Friday, March 22, 2013

Instagram and twitter

I have an instagram now: http://instagram.com/signycullen and a twitter: http://twitter.com/signycullen

I don't tweet much (mostly because I tend to forget I have it) and I'm still getting used to instagram.

Ah, social media

A new episode of Spartacus is on tonight and the last episode of Neverwhere was today.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Chapter 2 is done

I may have mentioned I tend to watch Spartacus (the tv series on Starz) while writing the first few chapters. The first chapter takes place in the Roman Republic and the second chapter takes place in Jerusalem during the crucifixion of Jesus. In these chapters, I use the same type of speech that they use on Spartacus.

For example- Ilithyia: First you tie my hands and then you seize my fucking tongue?
Lucretia: I would not have it flapping about absent direction.

And this is an example from chapter 2- Eva flicked her hand dismissively and pursed her lips at Lehi. “Close mouth or find tongue absent. I seek not your approval. I know of what I do and I know of my path. I do not need,” Eva looked Lehi up and down in disapproval and smirked, “your words upon my ear. Cease speaking and return to beloved wife. There is much to do.”

Mine is a bit lacking as compared to the show, but I think I make my point in the differences of speech.

So my rewrite of chapter 2 is done and so now I can return to editing the rest of the book. I've got many chapters to go. 

Monday, March 18, 2013

Onwards

I'm rewriting chapter 2 now. It deals with the crucifixation of Jesus.

I'm pretty sure when my parents read this book, they'll be upset to some degree. The book deals heavily with the topics of letting God down (not doing Godly things with your life, if you will) and the wrath of God. I invision quite a many Christians will be unhappy with my book.

The point is actually not to make a religious statement, but rather this: do not let others decide your path in life. Make choices for yourself, not because someone told you to do it this way or that something will happen in the future, so you should lead yourself to that.

Anyways, I hope my book will make that clear.

I'd like to get it done and published by April 26th so that I could put a thing about it in my alma mater's summer bulletin. they release a bulletin twice a year and in it they update on alumni's successes (as well as marriages, deaths, and births), if you submit about it. I'd like to be able to tell my fellow alumni about my book in hopes someone will buy it!

So we'll see.

I've got a pretty crap migraine, so I haven't done much work. Plus my friends that are helping me edit are also busy with their own lives (and books) so it takes a while for me to get their opinions.

So yeah, we'll see.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Finished Rewrite

After watching all of Spartacus: War of the Damned (the episodes that have aired so far), most of Spartacus: Blood and Sands, and most of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, I finally finished rewriting the first chapter of Farther Side of Away.

It took a while because I kept getting distracted. The show influenced me to put in more swear words, lol. You know I find it weird, I have such a difficulty in writing swear words, romantic scenes, and sex scenes, but I'm cool with watching Spartacus. I just find myself, as I'm writing, rolling my eyes and going "THIS SOUNDS DUMB. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

But it's there. I've sent it to my friends who have been helping me edit and hopefully they like what I've changed. Originally, the big reveal scene for Adam & Eve was in chapter one, but one of my online friends who is helping me edit suggested leaving the reveal for a later chapter (which is actually a good idea). So I rewrote the first chapter. Hopefully it's much better now!

So yeah, that's what I've been up to. That and making dinner for the family.

Last night I made a Dutch dish called Slavink, which is minced meat wrapped in bacon. Usually it's done with half beef & half pork, but my family is not a big pork fan, so I just used beef. It turned out really good. I still need to work on getting the bacon cooked more, but it was delicious.

So I'm 3 for 4 (one night we just had soup so I don't think it counts). Tomorrow we're having a full chicken, which will be fun to make.

Edit: oh and this is my 100th post! Funny how the blog has changed over the years.

Monday, March 11, 2013

I want this



I want the dress and coat so bad. It's just gorgeous!

Man I need a good paying job.

Getting organized

So recently my parents and I switched rooms. They are now down in the basement and I'm now in the master bedroom. Sounds great, but it's a tight fit for me. I don't even have all of my things in my room, that's how little space I have. I'm mostly waiting to have money so I can buy new shelving so I can get stuff up and out of the way. I need to go through my boxes and actually get rid of the things I don't want/need. But there's always that voice in the back of my head telling me that I might need it one day! I wish that voice would get lost. I finally got my schedule for my first project for work. The bad news is that I don't go back to work until April 15th. I had been hoping to get on the 6-week project that starts on March 24th, but I guess I was too far down the list. Maybe next year. The good news is I'm working the day shift, so I'll be getting a really nice paycheck. Of course the downside to working 8 hours a day (plus the hour of driving), is that means less time to work on my writing. I've just begun the first edits of my book Farther Side of Away. I'm still working on a summary. Condensing an idea to just a few sentences has never been easy for me. I once wrote a really stellar summary for FSOA, but I didn't save it. I'm still kicking myself for that. I've also started rewriting the first couple of chapters. An online friend that is helping me edit, suggested not giving the big reveal of Adam & Eve in the first chapter. So I'm rewriting it and I'm going to leave the reveal for the second or third chapter. It depends on how much I'm able to add. I started writing a new book, The Lonely Mountain, which has zombies in it. I'm not very far into it, mostly because I've gotten caught up with the editing of FSOA. I'd like to have FSOA done by April so I can self-publish it. We'll see. This week is my mom's 58th birthday and my present to her is cooking dinner every night this week. So that's going to keep me busy (I'm cooking a full chicken on thursday). The weather is crap here, which makes me feel like crap. I find it hard to write lately. I just haven't been as inspired to write and I keep getting distracted by other things. I need an office. Somewhere I can shut the door and just write. As of now, my desk is my room, which is where my cats are. No luck at shutting the door on the world. But I make do. You've got to start somewhere.