Write-a-Thon 2011, Day 32: movin' right along

(LJ is still sucking wind--for me, anyway. YMMV.)

New Words: 1,096
Current Total: 29,342 words
Goal: 43,008 words in 42 days



Breakdown: +583+513 on two drafts of this week's 512 story, which is set in the same world as the novel-in-progress.

I know, I'm a little behind. I'm hoping to finish my novel breakdown/re-outline tomorrow (Thursday), and maybe even get some rewriting in. This weekend's going to be a wash, since we have friends visiting from out of town, but DeeAnn's away on business all next week, so I'll have no excuses for not hunkering down and finishing the rewrite.

Wish me luck. And donate!

No quote today; just go read about The Cruelest Hoax.

Write-a-Thon 2011, Day 31: over the hill

(LiveJournal is still down. WTF?)

New Words: 991
Current Total: 28,246 words
Goal: 43,008 words in 42 days



Breakdown: +509 on the novel breakdown, +482 on notes for this week's 512.

It's now week 5 of the write-a-thon, and apparently I'm one of the top ten fundraisers. Who knew? But I'm still at less than 60% of my stated goal ($512), so if you haven't donated yet, please consider doing so--soon!

http://www.theclarionfoundation.org/writeathon/wrtn-writerpage.php?writerID=6880

In other news, I teamed up with Angela and friends for Geek Trivia, and we didn't suck. I contributed to both rounds with my obscure knowledge of Knight Rider and Star Trek VI, respectively.

"Writing is 90 percent procrastination: reading magazines, eating cereal out of the box, watching infomercials. It's a matter of doing everything you can to avoid writing, until it is about four in the morning and you reach the point where you have to write." -- Paul Rudnick

SnoutCast #75: "P4 Debrief"

In which two-fifths of the Puzzled Pint Pub Progression (P4) Game Control (GC) recap the event!


[ Download mp3 - 23 MB ]

00:59 - "puzzled"
02:23 - P4 or "pub crawl" or whatever
04:20 - Ana's location puzzle
04:58 - locations and timing: Produce Row vs. Hair of the Dog
07:48 - NOT talking about Ana's "icebreaker" puzzle
08:19 - DeeAnn's "ropes" puzzle
09:32 - Matt's trail mix puzzle (a.k.a. "Hike")
12:12 - more locations: Green Dragon vs. Cascade Barrel House
13:00 - Curtis's "singalong" puzzle (s'mores)
17:18 - Vic's meta-puzzle, at Roadside Attraction
21:19 - things which went wrong, but not too badly
23:20 - PuzzleHuntCalendar.com, etc.
25:03 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "A Talk with George" by Jonathan Coulton

[ Subscribe to SnoutCast / iTunes link ]

 

Friday Flash Fiction: "Rescue Gone"

Inspired by a recent re-watch of VOY "Message in a Bottle." This, too, will someday grow up to be a longer story, but first I have to finish a damn novel. #writeathon

Read "Rescue Gone" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #74: "Ancient History"

Oddly enough, the shows where we don't prepare well are the ones that tend to run long. Like, um, this one. Sorry?


[ Download mp3 - 35 MB ]

00:59 - "historical"
02:01 - in which DeeAnn does not do her homework
05:04 - Treasure Island
06:25 - The Last of Sheila
07:49 - the Sondheim connection
10:56 - Midnight Madness: from Los Angeles to Florida
13:57 - BARF: The Game comes to Stanford
21:06 - the 1990s: going to Microsoft, and the "modern era"
24:30 - other Game and puzzle traditions; where do we go from here?
30:23 - the current state of full-weekend, overnight Games
33:43 - primary sources at snout.org/game
35:40 - check out PuzzleHuntCalendar.com and Puzzled Pint!
37:55 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "The Future Soon" by Jonathan Coulton

[ Subscribe to SnoutCast / iTunes link ]

 

Friday Flash Fiction: "Players"

Yes yes yes, I am working on turning this one into a longer story. And by the way, the original idea came to me--as so many of them do--in a dream. Go subconscious!

Read "Players" at 512 Words or Fewer

SnoutCast #73: "Listen, Do You Want to Know a Secret"

In which we catch up on some listener mail, and the cats duke it out nearby.


[ Download mp3 - ?? MB ]

00:00 - Teaser: literal catfight
01:53 - "perennial"
02:07 - Happy Birthday, Puzzled Pint!
06:02 - Listener Mail: who gets the double bonus points from last week?
08:01 - Listener Mail: does it really belong in a museum? and what is "inside baseball"?
12:24 - Listener Mail: more follow-up from WHO Game Seattle
19:29 - coming soon: Game history, Dan Egnor interview, BANG 28 debrief, and more!
23:37 - You, too, can sponsor Curtis in the Clarion UCSD Write-a-Thon 2011
26:13 - DeeAnn receives some interesting e-mails
27:48 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "I'm Your Moon" by Jonathan Coulton

[ Subscribe to SnoutCast / iTunes link ]

   

Friday Flash Fiction: "Drive On"

Some musical accompaniment for this week's story:


http://youtu.be/5CtEvMIImOc

Read "Drive On" at 512 Words or Fewer

ALSO: please support me in the Clarion UCSD Write-a-Thon!

SnoutCast #72: "Haiku Raisin Quest"

Double bonus points (and possibly a small prize) for the first commenter to correctly explain what the title means! Because that would indicate you had also actually read these show notes. :)


[ Download mp3 - 31 MB ]

00:58 - "aquatic" plus Brent and Linda Holman
01:49 - why do the Shinteki Aquarius Remix?
03:18 - what changed between the 2004 and 2011 events?
05:10 - who played in the Remix?
05:48 - any surprises the second time around?
08:26 - differences between the two Remix weekends?
10:09 - how much work was the Remix vs. a completely new event?
15:56 - expectations, activities, and puzzles
19:40 - the new hint system
23:16 - what's next for Shinteki?
28:39 - upcoming events on PuzzleHuntCalendar.com, including the Puzzled Pint Pub Progression (7/23, PDX)!
30:05 - support Curtis in the Clarion UCSD Write-a-Thon
33:12 - The End

Got a comment or question? E-mail podcast@snout.org or post at snout.org/podcast!

Music: instrumentals from "Code Monkey" and "I Crush Everything" by Jonathan Coulton

[ Subscribe to SnoutCast / iTunes link ]

   

Game Canada

Below, an excerpt from the Official Rules for a current Holland America cruise line sweepstakes. My emphasis:

"If the potential winner is a Canadian resident (with the exception of Quebec, residents of which are not eligible to enter this sweepstakes), he/she will be required to answer unaided a time-limited, mathematical skill-testing question by telephone before the prize can be claimed."

Apparently, in Canada, you have to be good at math to win stuff. Who knew?

P.S. Happy Canada Day, everyone!

Friday Flash Fiction: "Everybody Loves Lawyers"

At this rate, you may be able to read all of this novella in flash-sized chunks before it's actually published anywhere. See my LiveJournal for more background.

Read "Everybody Loves Lawyers" at 512 Words or Fewer

(Previous excerpts: "Who's Your Daddy" and "The Ties That Bind.")