Thursday, October 14, 2010

SEX! A Re-Blog (Why Not?)

(I recently wrote this blog for my chances site, and decided I could spice it up and add some SEX to it and post it on the ship. Because it’s a SEXY subject. Sorta. My sexing it up is in italics.)

Tortured by Chance (Now isn’t that a sexy topic? Torture and all!)

I’m being slowly roasted lately. Determined to have a second volume available for Decadent should The Kraken’s Mirror do well, I’ve been slogging through the adventures of a second couple in the kraken’s world. (A very sexy couple, whose sexual tastes run  toward BDSM. The heroine is very dominant and her lover is willing to do whatever it takes to make her happy. SEXY!)

Mick is the lover of the Jezebel. She captains the ship featured in The Kraken’s Mirror. And their story is a bit more convoluted. Jezebel isn’t a native to the kraken’s world. She arrived through a portal some thirty years earlier, from an extremely aggressive, capitalistic steampunk world known as Novan. She’s brilliant and brings with her many of the innovations that enable the ipods to play, the blenders to blend, etc.

(I could have had her bring stripper poles and porn movies to Tortuga, but it is a pirates’ paradise and so those things…well, they’d already be there. Right? An open attitude toward sex being a pirate attribute. At least it’s an attribute in my pirate world!)

Jezebel is forty five years old, with fiery red hair and very protective of her adopted world. When she arrived, she allied with the magic makers of Tortuga and blocked Novan from invasion. But Jez has a lot of secrets. Her heart is fortified against softer emotions and commitment is simply not in her vocabulary.

Mick is her carefree partner. They’ve been lovers on and off for nearly twenty years. He knows she holds back but up until now, he’s been content with that. After seeing Emily and Silvestri succeed and flourish in a relationship (book one), he’s thinking it might be time to change the on and off for a more permanent berth.

Then Jezebel’s homeworld breaks though the protections, intent of bringing back their lost daughter. And all her inventions. Plus the world she discovered is ripe for harvest…

(This gets really involved. I mean, they don’t just want to use Tortuga as a new and vulnerable market. They also want to strip away the brightest and the best, offer them all the opportunities of working for Novan, in their quest to make money. And of course, several high powered Novaneese are sexual deviants, so it gets tricky!)

Bwah ha ha!

Sounds great, don’t it?

Sigh. Torture. Pure torture. (And not the fun sexy type of torture. No soft furry handcuffs and padded floggers. Darn.) Page by page, I’m slogging my way through this. Fighting to keep the adventure from bogging down in darker events. (Jez has good reasons to keep her secrets. And some serious topics that I’m working on and want to get right!)

I really want this book in the first draft by the end of the month. I’m a bit over 40k and need about 70k. I’ve done the math, figure I need 2k a day.

(I have another project I want to start with NaNoWrMo. Give this book a rest for a month. And somewhere in there, I hope to begin tackling revisions for The Kraken’s Mirror. Yes, going to be an insane holiday season. Anything to keep me out of the mall and holiday carol madness, I figure!)

So, I’ve decided two pages at a time. Two pages in the morning when I first arrive at Starbucks. Two pages right before I leave. Two pages when I get home. Two pages before bed. And I’ll have 2k a day. Between all of this is walking the dog, blogging, e-mail, twitter…oh, and some housework. And researching where to go for bookmarks, keeping track of my webpage redesign… Deciding on a sexy feathered pen…

Weeeeee!
They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa
To the funny farm. Where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be
happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they're
coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!!!!


 

 

How do you handle the deadline stuff? Besides going with those nice young men? (For reason other than sex!) Do goals like this work for you? Always liked this song…

55 comments:

Donna Cummings said...

Chance, you've got a great story there -- I can't wait to read that one too!

I also like your plan for getting it all accomplished. When I didn't have my laptop, I did get a lot of writing done (although my hand and arm were getting TIRED from writing that way). I think staying away from constant internet activity is a good way to get work done. LOL So I'm going to try to keep with that now that I'm re-connected.

I like your plan to do pages in a shorter burst. I found that works for me too -- it's a nice little writing sprint, and my brain likes it. :)

Hellion said...

I have to laugh. I had to moderate Donna's comment. I'm guessing, Donna, your new computer arrived?

Bosun said...

How did you moderate her comment? I already approved it. LOL!

Bosun said...

I don't have any deadlines yet. At least not any other than the ones I give myself. I found in the spring that breaking it down into how many pages I needed a week worked for me. And somehow I managed to get my butt in the chair.

Now I have exactly two weeks to pack up my entire apartment, so I don't have a choice but to stick to that one. And I packed one box last night, so I'm making progress. :)

This story is going to be killer. Literally! Can't wait to read it, though I'm still waiting to read the first one. ;)

Hellion said...

I approved it too! I got the NOTICE and I logged in and moderated it.

Hellion said...

I like dividing out how many pages I'd need a day to accomplish X. I don't necessarily succeed at it, but I like figuring that stuff out. It makes me feel organized.

Sometimes though I do better with To Do lists. So I can scratch off things I've accomplished. It feels more satisfying. I do that when I clean or want to accomplish a certain number of things over the weekend--and I know if I don't make the list, I'll accomplish exactly finishing about two books I've been dying to read and nothing else: no cleaning, no writing, no sewing...

Bosun said...

Huh. Double approval. You're really good to go, Donna.

Janga said...

An exciting and busy time for you, Chance!

My only deadlines for fiction have been self-imposed. Unfortunately, those tend to be flexible. For the non-fiction I write, deadlines are tied to payment. I find that a check is a great motivator. :)

2nd Chance said...

Yeah, Donnaroo, that's the plan! Short bursts of insanity...just hoping I can hold the story together!

How's the new baby, baby?

2nd Chance said...

Bosun - One box at a time! Just be sure to leave some time in there to sleep!

Donna needing moderation? Well, duh! ;-)

2nd Chance said...

Well, Hellion, I've been reading like a fiend, too. So I get that totally! And it is easy, when faced with having to organize something, that I'd rather read.

Sometimes the check list works for me, sometimes it don't!

2nd Chance said...

Janga - It's odd, but a part of me knows that if I reach that place...writing to a paycheck deadline, I worry that somepart of me will just collapse. I think it's tied with yesterday's phobia... If I write for a 'cause' I fear the magic will disappear?

I know you're able to differentiate the fiction from nonfiction, but it's slightly worrisome for me.

But that's why I tend the bar, to escape me worries! Woke with a bit of a sinus headache so I'm fixing up something nice and strongly caffeinated! With some Baileys...

2nd Chance said...

Hellion - Do lists really work for you? I've always believed in them and made them...but never really, well...followed through on them.

I remember suggesting to Last Chance once to get a tablet, write a goal down on each page and then tear them out as you go. Thinking that as the tablet emptied, there'd be a real sense of accomplishment. Made sense to me and I really should follow my example.

Though I'd probably lose the tablet in the the clutter of the house...

If you click on the Weeee! It's a link to the YouTube video of the song, BTW.

Bosun said...

That's my problem with lists. I lose the lists. But I do use them for things like packing for a trip or large projects here at work. I have to take on to the grocery store. I never remember everything I need.

Hellion said...

I have a yellow tablet and I make a list on it--and then I start doing things on the list. I don't do them in order; I just look at the list and go, "Which do I want to do?" and I usually pick three or four things that won't take long so I can scratch them off. DONE. Then I just keep plugging away on stuff. Usually if I get about 70% of the list done, I'll quit for the weekend and read--I mean, I still accomplished more than if I hadn't had the list. And I have a vacuumed floor, mopped kitchen, and clean dishes--as well as groceries and a couple pages on the WIP. I find that productive. And I got to cross things off. Never underestimate the power of crossing stuff off a list.

2nd Chance said...

I do like a good packing list. And I've started one for things to fill a basket with for a give away at RT...and I have one for the goody bags Jane and I put together for the newbies...

And blogs I have to query reg. having me a guest as my book debut gets near...

But personal get-done lists? Man...I got to get better at this! Hellion, you make it sound so ... sigh ... easy!

Bosun said...

I should do that with the packing. I boxed up everything small in my room last night - jewelry box, picture frames, stuffed animals (don't judge) - and it feels so good to look around and know it's DONE.

I need to make a list. I need to cross things off.

Hellion said...

Best of all, when I'm done with that list, I rip it off, I transfer the undone things (if I still want/need to do them), and make a new list for later. Then throw the old list away. It's a big scribble pad.

This is a lot like Donna's HOA lists.

Mostly I use mine for WEEKENDS. I'm too tired during the weekdays to do stuff. And if left to my own devices, I won't do shit on the weekends.

I don't use lists often, only when I know I REALLY want to get stuff done and I know I won't unless I make the list. It's a last ditch effort to GET IT DONE.

2nd Chance said...

Bo'sun! Did I tell you we bought an Eeyore like yours to give to my husband's ex-workwife? She's a big Eeyore fan, too. Steph said she was thrilled with it!

Nothing wrong with a grown woman having stuffed animals. I saw a snippet from an Oprah with a grown man who travels with a little stuffed dog... He's on the road a lot and it's his friend on the road!

So, this list thing...anyone else use a list to help them accomplish stuff? Or feel like they accomplish stuff?

2nd Chance said...

Okay, I'll give it a shot with stuff around the house. I generally only make a list for the husband to do... Yup, one of those wives! But I'll work on some for me.

Bosun said...

The trick is as Hellie says, you don't need to cross off things in order. So you can apply a hierarchy, as Donna's method does. You can look at it and say, "What could I handle today?" Then you do that. Even if you do one thing a day, that's progress.

I'm all about progress these days.

2nd Chance said...

Lately, I feel like I'm all about backward progress these days.

Bosun said...

Don't make me come over there. You have a contract and an editor and a book cover and a new website in progress. Plus a new WIP and another you intend to write for NaNo.

You whole life is one giant wave progressing forward. LOL!

2nd Chance said...

*hang head

Yes, Ma'am...

Just not at home.

Though if would be fun if you 'came over here.'

Bosun said...

I have to dig my mother out before I can did you out. LOL! 2012!

2nd Chance said...

You mean the year the world ends according to the Mayan calendar!? (calender? calandar? Dang it, I never get that one right!)

BTW, Donna has another brilliant blog up on her site. I say we all slice her throat and throw her overboard. They'll be more energy to the hotties that way and I won't feel like such an inadequate blogger...

Bosun said...

I just realized, this blog is titled "SEX" and we've yet to cover that topic.

WTH?! LOL!

Donna Cummings said...

P.S. Thanks for approving me. Maybe it was because I've got the link to my website. I forget that I don't do that here -- lemme take it off.

Donna Cummings said...

Hey now! No throat slicing! Yeesh, I go to the grocery store and come back to see you plotting my demise!

And thanks for considering my blog post "brilliant". If it makes you feel any better, it's from March, when I possibly still had some brilliance in my skull. Now? Not so much!

I'm still getting used to my new laptop. I might have to have a "come to Jesus" meeting with Internet Explorer. Apparently it doesn't understand I need to have fourteen different tabs or windows open AT ALL TIMES. (The last laptop understood! LOL) I haven't done any actual WRITING on it yet, but that's for this afternoon. :) It's on my list and everything! LOL

2nd Chance said...

We're pirates, Donnaroo...throat slicing is a viable solution!

So, the new one won't let you have all those windows open? Aha! It's my social media invention at work! Bwah ha ha!

Donna Cummings said...

You're right, Chance -- I forgot! LOL I better be careful or I'm gonna lose my pirate membership card!

The new one has a different way of opening windows, and it kinda hides some of them, and then when I want to do another link from one of the windows, it just kinda hangs there in a suspended state. So maybe it IS your Social Media Intervention Invention at work! LOL

2nd Chance said...

*shudder

This is why I delay on the new laptop... I like my old Windows OS!

Bosun said...

Donna - It took a while for me to get used to Windows 7 and how it displays what's open at the bottom. But I like it because no one looking over my shoulder can tell what's open and lingering in the background.

Windows 7 aids in sneakiness.

2nd Chance said...

OK! Crew, I'm off to meet Last Chance for lunch! Be back in a bit!

Donna Cummings said...

LOL, Terri -- it IS nice to have your computer be a co-conspirator! I think I'll get used to it. I mean, Windows Vista was brand-new with my last laptop, and I managed to figure that out. But I gotta admit, there are some days when I just want things LIKE THEY WERE. LOL My brain is full! It can't learn any more new stuff!

Hellion said...

Well, Donna, I'm sure if you had SIGNED IN, none of us would have had to moderate your comment...but whatever... *grins*

Donna Cummings said...

Aaaugh! Why can't I remember to sign in? LOL Oh yeah, my brain is full. It can't hold one teeny tiny little thing like signing in.

Mmmm. Maybe if I did some writing, that would kinda clear out some space in my brain. . .it's a good theory anyway!

Bosun said...

If you sign in and click the "remember me" button, then you won't have to remember all the time.

Just sayin'...

Hellion said...

Did you give her brain one more thing to remember?

Bosun said...

I gave one and took one away. They cancel each other out.

Quantum said...

The opening blog looks interesting.

But everyone's talking about Windows. :?
That's not sexy ..... unless perhaps you (accidentally) look through the wrong one!

As a young sportsman I learned to pace myself, to be sure to finish in the most efficient and speedy manner.

Same applies to deadlines. You need a built in clock which tells you whether you need to work harder.
Its always there, ticking away in the sub-conscious.

If you run slow and just can't keep up, fill up with coffee and work overtime.
If you're way out of it, fill up with scotch and dream of another day.

Should be easy for a time traveling witch/pirate! :D

Marnee said...

Chance, your new story sounds really... sexy. LOL! I like all the shades of steampunk in your stuff. Sounds really cool.

Deadlines? Recently I've watched them fly by. That's about as far as my handling has gone. But tentatively I try to do like you do: come up with a schedule I think I can manage. It used to be 5K a week. But that's kinda laughable right now.

2nd Chance said...

Well, all the windows discussion is helping me with thinking about the new laptop...if Donna can do it, so can I! Afterall, she's blond!

*snicker

Q - If my internal timer worked, I'd be fine. But it's off roasting marshmallows on the beach with my pirate muse, singing rowdy songs and drinking rum. And I have a feeling that if I would only join them...it would all be fine!

LOL!

Marn - You have a great reason. You're raising the next generation of piratehood! As Hal is incubating, she also has a great excuse. Terrio is moving...but she's still plotting away...

Donna Cummings said...

I must be toxic! Less than 24 hours with my new computer and then my internet went out! Aaugh! LOL You all might want to keep back in case whatever I have is contagious! Yeesh.

So maybe next week I'll work on that "signing in" thing. This week isn't looking all that good for new assignments. LOL

2nd Chance said...

Donna -

whispering I don't sign in. I don't sign in to anything. I'm paranoid about leaving my computer vulnerable... It's okay...

Beside, I'm looking for meaning in the CAPTCHA code. I'm thinking of it like a psychic link to the other worlds out there...

Bosun said...

You are one bat shy, my friend.

Donna Cummings said...

Chance, I'm the same way about trying to find meaning the code. LOL

And are you afraid other pirates will board your computer if you stay signed in? :)

Donna Cummings said...

She means you, Chance. LOL We were both typing at the same time, so she didn't have an opportunity to include me in that statement. :)

2nd Chance said...

Early days with computers leaves me paranoid. Hell, I've had me little Fujitsu invaded already this year by unfriendly boarders. So, yup...I am bat shy.

One of the reasons I dislike Blogger has to do with the multitude of steps one has to go through to post...unless one stays signed in. Which I am loath to do!

2nd Chance said...

And now I be off to pick up Bonnaroo at doggie daycare. Hopefully, she has had a fun-filled day of romping and wrestling with other canines and will simply collapse in the backseat...

Be back in...oh...probably 90 minutes or so!

2nd Chance said...

Oh, I know she meant me! ;-)

S'kay! I am more than one bat shy! Part a' me charm!

2nd Chance said...

Fog crawled in here on the coast...what's happening out in the rest of the country? Anyone still awake? ;-)

Bosun said...

it's freaking cold here!

Donna Cummings said...

It's wicked windy here -- we've got a nor'easter, so there's high winds and tons of rain. Thank goodness it's not snow (it feels cold enough for it!)

2nd Chance said...

Ah! Well, fog ain't so bad!