Archive for June 2005

15th

I know you're probably getting tired of reading this, but I still don't have any story updates. I've just received a few e-mails from concerned readers wondering how I am, so I figured I should let the rest of you guys know, too.

If you've been following my previous updates (particularly November 2004), then you know I've been having some medical problems. Unfortunately, after my last post in January, I ended up getting a bacterial infection in my colon called clostridium difficile which gave me colitis for about a month. I probably caught it when I was in the hospital, which just pisses me off, but anyway, the medication (Metronidazole - brand name Flagyl) I had to take to get rid of the infection made me nauseous to the point that I wished someone would just kill me. So, I started taking Promethazine (brand name Phenergan) for the nausea, which basically knocked me out for a week and a half, which was much better than being awake. Anyway, between the colitis and only eating to take the pills, I lost another 25 pounds.

However, my last test results came back negative for the bacteria, so hopefully, I'm done with all this medical shit. I've finally started to maintain my weight, and over the past week or so, I've actually put on a couple pounds, so I'm hoping I can start to exercise soon (my muscle mass is non-existent at this point). At least I've been able to be a little more active around the house (vacuuming, doing a few dishes), but taking a shower is still a workout for me.

I have been writing, though. Well, actually, it's more to do with research, reading a lot and taking notes, that kind of thing, but that's a part of the whole writing gig, so I say it counts, so there. :P

Anyway, that's why I haven't posted any updates these past few months. Any energy I've had I've been trying to channel into my writing or getting well, so I aopologize for the silence. It wasn't intentional. I was just too tired. But I'm getting better, so maybe I'll have something new to post before the end of the year. :)

Here's what I've been working on storywise:

The Vampire Hunter series - I'm still working on the rewrite of Bloodlines and have also been writing a little on Blood Moon.

Fallen Angel - This is probably going to annoy people (or at the very least it annoys my wife, but she loves me anyway :)), but I've decided to rewrite Assassin to make it a science fiction story. I'm not going to take Assassin down, so you don't need to worry about that. That story will stand as it is. That's why I'm changing the title of the story and the names of the characters (as well as certain scenes and the overall setting of course), so that anyone who has read the original can hopefully let go of that story and enjoy Fallen Angel as a different story, or maybe a sort of sequel (though it's not).

It's just that Assassin isn't a story I would ever personally seek out to read if it had been written by someone else, and since I write for me, I feel a need to make this story something I would look for. And that means making it science fiction. That's my genre, and one of my goals with my writing is to fill a niche I think is lacking, namely lesbian sci-fi.

From what I've seen online, there seems to be plenty of published lesbian fiction exploring the trials and tribulations of coming out and what it's like to be a lesbian in contemporary society, but I grew up on stories like Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card), Split Infinity (Piers Anthony), Star Rebel (F.M. Busby), The Stainless Steel Rat (Harry Harrison), City (Clifford D. Simak), A Wrinkle In Time (Madeleine L'Engle), and The Forgotten Door (Alexander Key). (By the way, I recommend reading all of these books, including their sequels.)

Unfortunately, those books all deal with heterosexual male protagonists, and I happen to be a lesbian female. I enjoyed the adventures, the storylines, the questions those sci-fi stories always brought up and explored, but I want to do that with lesbian protagonists. I think Assassin is a great story, but I've had this issue with it from the beginning, when I wanted to do stuff, but I couldn't because I'd set the story in contemporary times. So, I'm going to play with it and see what I can come up with.

The Enchanted Queendom - I've finished with the outline for Cinderella and have moved on to Beauty and the Beast. I think I'm about halfway through, and then I can start on the last story of the series, Sleeping Beauty.

Prisoner of War - I've looked at this story and written a couple sentences, but I'm still stuck on the sex scene. Maybe as I start getting my strength back and feeling better, I'll be able to work on it more.

The Trine - I'm still working on those first few chapters. My focus kind of got pulled into the research for Blood Moon because of when I have to have a certain book back to the library (it's an interlibrary loan book, so it's different from a regularly checked out book), but I'm just about done with that particular book, so I should be able to get back to this story in the next few weeks.

Well, I think that's it. I hope everyone is doing well. And I'll try to keep you guys more up-to-date on what's going on with me in the future.

Take care, everyone.