tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22922681906122251242024-03-13T15:38:44.868-07:00AM Riley's BlogAM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.comBlogger165125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-32182608746120170562013-11-24T14:14:00.004-08:002013-11-24T14:14:44.791-08:00Son of a Gun 'Editor's Choice' on sale now!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Son of a Gun has been chosen as an 'editor's choice' at Loose Id and is on sale now <a href="http://www.loose-id.com/specials/daily-deals.html?p=3">http://www.loose-id.com/specials/daily-deals.html?p=3</a><br />
<br />
Check it out! </div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-3317311912897809562013-06-27T12:26:00.003-07:002013-06-27T12:26:56.124-07:00Very nice review of 'Son of a Gun'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Top to Bottom Reviews posted a very nice review of Son of a Gun <a href="http://top2bottomreviews.wordpress.com/2013/06/08/son-of-a-gun-by-am-riley/" target="_blank">here</a>. I've never been able to write reviews well and I'm always impressed when a reviewer displays the ability to succinctly summarize and critique over two hundred pages in a few paragraphs. It's its own art form for sure.<br />
<br />
I've been blog light lately because of family drama. Hoping to get it together soon with news of the next book.<br />
<br />
Oh, and THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS ARE THE STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!!!</div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-2805587272702050492013-05-21T06:00:00.000-07:002013-05-21T06:00:01.053-07:00Son of a Gun now available from Loose id<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7JSXx1u_8qQ/UZtuvTBiGPI/AAAAAAAAAJM/nzTbWoNiMWU/s1600/AMR_SonofaGun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7JSXx1u_8qQ/UZtuvTBiGPI/AAAAAAAAAJM/nzTbWoNiMWU/s320/AMR_SonofaGun.jpg" width="220" /></a></div>
A re-edited, re-formatted <i>'Son of a Gun</i>' is now available from Loose id <a href="http://www.loose-id.com/son-of-a-gun.html" target="_blank">here</a>. There's a little bit more added to the ending as well. And check out the pretty new cover. There will be a contest in the next week to win a free ebook version, for those of you who may have bought the original, but are still interested in reading this one. I wanted to give you a chance to own it without having to pay for it.<br />
<br />
More info will follow shortly. Meanwhile, huzzah for release day!<br />
<br /></div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-69936659984689587382013-05-04T17:59:00.001-07:002013-05-04T17:59:28.223-07:00Lord Stanley and his cup<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's playoff weekend around here:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JFM6fW42R58/UYWu2WK8lEI/AAAAAAAAAIc/DweBXMySPP8/s1600/Playoffs01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JFM6fW42R58/UYWu2WK8lEI/AAAAAAAAAIc/DweBXMySPP8/s320/Playoffs01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
My dogs are rocking their team jerseys.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--a7RY4wUCl8/UYWuGDP82uI/AAAAAAAAAIM/IXKmE99Fk2c/s1600/Playoffs03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--a7RY4wUCl8/UYWuGDP82uI/AAAAAAAAAIM/IXKmE99Fk2c/s320/Playoffs03.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
My dog, Lord Stanley, knows which team is going to win the cup.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ld68iqY5uBg/UYWugMCgNgI/AAAAAAAAAIU/byoOL6jztkk/s1600/Playoffs09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ld68iqY5uBg/UYWugMCgNgI/AAAAAAAAAIU/byoOL6jztkk/s320/Playoffs09.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-4867453733035991242013-05-03T10:15:00.001-07:002013-05-03T10:15:07.580-07:00Why I Love (Hate) the Playoffs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On the nhl.com website there is a Stanley Cup Playoffs Bracket Challenge that one can enter every year just before the puck drops in the first game of the first series. I ALWAYS play it. I ALWAYS think I know absolutely positively who is going to win each series. Well, except for a few wild cards that is.<br />
<br />
HAH!<br />
<br />
The Blues are up two games on the LA Kings! Last years Stanley Cup Champions look surprised out there. Their supermagical must-have-signed-a-deal-with-the-devil-goalie, Jonathan Quick, gave the first game away. Last night? Was close and the Kings have a history of coming out ahead on close games. But they didn't. Surprise!<br />
<br />
Detroit beat Anaheim last night. That's a series I believe could go either way. The Red Wings are a mere ghost of what they once were but they still have a coach who knows how to win. And they still have that faith that comes of being on a team that makes the playoffs every year and frequently wins the cup. That counts for a lot in a fast and hard sport. <br />
<br />
Minnesota's goalie was out during warm ups so Josh Harding, who is currently struggling with MS, had to step in at the last moment. Chicago barely beat them. Good for Josh! <br />
<br />
I think Toronto should just be allowed to go home quietly. The Bruins are going to kill them out there. BUT I COULD BE WRONG. A miracle could happen. Toronto could suddenly find the pride of all Canada somewhere deep in their guts and rise up and thunk them. Wouldn't that be something to see?<br />
<br />
And that's what I love about the playoffs. ANYTHING can happen. It's as exciting as Basketball, as romantic as Baseball and as brutal as any sport can get. I may not win that danged Bracket Challenge but so far it's looking like a really awesome playoff year.<br />
<br /></div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-16585078764463530092013-04-28T09:05:00.003-07:002013-04-28T11:23:44.085-07:00Hockey Playoff Season Alert<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
WARNING WARNING This blog may, for the next several weeks, contain irrational, badly spelled and grammatically challenged diatribes, rants, moanings and groanings, unabashed chortlings, uncensored cursing, and quite a bit of trash talk about various creatures such as Red Wings, Blackhawks, Senators, Ducks and Canucks.<br />
<br />
Never fear. AM Riley will return to a semblance of sanity once the Stanley Cup Playoffs have subsided. This is only a temporary interruption of your regularly scheduled blog posts.<br />
<br />
GO BLACKHAWKS!!!!</div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-90476604910854753482013-04-26T06:53:00.000-07:002013-04-26T06:53:44.090-07:00Sad news<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This week a friend of mine passed away.<br />
<br />
If any of you have read 'The Elegant Corpse', you have met my friend. He was one of the characters in the book. I always imagined him as a decrepit horny old man, but sadly he didn't make it to that. He was fifty one and had less than a month after his diagnosis to wrap up his life. He did it with charm and bravado and every photograph of him at the end shows him smiling in that self-deprecating shy way of his.<br />
<br />
This sort of thing is always a shock and I've been in a sort of daze, not able to shake it. It helps to talk about him, to remember him, to read his facebook page and the articles here and there about him. He left quite a legacy of photographs behind. He chronicaled much of the gay leather scene out here, and his friends are currently working to make sure his last body of work is shown at the next Pride week. There is something wonderful about someone who takes their passion and makes a career of it.<br />
<br />
Which brings me to next reaction we often have to an untimely death. That 'what the hell am I doing with my life?' reaction. Especially since I knew him professionally and he was the one who said 'aw fuck it' and made the leap of faith to chase his dream.<br />
<br />
I heard about his death while at work, and while I was still reeling a bit and trying to pull it together, a particularly bitchy coworker, who seems to live to make people unhappy, sent an email about some stupid trivial issue which does not matter to anyone and I'm pleased and yet a little ashamed that I managed not to pack it in and walk out. <br />
<br />
I mean, seriously, we are just ants, moving around our little bits of earth for reasons that only seem important, but really aren't. And some ants are even more messed up than others. Some are mean, some are homicidal and violent. Given how small we are and how short life is it seems obscene.<br />
<br />
Jay was kookie, kinky and lived in an uncompromising way with who he was and what he believed. I wish I had his courage.<br />
<br />
RIP buddy. I hope you are currently residing in an optimally fitted out heavenly dungeon filled with beautiful men.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-74607603819468523012013-04-24T17:41:00.001-07:002013-04-24T17:41:31.643-07:00Son of a Gun re-release through Loose id<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A newly edited Son of a Gun will be released by Loose Id next month. There have been a few tweaks and a bit of a longer ending (only a bit!) There will be a sequel this year as I found it hard to let Stefan off that easily.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-11305426717598192882013-03-03T14:22:00.001-08:002013-03-03T20:40:38.482-08:00How important are fringe books?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Around my fourteenth year a librarian saved my life.<br />
<br />
I don't think that is an exageration. I was introverted, too sensitive and bookish. My family life was dysfunction inc. In a small conservative town, I had no one to really talk to and knew nobody like me. I was a weirdo, as my piers frequently told me. A freak. I was overly smart and one of three girls in the excellerated programs. I wore oversized shirts and boys sneakers and no make up. <br />
<br />
That librarian saw me and KNEW. And she gave me some books that showed me people like me, or people who were different, succeeding, finding happiness. You know... not self destructing. Rubyfruit Jungle, Death Trick, The Catch Trap. And a LOT of science fiction because in space nobody cares how you get your freak on.<br />
<br />
I read a few books on my own, too. Torchsong Trilogy, Maurice, The Front Runner. There is a lot of fairly good lesbian pulp fiction but I didn't have access to that until I was older. Many of the books were sad and angry. I understand that that is a story that needs to be told, but here's my problem with the sad books. All too often lesbian and gay characters are made to die young. They MUST die young. The only way to deal with any sensitivity to an aberration and still keep society safe is to kill the practitioner. So you see you can show a gay person as kind and valuable but you have to make sure they die. Otherwise you have to make a choice. Society or the gay. That idea was planted in me by those sad books and I spent a good chunk of my early adulthood terrified waiting for the lightning to strike.<br />
<br />
Just like 'To Kill a Mockingbird' we can't let the outlaws flourish. We can tell their story and portray them with humanity but they can't 'win'.<br />
<br />
I hate that. <br />
<br />
I have to say that nameless librarian, may she spend eternity in heaven, never handed me one of the sad books. She must have known better. </div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-68673199330455718652013-01-17T14:54:00.001-08:002013-01-17T14:55:55.994-08:00Bizarro...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<!-- Begin I Write Like Badge --><br />
<div style="background: #F7F7F7; border: 2px solid #ddd; color: #555555; font: 20px/1.2 Arial,sans-serif; overflow: auto; padding: 5px; width: 380px;">
<img src="http://s.iwl.me/w.png" style="float: right;" width="120" /><br />
<div style="border-bottom: 1px solid #eee; padding: 20px; text-shadow: #fff 0 1px;">
I write like<br />
<a href="http://iwl.me/w/68a96d20" style="color: #698b22; font-size: 30px; text-decoration: none;">Lewis Carroll</a></div>
<div style="color: #888888; font-size: 11px; text-align: center;">
<i>I Write Like</i> by Mémoires, <a href="http://www.codingrobots.com/memoires/" style="color: #888888;">journal software</a>. <a href="http://iwl.me/" style="background: #FFFFE0; color: #333333;"><b>Analyze your writing!</b></a></div>
</div>
if he wrote erotic gay mysteries, I guess...<br />
<br />
and isn't that an interesting idea?<br />
<!-- End I Write Like Badge --></div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-86333871293540333272013-01-01T12:40:00.000-08:002013-01-01T12:40:39.815-08:00Old Acquaintances and Happy New Year<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Happy New Year everyone!<br />
<br />
Hope your holidays were festive and filled with family and friends. Hope your New Year is everything you wish it to be.<br />
<br />
About this time of year, as I sweep out all the closets and put away the Christmas ornaments for another year, I remember the people from the last year. Some are personal, friends and family members whom I expected to be here still and am feeling their absence particularly today. Some are strangers who were in the news but whose deaths particularly touched us all.<br />
<br />
One of those is Gore Vidal, who passed last year. I've been reading his books this week as a kind of <i>in memoriam</i>. Last night I finished 'The City and the Pillar'. Besides being a very insightful journey in the mind of a gay man before the rights movement, it also has a universal theme. The love he felt in adolescence (and he never thinks of it as 'love', it is much more elemental than that), motivates almost all of his early adult life. When this is shattered it is as if the foundation of everything is removed. All he has left is self loathing and fear. Not the best thing to read during the dark and sometimes depressing days following Christmas, but definitely a good book for the New Year, when I traditionally think about my life and what the hell I think I'm doing here.<br />
<br />
It is also appropriate as I finish "If Not for You" which is a very nostalgic book about youth and cynicism and confronting the past.<br />
<br />
</div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-30275217079203011192012-12-11T15:40:00.001-08:002012-12-11T15:40:19.611-08:00my house doesn't feel like people live there<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Weird. I moved in last July and I've painted and unpacked. There's still a lot to do but the house doesn't feel like someone inhabits it. When I come home it still feels like the dogs and I live in someone elses house.<br />
<br />
I've finished the first run-through of 'If Not for You' which bent and went off in an odd direction. I think it's okay, but still have much revising and editing to do.</div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-52614572383674660912012-12-07T14:09:00.000-08:002012-12-07T14:09:26.377-08:00I'm not an authority on marriage...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I honestly wouldn't get married if I could. But that's me. In light of the Supreme Court deciding to hear two cases, sometime in the next year, that address gay marriage. I wanted to point out something I don't often see mentioned in discussions on the topic.<br />
<br />
Gay people aren't born into families of gay people, generally. Racial minorities come from families of minorities. This may seem ridiculously obvious but consider; how many gay people <i>lose family</i> when they come out. My Asian friends didn't lose their parents because they were Asian. My African American friends went through all kinds of stupid unfair sh*t, but they had family to hang onto. Family had their back.<br />
<br />
Gay people are a minority of often dispossessed people. I lost my family for years. So did many of my friends. Many of us never really properly reconciled. Of all the people in the world who deserve to make and keep family, gay people are probably the ones who need it the most.<br />
<br />
And that's my two cents on the issue.<br />
<br />
That said you'd have to put a gun to my head to get me down the aisle, lol.</div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-22183973337652860902012-11-26T10:32:00.000-08:002012-11-26T10:32:05.548-08:00Hockey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'll update my NaNo info shortly, but right now I want to complain about the hockey lockout.<br />
<br />
I don't have really anything interesting to add. The man<a href="http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2012/11/26/3691986/i-hate-everything-and-i-hate-everybody#comments" target="_blank"> here</a> says it all. I spent all of the Thanksgiving Holiday trying to get as excited about Football as I do about Hockey. It's a good thing I had family to distract me or I might have become depressed.<br />
<br />
Stupid greedy bastards. Don't ask me to whom I refer. I am mad at the entire organization right now. The owners particularly but even the players who I don't feel are as outraged and depressed as we fans. Nobody could be as outraged and depressed as people living in Los Angeles who have Lord Stanley's Cup here for the first time and can't even throw the party for it! <br />
<br />
razzlefrazzleratfink as the cartoon dog used to say.<br />
<br />
One of the things I miss the most is the comforting NHL.com site where I could wander for hours, my brain on half-speed, while recovering from the food and family hangover I have today.<br />
<br />
Instead I have to write. <br />
<br />
I hope everyone had a lovely holiday!</div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-60789362217744928442012-11-20T13:58:00.001-08:002012-11-20T13:58:20.868-08:00still slugging away<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Sunday I wrote a little over five hundred words. I lifted, deleted, rewrote and tightened about 4500, so coming out ahead was a small miracle. Except I'm not done deleting.<br />
<br />
I was in the car for around six hours yesterday. My clutch-side leg is killing me, from riding it through traffic. The 'stang needs a physical soon. As I expected, I wasn't able to write anything. I did pound out a little this morning, but I can't write at work, so I might not catch up to my writing deadlines until Turkey Day. I'm cooking, but I got a lot done over the weekend, so I'll have a little free time.<br />
<br />
Without hockey and with the Bears looking so bad it hurts my eyes, the only sports I can stand to watch are college bowls. <br />
<br />
Then, last night, I downloaded 'The Back Passage' by James Lear, as a tiny reward to myself.<br />
<br />
I can't recall where I first heard of this author, but I've been looking forward to reading his books. What is it about that slightly amused, facetious and yet basically good humored voice that I find so charming? I've run into it before in gay literature and, believe it or not, in Jane Austin. It's clever and wise but doesn't whine. It isn't sappy or preachy. It's not that it is or isn't politically incorrect so much as it is apolitical. Things are what they are. Life is a great big charming, if sometimes disappointing, story. And in the end its all about getting off.<br />
<br />
Throw in a gloriously dead body and I'm a happy reader. <br />
<br />
I love it. I'm afraid it's like a candy bar, though. I can't help but read it quickly and then, too soon, I will have read the whole series. </div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-77789170975355448092012-11-18T05:04:00.002-08:002012-11-18T05:04:30.902-08:00The Color Not-quite-purple<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I didn't write yesterday because I was getting the guest room ready for Thanksgiving.<br />
This
old house has popcorn ceiling texture that is unbearably ugly. Room by
room, I'm getting rid of it. The first room I did was the office, so I
could sit here and find excuses to not write. Scraping the ceiling,
repainting it with this awesome stuff called 'ceiling paint'. Then
prepping and painting the walls, two coats even with the
'paint-with-primer' paint. Then the trim. It takes at least one day
for a small room. The office took two days because I painted it with
this gorgeous paint by Ralph Lauren called 'suede', which requires a
second coat to be applied with a hand brush. <br />
<br />
Anyway, now my
guest room is amethyst. On the little sample card it looked
sophisticated and sort of warm. On the walls it is suspiciously close
to grape. I think it will be okay if I am careful with the accent
colors and stuff.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow I have to go to the dentist. I've
bought a house a way out from the city, so going to the dentist means
leaving at 4:30 to get to the gym, work out, get dressed and drive for
an hour and a half. This means I probably won't be able to write
tomorrow either. So I got up super early today to write.<br />
<br />
Argh. I
have to delete a huge chunk. I've got two hours to write before the
gym opens. I still have a lot of cleaning and grocery shopping and
baking to do today, so I'm going to try to get my 1000 words done in two
hours. ha. I'll let you know how it goes.</div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-58030840446116901422012-11-14T17:01:00.002-08:002012-11-14T17:01:30.079-08:00I am not writing today and I am crabby...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
... and my eyes itch.<br />
<br />
My hair is frizzy and I'm hungry and dinner is three hours away. <br />
<br />
Grrr.</div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-86742685224647338342012-11-13T04:51:00.003-08:002012-11-13T04:51:59.432-08:00598<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Deleted 1100 but I'm still up by 598. <br />
<br />
I'm feeling good about this now. Of course, it's 5 a.m. and I'm always an optimist first thing in the morning. There is one enormous plot hole that needs to be worked, but the characters just fell into place.<br />
<br />
Off to the gym.</div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-69455775121636722732012-11-12T09:25:00.003-08:002012-11-12T09:25:45.628-08:001648<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've finally written more than I've deleted and almost enough for the NaNoWriMo requirement of words per day. Yesterday I wrote 1648 of new material.<br />
<br />
It's coming along. I was horribly stuck and so changed my pov. I'm not sure if I will keep it for the final but with the enormous cast of characters in this book, it is helpful.</div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-58625637885095953432012-11-08T13:32:00.003-08:002012-11-08T13:32:34.342-08:00Two Unrelated Things<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, I've hit the bottom of the deletion cycle, I think. I wrote 500 words today beyond what I deleted. There is still a lot to get rid of, but the character arcs have tightened somewhat. I feel so insecure about this book. I don't know who this dude is sometimes!<br />
<br />
Also, I read a blog post somewhere in which an author complained about authors who talk about politics. Now, I am one of those people who believes that the personal is political. That you really can't separate the two. But I appreciate that my readers may not want to hear my diatribes. <br />
<br />
Those of you who feel that way should probably stop reading now.<br />
<br />
The GOP made a fatal mistake this election. They did not LOOK at the American people. They looked at the fantasy in their heads in which the vast majority of Americans are white protestants, who hate immigrants, intellectuals, liberated women, foreigners, homosexuals and any race not their own. And now they will have to wake the Ef up or there will be no Republican party in the future.<br />
<br />
Maybe the Green party will be the next challenger? I could go for that.<br />
<br />
Thank God. <br />
<br />
<br /></div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-16630369003080413002012-11-06T12:00:00.000-08:002012-11-06T12:00:26.187-08:00Writing backwards<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yesterday I 'fixed' a chapter. Which means I wrote 1000 words more or less, but deleted about 1800. I'm down 685. I don't know if it's better or worse, but at least I'm working on it.</div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-68104239455317790002012-11-04T04:34:00.001-08:002012-11-04T04:34:10.376-08:00word count<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yesterday was a miserable writing day. Wrote only 500 and deleted 900. So I'm down 400. Today I am approaching the problem area. If I can just work this part out I might start making some progress.</div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-57858603040391381502012-11-02T14:37:00.000-07:002012-11-02T14:37:11.948-07:00Day Two<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yesterday I wrote 1200 words and deleted 900, so I'm at 300. So sad, but that's how it goes.<br />
<br />
I may have mentioned 'If Not for You' some time ago, when I first started it. I sometimes start books and finish them years later. This one is about a wheeling dealing stockbroker, Eric Tack, living in San Francisco, who is trying to recover from the crash of 2008. He hears that the man he loved and lost has been murdered and that he, Eric, has been named in the man's will. <br />
<br />
The entire book takes place in Humboldt County, up in the Redwood National Forest, where so many grow houses, legal and illegal, exist. I got stuck on one of the main character's personalities. I couldn't seem to nail him down which, you can imagine, created a major problem. I've written the beginning and the end. I'm kind of flopping around in the middle trying to get a grip.</div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-61900576652990421362012-11-01T09:56:00.000-07:002012-11-01T09:56:15.866-07:00NaNoWriMo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've never done it but it seems like it might be the kick in the butt I need, so I'm going to do the NaNoWriMo on 'If Not for You' this month.<br />
<br />
Today is my first day. The book is 62,638 words currently, and I don't expect to publish more than 90,000 but if you knew my process you would weep for me. This is the point in my novels where I start savagely brutalizing my story. Cutting out characters, scenes, chapters. For every word I write, I delete at least another word somewhere else. So. If I can write 50,000 and delete 20,000 I should be doing well.<br />
<br />I'll blog about the journey. It will probably be boring. Day after day of: <i>wrote 1200, deleted 1200</i>, but I am going to finish this book and I'm going to be happy with it when it's done!</div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2292268190612225124.post-75518495614870902812012-10-29T13:55:00.000-07:002012-10-29T13:55:25.353-07:00101 ways to procrastinate<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last weekend, I finished painting and unpacking my office. The desk faces a window which, now, shows me a patio with sculptures and azaleas. No more excuses, I was going to finally sit down and finish 'If Not for You' this weekend.<br />
<br />
But I let myself get distracted again. I tried to 'save money' by re-purposing the old sprinkler system valves to go from the main water line to the old sprinkler system. None of these were properly rigged to begin with and my messing around with them was the last straw. 'POP' went a few joints and water sprayed everywhere until I turned off the main valve. Now I have no water and had to use the studio gym to shower this morning.<br />
<br />
In retrospect, I know I did this on purpose on some deep subconscious level. I can FEEL that I didn't want to sit at that desk, open the laptop, and deal with those odious story issues at the place I left off in the book. Now I have a serious problem that will cost money to fix and be yet another really good excuse to delay finishing the book. <i>This has got to stop.</i><br />
<br />
And the epiphany I had this weekend was this: If I wait until everything in the house is exactly as I want it to read, play with my friends and, yes, write, I will NEVER do any of the above. <br />
<br />
So I vow to you all and to myself: For the next three weeks I am going to open the book to the iffy chapters and fix the problems. I am going to soldier through this damned thing one way or another so that it's finished before the end of the year. The popcorn on the ceilings, the brown patches in the lawn, the weird plumbing issues and even the rust in the old sinks is going to have to wait.</div>
AM Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02850171221719212612noreply@blogger.com0