Dreamscape Chapter One Commentary

So, here we are at another Labyrinth fanfic! I know, I really must beat my muse into submission so she stops doing whatever she likes, but until I get the courage up to do that, I hope you enjoy “Dreamscape.”

This fanfiction actually has a lot of dream symbolism in it. If you’re interested, you can look it up on your own, or I have listed the pertinent dream symbolism below. My sources were “Dream Moods A-Z Dream Dictionary” (http://www.dreammoods.com/dreamdictionary/) and The Dream Encyclopedia by James R. Lewis (2002, Visible Ink).

• Canyon: represents your hidden emotions and feelings. It may point to emotions and relationships you did not recognize.
• Bubbles: merriment, childhood joy; the bursting of one’s bubble means disappointment.
• Sunglasses: poor perception in a given situation; pessimism.
• Elephant (riding): you are in control of aspects that once caused you fear.
• Acrobatics: a need to balance one’s life.
• Bees (being stung by): you feel as if you have been wronged by someone
• Swimsuit: feeling exposed or, if comfortable in the swimsuit, at ease and relaxed.
• Pool of water: you need to acknowledge and understand your feelings better.

The glasses Sarah was wearing (glam, lip-shaped, purple sunglasses) were taken from these as inspiration:

I have to admit, I find them pretty snazzy. I wouldn’t mind having a pair of those, even if I’m not sure I could pull them off.

Story Outtake/Edit: I actually envisioned Sarah in a monokini at first, something like this, which clearly had a “top” and “bottom” attached. I mean, that’s the only type of monokini I knew. Then I learned that a monokini originally meant that a person wore a bottom part of the bikini without the top! Suddenly, the scenes in chapter one took on a whole new meaning. I decided, just to avoid potential pitfalls, I’d change the monokini to a bikini.

Also, the “official” song for this chapter — the one I listened to the most when I wrote it — was Nero’s “Promises.” Sometimes, a particular chapter just matches a particular song. I just liked the longing in Nero’s voice in this one, seemed to fit.

Is it July already?

I know, I’ve been absent. What’s been happening to me? Mostly work and writer’s block. My muse has been very difficult to get working, and oftentimes it’ll flit back and forth between projects, adding a little on “Candies & Pumpkins,” then adding another few paragraphs to “Seeded Dreams” before heading to “The Clockwork Heart,” and so on, and so forth. Sometimes, my muse gets an idea and pursues it, before going to something new. I’m sorry for the frustration; I’m trying the best I can. Please be patient with me.

My new life

I know, once again, I’ve been absent. I have a good reason, though. It all started in August when I found a new job. Suddenly, I was working 50-60 hours a week! That didn’t leave me much time for writing, much to my chagrin (writing is a wonderful stress outlet, and boy could I have used the time for it). Then, my father-in-law suddenly passed away. After that bit of shocking news, my husband went to the funeral (I couldn’t afford to go, nor did I have the time off work). Now, it was the beginning of September and when my husband came back…he asked for a separation. Now, I won’t go into details because…well, they’re too painful and private. Needless to say, the end result wasn’t only a separation; it will most likely be a divorce. As I juggled a new job, I suddenly had to ask myself where I wanted to be in life. Our lease was coming up and we had already asked about another place, but that wasn’t suitable anymore if we were separating. So, in two weeks, I had to find another apartment. And in four weeks, I had to move into that apartment. My life basically fell apart around me and I had to build it back up, brick-by-brick.

Now, I’m living alone in a beautiful one-bedroom with a view to die for. Was the end of 2010 difficult? Yes. Am I still grieving for the numerous losses I suffered? Yes. But I think I’m coming back. And, you know, I feel stronger for it. So yes, CQ is back, and she’s back with a vengeance!

We interrupt this commentary for a brief news update…

It’s been a few days since my last Red Thread commentary. I’ve been busily trying to edit my manuscript. I’ll try to get the next commentary update finished ASAP, but just didn’t want anyone to think that I’m disappearing again.

I spent today at a coffee shop which a friend of mine co-owns. It’s nice to have a friend who can slip you the occasional free cup o’joe. A writer’s dream come true, I tell ya. The photo above is from the coffee shop and includes a peek at my writing journal (I put all my story ideas, rewrites, etc. in there). Today, I ended up having to rewrite 90% of a scene, which ended up being a huge amount of work. I didn’t get as much page count down as I’d like, as a result.

Tomorrow, I’m heading back to a coffee shop. Dependent on my schedule, I may head to the same one again (unfortunately, it’s across town). I’ve found I get much more work done if there’s less distractions and if there’s one thing aplenty in my apartment, it’s distractions…

The Red Thread Commentary: Part Two

This is the second part of the commentary for The Red Thread. You can read the first part here.

What is the commentary? It’s kind of like an “Extra Features” thing on a DVD. Join me as I delve in, explaining how my writing process went, how I came up with certain ideas, what I was trying to do with scenes, why certain things happened, and pointing out references I might have made to pop culture/literature/movies/etc. Hope you enjoy!

(All of my added commentary will be in this text instead of the usual one)

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have about The Red Thread and I will answer them! Just leave a comment! Now, onto the main attraction…

The Red Thread Commentary: Part One

So, I’ve read a few fanfics that include commentary from the author and I find the commentary pretty interesting. I think I’ll indulge in the same thing for my own fanfics, once I complete them, kind of like an “Extra Features” thing on a DVD. Since I have finished The Red Thread, it’s time to add some commentary! Join me as I delve in, explaining how my writing process went, how I came up with certain ideas, what I was trying to do with scenes, why certain things happened, and pointing out references I might have made to pop culture/literature/movies/etc. Hope you enjoy!

(All of my added commentary will be in this text instead of the usual one)

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have about The Red Thread and I will answer them! Just leave a comment! Now, onto the main attraction…

What has CQ been up to?

So, I’ve been absent again. But, here’s a quick run-down of everything I’ve been doing:

• Finding a job — and I finally found one! I start in August and it’s a pretty difficult and frightening prospect to actually be doing something that I majored in. I now have a career; I went to college for this. But, it’s going to be a lot of work transitioning into the job. I’m trying to finish my writing obligations before it starts.
• Editing my manuscript. I finished a novel and I need to edit it before July 9th. My critique group is taking a break for the rest of the summer and I want to get the finished manuscript to them before we all part, that way they can beta read it and when we reconvene, they’ll have my critiques for me.
• Working on The Red Thread, a Labby fanfic that came to be suddenly and demanded I write it. I’ve finished it, although I’m editing the last chapter.

Yes, you heard right. I’ve actually finished one of the fanfics. The Red Thread actually is a pretty ambitious project, since I ended up infusing it with a lot of nuances I didn’t really have the time to explain further. I have been reading a lot of fanfics with commentary from their authors and I’m thinking of posting the same, kind of like an “Extra Feature” thing. That will start tomorrow, so if you’re interested, I encourage you to join the mailing list or RSS feed so you’ll know when new blog posts are uploaded.

Had a job interview today…

…which took every waking moment of today to prepare for, instead of finishing editing the last bits of “The Red Thread,” and tomorrow I have to clean the whole apartment for a lunch thing with friends, and the day after (Wednesday), I have the said lunch thing in the early afternoon and then a critique group in the evening. Yeesh!

So, unless I get some time in the evening, expect the last update for “The Red Thread” on Thursday. I’ll even try and remember to bring my laptop to the social security office so I can type while I wait (I need a new SS card).

New Fanfiction: The Red Thread

I’m writing a new Labyrinth fanfiction called “The Red Thread.” It’s rated T on FFnet. The synopsis is: Sarah wakes up to find herself back in the ballroom with only the Goblin King for company. What is she doing here after all this time? Is it a dream? And what will happen between the Goblin King and her? Will it lead to heartbreak–or something more surprising?

I came up with the story one day and it just kept insisting I write it until I finally sat down and pounded out part one. Liking where it was headed, I decided to post part one and continue. I think I should have the whole story finished by mid-week, also I think it’s going to have four parts. Originally, I thought I could finish the story in three, but I’m thinking it’ll need four parts now.

Check it out and leave a review telling me what you think!

Sometimes reading romance is no help at all

I’m kind of pissed off at a romance novel I read recently. I don’t read romance novels often, so maybe I’m out of practice or just don’t know how to “get into them,” but this one made me kind of angry. I like historical novels, I love Jane Austen, but I find historical romance novels usually exemplify everything I think would be horrible about living in a by-gone age. This particular novel had a heroine who was basically sold, like chattel, into a marriage. She wants an annulment, to begin with, but her husband decides he doesn’t want to give her one.

And that was the tone of the whole story. Her husband kept mentioning how she was his wife, which meant she had to ask for his permission to do anything. He then goes about seducing her and of course, eventually, she falls in love with him (for no other reason then the orgasms, it seems to me) and all is hunky dory in the world. Oh, although her husband still controls her, she still has lost her inheritance to him, and he can still be a possessive jerk-wad. But, in the last 10 pages of the book, I suppose the author realized that she’d better make this guy likable to a larger majority of readers, because she makes him realize he’s fallen in love with her (that’s why he wanted to “seduce” and “ravage” her, because if she lost her virginity, she’d have a harder time asking for an annulment). So, I’m left with the feeling that I’m supposed to assume he won’t be a jerk-wad now because he lurves her. That he’ll stop all the mentions of basically owning her and all that because he’s thinking with his heart.

Yeah, excuse me while I gag on a spoon.*

But, reading these books reminds me occasionally reminds me why I write the way I do, especially romance scenes. No matter how much historical times can seem glittery and impressive, no matter how much a reader might love steam punk, costumes, etc., the simple point is that we’re not in a time period before women could vote. I can see the value of a historical novel that is made for its accuracy, but what’s so bad about occasionally having a historical romance with a really kick-ass heroine? More importantly, what’s so bad about having a romance where the heroine is in charge of her own sexuality? It always seems like the man must be so much more worldly, so he can introduce the woman to her own sexuality, and then it becomes this bargaining chip between them (in this novel, it was worse: she blatantly used it to get what she needed from him–and he encouraged the behavior!). Not only that, but the romance seems to stem from love of sex, not love of the person. Any good lover could make that heroine “cry out in wanton passion,” that doesn’t mean she should love him. A woman who knows about her body, her sexuality, and what she wants is sexy. And a woman who knows all that and knows what she wants in a lover and mate is even sexier. And a woman who knows all that and isn’t afraid to say it makes me smile every time. I’d rather read a book like that any day of the week. And I don’t think the woman has to be a slut to be like that.

Anyway, that’s my opinion, which is why my heroines are rarely, if ever, going to be meek virgins. Sarah will never cow-toe to Jareth. I want them to be equally matched; that was always an appealing aspect of the story. In my opinion, Jareth expected her to be bowled over by his charisma, his otherworldliness, his special trousers (oh, you know what I mean ), but she manages to hold her own against him in that final scene…the one that could have cost her everything…because despite temptation she remembered the words.

*And if you are wondering why I kept reading despite really detesting this guy so much so that I skimmed over the “ravaging” scenes (the whole point of reading romance, in my opinion), it’s because I don’t like making final decisions about books until I’ve read them. I have to find a book REALLY bad to put it down unfinished (ironically, the last time I did that was with another romance I picked up somewhere, except this one was less purple prosy about the manipulation of the hero. He outright raped her, but you know, she liked it in the end).