things about it. I became very upset by this and almost withdrew it, but [info]cathellisen and [info]shweta_narayan talked me out of it; I decided to wait for GUD to reject it. I'd park it then.

After 128 days, it sold.

Not sure what  moral is there, if at all.
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[Aug. 24th, 2008|11:08 pm]
I had to run an errand with a person in a nearby city. I called her in advance and told her I was new in the area. She asked what I did and I said I was a professor.
Once I arrived, she said, "So, your husband is a professor..."
*headdesk*
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[Aug. 23rd, 2008|08:43 pm]
Since I lack furniture, I went to the local craigslist.org only to discover a lovely oversized coach, a white leather automan, and a table lamb!

I'm happy now.
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[Aug. 23rd, 2008|12:41 am]
My poem Odysseus on the War Train is up at Abyss and Apex. I didn't even notice.
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Otherblood betaing [Aug. 20th, 2008|05:37 pm]
I've expanded the climactic scenes by almost 1k words, and sent my now 97k novel to four innocent  victims beta readers. That should be enough, provided all of my readers finish reading and not throw the whole thing away in disgust. The next iteration of this will be better, I hope.

I can't do the query though - the MC comes across as a self-serving SOB. In reality he is a very complex man who is capable of great evil and great good, and he certainly does both. *sigh* maybe my betas will have suggestions.

I changed the MC's last name from  Ranravan to Ranruvan, because most English speakers were misspelling his original name as Ranraven, and I really hated this He is not emo! . His name means 'Ranra's descendant.'  I changed the genitive case ending from -av to -uv. I like the new effect, but it's very weird for me after, well, a year of very close acquaintance.
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Otherblood rewrites: DONE!!!!! [Aug. 17th, 2008|12:30 am]
Zokutou word meter
96,016 / 90,000
(106.7%)


It's kind of funny to call them rewrites, since after the first 82k I ran out of draft. But yes, I have a full draft, and yes, I am very happy!
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[Aug. 13th, 2008|10:01 pm]
Stolen from [info]dichroic. The only problem is that I'm really not an omnivore, since I keep kosher, which limits my possibilities. Well, anyway! I didn't always keep kosher, but even then I refused to eat whale in Iceland. Whale is not in this list, but please don't eat whales. They are  large and warm, not to mention endangered. They also sing.

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Make recommendations of specific places/products when possible.

The VGT Omnivore's Hundred:

1. Venison I ate smoked reindeer in the tundra, does that count?
2. Nettle tea I used to gather the stuff when I lived in Ukraine, dry it up and drink it - pretty good.
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile  It's not kosher!
6. Black pudding It's not bloody kosher
7. Cheese fondue. But only once - it was too much cheese. 
8. Carp - oh yes. Carp makes wonderful gefilte fish. I fished for carp, too. But I caught pike.
9. Borscht. Best place to get borscht? My house. Absolutely. I make a mean vegetarian version, too.
10. Baba ghanoush. I love it, and I make it.
11. Calamari   not kosher.
12. Pho - I ate vegetarian pho in Berkeley.
13. PB&J sandwich Sorry, I'm a furreigner.
14. Aloo gobi  I love Indian food.
15. Hot dog from a street cart - in Russia. Again, this was before my kosher keeping days. I remember looking at an American package of sausages, and it said "hot dog." I translated this to my parents. We all wondered what high-temperature domestic animals have to do with sausages, but couldn't figure out.
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle There used to be this small non-kosher French restaurant in Israel where every non-kosher dish on the menu was accompanied by a little drawing of a pig. E.g. CALAMARI (pig). SHRIMP (pig). The black truffles there were divine.
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes.  Plum wine (slivova rakia) in Bulgaria  was pretty awesome, and so was the company.
19. Steamed pork buns  They're not kosher.
20. Pistachio ice cream. And it's kosher! Yay!
21. Heirloom tomatoes. They are perfect with a bit of olive oil and basil. Or just like that. Yes, even in the street.
22. Fresh wild berries. In Ukraine, I used to pick those in the forest. Once as a child I went to the berry bush and heard weird noises. My grandma said it was a bear. But it wasn't. It was just some drunk.
23. Foie gras - guess what, it's kosher, but not very ethical.
24. Rice and beans.  Who hasn't?.
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters  They are not kosher.
29. Baklava. Best one was probably in Turkey, or made by Kathryn, or made by one of my professors, or the one in Bulgaria...
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl. I saw these, but Clams are not kosher. Sourdough bowls are thankfully kosher. So I had a minestrone in a sourdough bowl in SF. Is it recommended? Oh yes.
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut. My father made the best. I make it too.
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar. And it was lots of  fun. In my undergrad days my  two best friends smoked cigarettes, the third smoked a pipe, I smoked cigars (purely as a protection from the abovementioned three). During get-togethers, I supplied the cognac.
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo I saw it in New Orleans. Nuff said.
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects They say that locusts are kosher, but they can say that again.
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk. Fresh from the goat. In Ukraine. It's an acquired taste.
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more.
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel. It's not kosher, but unagi sushi is one of my few transgressions. That and California rolls.
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut. A friend of ours once came in screaming "Crispy Kreme doughnuts are kosher!" Crazy, I tell you. He had a whole box of those things. I ate one. Yuck.
50. Sea urchin Sigh.
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi Yes! Yes! Yes!
53. Abalone
54. Paneer And you can make it.
55. McDonalds Big Mac Meal. I had a McDonalds Big Mac Meal with Kosher for Passover Buns. o.O
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini. Last year I needed to get drunk, but vodka is better. I'm sticking to vodka from now on.
58. Beer above 8% ABV. I think so.
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips. They're pretty good. My mother-in-law makes a carob cake which is great.
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake. In New Orleans. It's good, but not for me.
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain. Now this is something I'd eat again and again.
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini. I don't make  the caviar but I sure make blini, so if you come over and need a fix.... come over.  My parents used to get three-liter jars of red caviar. I'm afraid my caviar portions are much smaller, but I compensate with the blini and the sour cream.
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost. In Norway.
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie. Yum
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong. It's my favorite tea.
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict. I had eggs Florentine instead. In Alaska on New Year's day.
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. I ate at Chez Panisse.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare  Guess what the hare's problem is.
87. Goulash, I make it. And it comes out pretty damn awesome.
88. Flowers Edible flowers are neat as salad garnish
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam I tried. Honestly, I tried.
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish It's not kosher, but oh well. Yes, I ate  catfish  before I saw them in their natural habitat. The catfish swam up like aliens from the murky water, magical, waving their moustache- I'm not eating them anymore.
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox. Don't forget the shmear.
97. Lobster Thermidor .  My father, who does not keep kosher, once had two of those things swim in our bathtub.
98. Polenta. Why is it in this list? It's one of the staples of my diet. Polenta cooked slowly with a bit of milk and butter, topped with brown mushrooms... Seriously, I have a big dining room now. Come over ;)
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake.
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Road Trip [Aug. 3rd, 2008|10:38 am]
I will be gone between today and the 10th, traveling between NorCal and my new home. No email and such. I know I wasn't very good about communicating lately, but I'll miss you guys. Hope you sell many fine stories and increase your wordcount by the thousands.

cheers,
Rose
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[Jul. 28th, 2008|09:04 pm]
I packed 25 boxes of books today. My books only. Still about four to go, I think.
All of these books were in three and a half bookcases. And that's why I have in my interests, " too many books" and "not enough bookshelves".

I was at the optometry clinic today, again, trying to finalize my prescription. My eyes are weird. Last time they tortured me for two hours and told me to come again. I have horrible astigmatism, which is apparently not correctable by glasses, lenses, or surgery. I can never have 20/20 vision. Morale: don't read. Don't write, either.
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[Jul. 25th, 2008|02:45 pm]
[info]ellen_datlow blogs about Botox Bridesmaids. I have to admit I was somewhat freaked out by this.

I come from a bridesmaid-less culture. On my wedding we had a live klezmer band, and nice food, and everybody was happy. My best friends wore an assortment of clothes. Gifts included an Old English dictionary, an RPG videogame, the complete illustrated Narnia, and two tabletop grills (one of which later caused an electricity failure in the apartment building and was retired).

First time I saw an American wedding, with eight identical-looking bridesmaids in hideous pink gowns, I took pictures. It was a culture shock.

As for asking my girlfriends for breast enhancements... EEEP.
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For all your lovers of Northern folk - [Jul. 18th, 2008|05:31 pm]
Mari Boine's Boadan Nuppi Bealde "I Come from the Other Side". Note Jan Garbarek on the saxophone :D


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Poetry: painfully insecure [Jul. 18th, 2008|01:30 pm]
I donated 25$ to livelongandmarry, and [info]tithenai and [info]mer_moon will critique 5 poems of mine! [info]dichroic will also get 5 poems critiqued :) That's awesome, and I am really looking forward to it. I need to get my "war poems" critiqued. Unfortunately, both are on submission.

I am feeling very weird about having had this many poetry sales. I feel like, I don't know, I am not serious? My work is subpar? I know, I know, this is not logical. If the poems weren't ok they wouldn't sell. But I guess I am becoming greedy. I don't want them to be just ok, I want them to be good, and are they good? I don't know. Of course, the solution is fairly obvious. I can send all my crap to Poetry Magazine and gloat over my shiny form rejections. It is idiotic to think I can ever be as good as my favorite poets. But maybe I settle. Maybe I let them go too soon, before they are ready. Not sure. I do rewrite them many times before they go.

Yeah. I stopped deleting in January. I sold my first poem in January. After this, I just, dunno, allowed myself to write poetry again. And I love it, but really,  I need to figure out how I feel about continuing to send poems out.




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[Jul. 17th, 2008|09:12 am]
[Tags|, ]
[Current Music |Lebedik un Freylekh / Lively and Happy (traditional Yiddish dance)]

Marge Simon bought my poem, "Burns at Both Ends," for the January 09 issue of Star*line. I sat on that one for a very long time. It went out once to a mainstream mag, because I was wondering if it could be a mainstream poem.  Silly me! It has a firebird in it!

This is my third sale to Star*line :D
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Collections [Jul. 15th, 2008|04:43 pm]
I wanted to post something not related to the latest controversy, and not related to my ongoing battle with anxiety.

So: meet Koyemsi. This mudhead katsina is about 70 years old and comes from Arizona. He is the second katsina in my collection.

koyemsi



Since I haven't talked about my collection before, a couple of words. Before 2007, I used to say that I collect Native American art, but then I happened to acquire an Aboriginal painting. I am inspired and deeply moved by art that is indigenous, minimalistic, and vivid.

I put money aside and buy one piece every year. I have five what I consider "major" pieces of art at this point, of them one was a gift and four were purchases. Two are katsinas, two are Alaskan native masks and one, as I said, is an Aboriginal painting. Plus I have three "accidental" pieces, one is a very small soapstone mask which is very likely Inuit, and I have no idea where it comes from (a flea market find). Another is a Zuni watersnake made from a piece of horn, rather lovely, which was the first piece I acquired, but I didn't put a lot of thought or research into the acquisition. The last is my Alaskan fetish necklace which I call ritual and which always goes with me, but it's not strictly a part of my collection, being so deeply personal/mythical in nature. 

Not sure how to talk about those pieces. There is something very personal about collecting in general, the urge to surround oneself with powerful beauty  that resonates on such a deep level. Do you understand?

Once upon a time I showed my  Paqua Mana (the Frog Woman katsina) to an online friend, and she said, "what is this horrendous ugliness?" I knew then we'd not get along, and of course we eventually had a falling out.

If this is of interest, I'd love to hear about your collections. What do you collect, and why?

ETA: This Library Tour is so lovely I had to post a link. I love Northwestern Native art with a fierce love. One of my Alaskan masks is by David Oksoktaruk, and you can see two of his pieces in the tour.
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