Silence
Ted wants his name removed from "Silence," (old title, "Movement & Repose") the collaborative short story we've been working on for so long. I didn't find out until yesterday around lunchtime, when I checked my email before shutting the machine off. I let Trish go to her H&R Block appointment by herself, so I could do an MPC for Critters, in order to have the story read in a week, rather than 3-4 weeks. While writing a review, Karen rang the doorbell; I'd been needed at the tax place; we had to reschedule for Monday.
Checked my email, bang!, there's a note from Ted, complaining he "doesn't want to write erotica/sci-fi" & recalling that he'd objected to the sex scene in "Trinities," which had been fun to write: I'd done it while sailing the darkened seas in a great big submarine.
Fortunately, TA with Car-girl wasn't far away. I ate a can of chili, then we went to Wally World, where I put 30 buckadingdongs onto the food stamp card -- they gave us $69 this month, not $15. Then we went to Pizza Hut, where I talked about my asperations of creativity & exasperating Ted -- the main problem is, I don't want my name on anything with a formula taken out of a book called Romance for Dummies. (Yes, there actually is such a book.) It took long enough for SF to become appreciated, studied by such scholars as John G. Cawelti (whom I worked for), romance is looked down at even worse than fantasy & science fiction (also the title of a magazine that I no longer waste my postage on as whatever they're publishing, it's not fantasy & science fiction). Even as romance, Ted's draft was a total failure. I contacted every Critter who'd read the story, & every single one of them said, "Put it back the way it was". If Ted would've submitted his draft as it was, I would've wanted my name removed, plus I could guarantee that absolutely no one would buy the thing.
So Car-girl got us home a little late, as she had to go to the bank to get money to pay for her salad bar. I'd had one too, with Trish's discount it came to only a couple buckadingdongs.
We had steak for supper. We'd taken the meat out of the freezer without knowing exactly what it was. Before I opened the freezer bag, I thought it was pork, was prepared to bread it, & had to throw away an egg & bread crumbs. Trish insisted on having it "well done".
All we did yesterday evening was sit around & watch Trish's old Britney Spears & Battlestar Galactica DVDs.
I fell asleep fast, in part because I took 3 temazepam, but also in part because I'd only taken 2 the nite before, & had awakened at 4:42 that morning.
I do plan to continue with the "MP3", as Trish calls it. I have yet to hear from Andrew Burt on taking Ted's name off the story. I think Ted's being stupid. Since the Abilify has been kicking in, I'm back to writing at genius levels, & feel that he needs the publishing credential. He also needs to learn how to write without consulting all these "books on writing". If "Trinities" failed, it may very well have been him dragging it down.
In fact, if I get a lot of complaints about having the girl get the other guy, I'll violate another romance "rule" & make my heroine into a married woman having an affair. I can't seem to get it thru Ted's head that we're writing for Analog, not Harlequin Romance. Sex isn't a taboo there, & it's necessary for the plot in my opinion, & even if it isn't, Ted's ending was all fraked up & no one liked it.
I have the Abilify to carry on -- the haldol sapped all my energy, killed my creativity. Now, with each passing moment, I experience vast, evolving idea complexes elaborating themselves within my consciousness. The atomic bong remains in the story, in spite of Ted's objections -- though it will be removed if Critters respond to it the way that they did to Ted's. I don't see universal damnation, though. I'm expecting a mixed response. There are still people out there who reject sex. There are also lots of people who buy it.
If Ted doesn't contact me in a couple days, I'll send him an email saying that I don't want to frak up a friendship over artistic differences. It's cool if an editor at Bantam is interested in his book, but I don't see myself collaborating with him again.
Checked my email, bang!, there's a note from Ted, complaining he "doesn't want to write erotica/sci-fi" & recalling that he'd objected to the sex scene in "Trinities," which had been fun to write: I'd done it while sailing the darkened seas in a great big submarine.
Fortunately, TA with Car-girl wasn't far away. I ate a can of chili, then we went to Wally World, where I put 30 buckadingdongs onto the food stamp card -- they gave us $69 this month, not $15. Then we went to Pizza Hut, where I talked about my asperations of creativity & exasperating Ted -- the main problem is, I don't want my name on anything with a formula taken out of a book called Romance for Dummies. (Yes, there actually is such a book.) It took long enough for SF to become appreciated, studied by such scholars as John G. Cawelti (whom I worked for), romance is looked down at even worse than fantasy & science fiction (also the title of a magazine that I no longer waste my postage on as whatever they're publishing, it's not fantasy & science fiction). Even as romance, Ted's draft was a total failure. I contacted every Critter who'd read the story, & every single one of them said, "Put it back the way it was". If Ted would've submitted his draft as it was, I would've wanted my name removed, plus I could guarantee that absolutely no one would buy the thing.
So Car-girl got us home a little late, as she had to go to the bank to get money to pay for her salad bar. I'd had one too, with Trish's discount it came to only a couple buckadingdongs.
We had steak for supper. We'd taken the meat out of the freezer without knowing exactly what it was. Before I opened the freezer bag, I thought it was pork, was prepared to bread it, & had to throw away an egg & bread crumbs. Trish insisted on having it "well done".
All we did yesterday evening was sit around & watch Trish's old Britney Spears & Battlestar Galactica DVDs.
I fell asleep fast, in part because I took 3 temazepam, but also in part because I'd only taken 2 the nite before, & had awakened at 4:42 that morning.
I do plan to continue with the "MP3", as Trish calls it. I have yet to hear from Andrew Burt on taking Ted's name off the story. I think Ted's being stupid. Since the Abilify has been kicking in, I'm back to writing at genius levels, & feel that he needs the publishing credential. He also needs to learn how to write without consulting all these "books on writing". If "Trinities" failed, it may very well have been him dragging it down.
In fact, if I get a lot of complaints about having the girl get the other guy, I'll violate another romance "rule" & make my heroine into a married woman having an affair. I can't seem to get it thru Ted's head that we're writing for Analog, not Harlequin Romance. Sex isn't a taboo there, & it's necessary for the plot in my opinion, & even if it isn't, Ted's ending was all fraked up & no one liked it.
I have the Abilify to carry on -- the haldol sapped all my energy, killed my creativity. Now, with each passing moment, I experience vast, evolving idea complexes elaborating themselves within my consciousness. The atomic bong remains in the story, in spite of Ted's objections -- though it will be removed if Critters respond to it the way that they did to Ted's. I don't see universal damnation, though. I'm expecting a mixed response. There are still people out there who reject sex. There are also lots of people who buy it.
If Ted doesn't contact me in a couple days, I'll send him an email saying that I don't want to frak up a friendship over artistic differences. It's cool if an editor at Bantam is interested in his book, but I don't see myself collaborating with him again.
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