As if I haven't enough to do... my bloody MySpace profile disappeared off the face of the earth overnight, taking my carefully nurtured fold of nearly four hundred lovely friends with it! To say I'm vexed is putting it mildly... and on a day when I had a pile of jobs I ought to be doing, plus a lot of irritation on other scores too, I've had to spend hours setting up a new profile!
Now it's not looking too bad, apart from one quirk that won't fix no matter what I do... and I've even got a small, gathering band of returned friends, bless their kindly hearts, but it's not the useful social network it was before... It'll take time to build it up again, and it'll just have to be a v. gradual process, but if you're on MySpace, and would like to be my friend, why not pop along and give me the old 'add'...
Portia Da Costa's Myspace
I would post a ton of other stuff and ranting, but it's mid afternoon, and I've gotta get something else, other than bleedin' MySpace tweaking done now, so I'll leave it for the time being...
--
Telly: Steal This Movie
Chocolate: lots!
Mood: vile
Writing: you jest
Reading: myspace profile tutorials and crap
RSI: not too bad
Showing posts with label MySpace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MySpace. Show all posts
Wednesday, 10 January 2007
Tuesday, 31 October 2006
a good day... and night...
Now yesterday was a better day...
First of all, I managed to do 1.2K of IllMet, and managed to get as far as a quite filmic scene that I've had in my mind for what must be years now, ever since Robin morphed from my previous fantasy hero [Spike] into my current one [Bobby Goren]... The way I've written it now is probably v. different from the way I had it planned originally, but I think it's worked, it was fun to write, and it's moving me on v. nicely with the plot. Maybe we'll finally get to some horizontal action where the heroine is actually awake now!!!
The second thing was that yesterday evening I was touched and awed to read a truly heartwarming comment left by a reader and prepublished writer called Anais, on my Myspace Profile. My ebook Lessons and Lovers really struck a chord with her, and she was kind enough to post a long comment expressing her enjoyment in the book. She also posted about it on the Romantic Times message boards too, which was totally brilliant of her. It really warms my heart when somebody likes my writing enough to take the trouble to express their feelings. Even though I've been writing since the dinosaurs roamed, because I'm crap a promo, I probably don't get as many reviews and plaudits as a lot of authors who've come to prominence recently. So the ones I do get mean the absolute world to me - because a lot of the time, I have the most terrible doubts about the quality of my writing and storytelling and what have you... I might rabbit on with enthusiasm in my blog about my characters, but just because they seem alive and wonderful in my head, that doesn't mean my feelings about them necessarily translate onto the page in a form that others can enjoy... so when I hear that I got it right for a reader, I always feel totally over the moon!
So, many thanks, Anais! You made my day!
And that's only the start of it... I had a Vincent D'Onofrio dream, didn't I?
It went like this... I was on holiday somewhere, and Vin was working in the same town/city/whatever. I was in this big building, and upstairs, he was having a row with his agent about some film role or something, and I saw him storm out into the street. Obviously, seeing my hero, I followed [eek, I'm a stalker!] and though I was able to keep him in sight for a while, I lost him eventually and was rather disappointed. Anyway, I was standing under what I think was a bus shelter, and suddenly Vin jumped down from the roof of it and said 'Hello!' [this was actually inspired by my filmic moment in IllMet, I think...] He seemed v. pleased to see me for some reason, and took me by the arm and led me back to the building, where he was now about to do a scene in a hospital drama. I think I hung around there talking to him for a while, but eventually I had to go, and he grabbed me in his arms and gave me a very thorough kiss! He was holding me v. close and I was left in no doubt that I'd made a big impression on him!!! After that, we parted, but there seemed to be some intimation that we'd meet again... and then I woke up, alas.
Now if I could dream the next installment of this little saga tonight, I'd be a very, very happy person indeed!
First of all, I managed to do 1.2K of IllMet, and managed to get as far as a quite filmic scene that I've had in my mind for what must be years now, ever since Robin morphed from my previous fantasy hero [Spike] into my current one [Bobby Goren]... The way I've written it now is probably v. different from the way I had it planned originally, but I think it's worked, it was fun to write, and it's moving me on v. nicely with the plot. Maybe we'll finally get to some horizontal action where the heroine is actually awake now!!!
The second thing was that yesterday evening I was touched and awed to read a truly heartwarming comment left by a reader and prepublished writer called Anais, on my Myspace Profile. My ebook Lessons and Lovers really struck a chord with her, and she was kind enough to post a long comment expressing her enjoyment in the book. She also posted about it on the Romantic Times message boards too, which was totally brilliant of her. It really warms my heart when somebody likes my writing enough to take the trouble to express their feelings. Even though I've been writing since the dinosaurs roamed, because I'm crap a promo, I probably don't get as many reviews and plaudits as a lot of authors who've come to prominence recently. So the ones I do get mean the absolute world to me - because a lot of the time, I have the most terrible doubts about the quality of my writing and storytelling and what have you... I might rabbit on with enthusiasm in my blog about my characters, but just because they seem alive and wonderful in my head, that doesn't mean my feelings about them necessarily translate onto the page in a form that others can enjoy... so when I hear that I got it right for a reader, I always feel totally over the moon!
So, many thanks, Anais! You made my day!
And that's only the start of it... I had a Vincent D'Onofrio dream, didn't I?
It went like this... I was on holiday somewhere, and Vin was working in the same town/city/whatever. I was in this big building, and upstairs, he was having a row with his agent about some film role or something, and I saw him storm out into the street. Obviously, seeing my hero, I followed [eek, I'm a stalker!] and though I was able to keep him in sight for a while, I lost him eventually and was rather disappointed. Anyway, I was standing under what I think was a bus shelter, and suddenly Vin jumped down from the roof of it and said 'Hello!' [this was actually inspired by my filmic moment in IllMet, I think...] He seemed v. pleased to see me for some reason, and took me by the arm and led me back to the building, where he was now about to do a scene in a hospital drama. I think I hung around there talking to him for a while, but eventually I had to go, and he grabbed me in his arms and gave me a very thorough kiss! He was holding me v. close and I was left in no doubt that I'd made a big impression on him!!! After that, we parted, but there seemed to be some intimation that we'd meet again... and then I woke up, alas.
Now if I could dream the next installment of this little saga tonight, I'd be a very, very happy person indeed!
Sunday, 29 October 2006
irresponsible Saturday
I am bad. For two days, I've done virtually no writing. Friday, well, I suppose I have an excuse as I did have a busy day doing some much needed housework, and I did manage a hundred or so words... But yesterday, I was freaking useless! I managed to send a few emails that were needed, but most of the day I spent mucking about with my MySpace Profile and making silly slideshows and playing with various other web widgets and squidgets. I suppose this is both the blessing and the curse of broadband. It makes 'playing about' so much easier, because back when I was on dialup, the slow connection speed made most of the nice toys virtually unusable. But now I can give full reign to my procrastination skills and fondness for displacement activities. Damn!
Today, in the UK, we have an 'extra hour' due to the clocks being set back an hour for winter. I'm trying not to waste the extra time, and I have indeed done a tiny bit of writing so far, but I've got the worrying niggle of a gathering headache at the moment and I'm hoping it's not one of the dreaded migraines...
I'm quite pleased with the little chunk I've just written though. I was at a point, in a scene, where I didn't know what to do, but I've found a way to get through it, and can now move on to a more interesting section... And the thing with a novella is that you really do bash through it quite quickly, it being so short! I've done about 30% already! Novellas are quite a special craft, and you have to work hard to 'get it all in' in such a short wordcount [25K in this case] but I can see why so many authors like writing them. There's potential for feeling a sense of achievement in a relatively short space of time. And when you've got the attention span of a fruit fly, like me, that is a very good thing!
Words done so far today: 804
Today, in the UK, we have an 'extra hour' due to the clocks being set back an hour for winter. I'm trying not to waste the extra time, and I have indeed done a tiny bit of writing so far, but I've got the worrying niggle of a gathering headache at the moment and I'm hoping it's not one of the dreaded migraines...
I'm quite pleased with the little chunk I've just written though. I was at a point, in a scene, where I didn't know what to do, but I've found a way to get through it, and can now move on to a more interesting section... And the thing with a novella is that you really do bash through it quite quickly, it being so short! I've done about 30% already! Novellas are quite a special craft, and you have to work hard to 'get it all in' in such a short wordcount [25K in this case] but I can see why so many authors like writing them. There's potential for feeling a sense of achievement in a relatively short space of time. And when you've got the attention span of a fruit fly, like me, that is a very good thing!
Words done so far today: 804
Sunday, 1 October 2006
spotting the goofs
Well, I read through Public Domain again, and spotted a couple more boo-boos. I always like to read through proofs a couple of times at least, in case I miss some dreadful howler on the first pass. This is a big task with a 75K manuscript, but not so bad on a 4K short story. There are a handful of thingoids in PD that need dealing with... mainly because I sent a draft of the thing to the editor for a look-see at quite an early stage. Because it's not my usual type of story, I wanted to know if it would be acceptable, and if not, I'd write another... But it was acceptable, and I never went on to work it over any more, when under other circumstances, I might have done. The good news is that it was pretty much okay as it was... there are just a couple of repetitions here and there that I might have spotted on another round of editing. Otherwise, I don't think I would have changed it anyway...
That's about all I've done today so far, except for some pottering around on MySpace. Which is fun, but it scares me too. Not for the timewasting, which is bad enough, but for the fact that I feel it's a dangerous space, wide open for the nefarious activities of spoofers, hackers, crooks, creeps, nutters and general mischief makers. I think one needs to be very wary there, somehow... It's a great promotional opportunity for writers and other kinds of creative types, but it does merit some care and caution...
Well, I still don't know what project I'm going to do next. When Suite Seventeen is turned in, I'm out of contract, and that's a very depressing state of ungrace to be in. My editor has murmured about projects, but so far, not come to me with anything more concrete than that... and I feel that because I'm not proactively pushing stuff at him, he might forget about me and work with other writers who are hungry and eager and full of dynamic ideas. I suppose I must really discuss this with my agent, but in the meantime, I have various bits and pieces to edit inc. a novella and a short story or two, which could do to be polished and put out there. Nobody's going to accept anything that's still festering on my hard drive or in a heap of A4 in my office!!!
In other news, I've just started reading Alison Kent's how-to book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance. I read a preview of Chapter 20 aka Getting Wild and Kinky and that was totally fabboo, but now I'm going to work my way through the whole book. This book is perfect for me, as I need to understand better how to meld romance and erotica more harmoniously, and raise the volume on the romance side of things to match that on the erotica side of things. It's also v. apt for me because as most people who've read my blog for a while [both here and at the old place] will realise, I am actually a bona fide Complete Idiot! :)
I think there's much to be gleaned from writing how-to books, even if you've been in the game for a while, like I have. There's always something new to be learned, or something that you need reminding of that you've forgotten. Or, and just as important, you can find affirmation in them, in that, you can find yourself going... 'Oh god, yes, I do that...' and you realise you're doing something the right way, or at least in a way that's one of the right ways to do a thing. I think that when I've read Alison's book - which I know is going to be invaluable - I'll dive into Janet Evanovich's book, How I Write. Obviously, I won't be writing romantic crime in the near future... at least I don't think I will... but I expect there to be a lot of great advice of use to writers of all genres amongst the pages.
Ah well... better get on with something, I suppose...
That's about all I've done today so far, except for some pottering around on MySpace. Which is fun, but it scares me too. Not for the timewasting, which is bad enough, but for the fact that I feel it's a dangerous space, wide open for the nefarious activities of spoofers, hackers, crooks, creeps, nutters and general mischief makers. I think one needs to be very wary there, somehow... It's a great promotional opportunity for writers and other kinds of creative types, but it does merit some care and caution...
Well, I still don't know what project I'm going to do next. When Suite Seventeen is turned in, I'm out of contract, and that's a very depressing state of ungrace to be in. My editor has murmured about projects, but so far, not come to me with anything more concrete than that... and I feel that because I'm not proactively pushing stuff at him, he might forget about me and work with other writers who are hungry and eager and full of dynamic ideas. I suppose I must really discuss this with my agent, but in the meantime, I have various bits and pieces to edit inc. a novella and a short story or two, which could do to be polished and put out there. Nobody's going to accept anything that's still festering on my hard drive or in a heap of A4 in my office!!!
In other news, I've just started reading Alison Kent's how-to book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance. I read a preview of Chapter 20 aka Getting Wild and Kinky and that was totally fabboo, but now I'm going to work my way through the whole book. This book is perfect for me, as I need to understand better how to meld romance and erotica more harmoniously, and raise the volume on the romance side of things to match that on the erotica side of things. It's also v. apt for me because as most people who've read my blog for a while [both here and at the old place] will realise, I am actually a bona fide Complete Idiot! :)
I think there's much to be gleaned from writing how-to books, even if you've been in the game for a while, like I have. There's always something new to be learned, or something that you need reminding of that you've forgotten. Or, and just as important, you can find affirmation in them, in that, you can find yourself going... 'Oh god, yes, I do that...' and you realise you're doing something the right way, or at least in a way that's one of the right ways to do a thing. I think that when I've read Alison's book - which I know is going to be invaluable - I'll dive into Janet Evanovich's book, How I Write. Obviously, I won't be writing romantic crime in the near future... at least I don't think I will... but I expect there to be a lot of great advice of use to writers of all genres amongst the pages.
Ah well... better get on with something, I suppose...
Thursday, 28 September 2006
no more foofing
Since I finished the first draft of Suite Seventeen last week, I've been mainly foofing about and achieving very little. I haven't done a scrap of writing, although I have done a bit of web design, so I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on myself - because at least that's something creative. And I have expanded my horizons a bit on the computer. I've set up a MySpace, I've uploaded more photos to Flickr and learnt how to do things there, and I've even posted a new message on my sadly neglected Amazon Connect profile. I've also installed Zone Alarm, for a bit of extra computer security and I've been experimenting with del.icio.us for saving my favourites. At heart, all these things are displacement activities, but sort of useful ones too, so I don't feel too disgusted with myself for spending time on them.
I've also set this blog up here. For a long time, I've been not feeling too keen on Bravejournal... for several reasons. The limitations of the sidebar, the limitations of layout and look, the infuriating advertising in the posting area which frankly gets on my wick and tends to muck with my browser. Now, as I had a pro account there, I simply don't think there should be any ads at all, but there are, and I've had enough of them... I have toyed with setting up Wordpress on my own webspace, but even with broadband, the login process takes a ludicrously long time. Something to do with the way the program talks to my ISP... Life's too short to spend that time just twiddling my thumbs waiting. Which brings me back to Blogger, the blogging platform I began my very first blogging efforts on... I'd always been put off by the necessity to get in and footle with the template to add links and stuff to the sidebar, but now I've discovered beta Blogger, those shortcomings are no more. Admittedly it is beta, and a tiny bit cranky here and there, but generally, I'm well pleased with it so far. And I think most of the crankiness is due to my 'puter needing a tad more memory. But that's something I'm planning to correct in the v. near future with a little trip to PC World for a bit of RAM therapy.
Anyway, all this is just more foofing, innit?
Today, I will be mainly:
I hope to do a few other bits and bobs too...
I've also set this blog up here. For a long time, I've been not feeling too keen on Bravejournal... for several reasons. The limitations of the sidebar, the limitations of layout and look, the infuriating advertising in the posting area which frankly gets on my wick and tends to muck with my browser. Now, as I had a pro account there, I simply don't think there should be any ads at all, but there are, and I've had enough of them... I have toyed with setting up Wordpress on my own webspace, but even with broadband, the login process takes a ludicrously long time. Something to do with the way the program talks to my ISP... Life's too short to spend that time just twiddling my thumbs waiting. Which brings me back to Blogger, the blogging platform I began my very first blogging efforts on... I'd always been put off by the necessity to get in and footle with the template to add links and stuff to the sidebar, but now I've discovered beta Blogger, those shortcomings are no more. Admittedly it is beta, and a tiny bit cranky here and there, but generally, I'm well pleased with it so far. And I think most of the crankiness is due to my 'puter needing a tad more memory. But that's something I'm planning to correct in the v. near future with a little trip to PC World for a bit of RAM therapy.
Anyway, all this is just more foofing, innit?
Today, I will be mainly:
- uploading a fab new cover image for a web client
- taking an initial look at proofs for my story Public Domain, which arrived yesterday
- uploading an extract of Gothic Blue to my PortiaDaCosta.com web site
- maybe even setting up another blog, for posting extracts to... [got this idea from above mentioned client
I hope to do a few other bits and bobs too...
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