I wrote this up for Rob Kimbro, the director of Odd and the Frost Giants. He is auditioning actors and needs a rehearsal puppet.

Loki is a very simple rod puppet. He has a rod in the head, a flexible foam body, and a rod in the tail. The puppeteer stands in full view of the audience to manipulate the puppet.  Because the figure has no legs, it can play in the air without raising the question “What is it standing on?”  Or at least, this won’t be a problem if it is clearly established that the figure is “walking” by means of the movement choices. Continue reading Demo of Loki puppet for auditions

Let me explain why I like having people read along.  The other day I got a comments from two of my readers which both pointed to the same problem.  On the surface the two comments appeared to be talking about different things, but reading them made me realize that I had a structural flaw. Not a huge one, but one it made sense to fix now instead of waiting until I was finished with the novel.

I have the whole thing outlined so I know where I’m going with it. In this case, I’d planned on presenting information that the reader needed a couple of chapters later. By moving it forward, I addressed the two seemingly unrelated comments and also fixed another structural gap that no one had flagged yet.

Now, I am careful about what I stop and fix. I’m also specific with my readers that I don’t want sentence-level word-smithing at this stage. The thing I’m interested in is if the story is working.    So the things I’ll fix are structure issues like timing, motivation, info-dumping or conflict.

I only go back to fix it at this stage if I read the comment and think, “My God! This is completely right! Blind! I was blind!”  Usually when that happens, I also have a general idea about how to fix it. Please note that having the idea and being able to execute said idea are not the same thing.

In this case, however, it involved moving half a scene from Chapter 8 to Chapter 6 and fleshing it out. This made Chapter 6 an ungodly 6500 words, which is Too Long for my tastes, so I split two of the scenes out of that and declared them Chapter 7. That’s bumped all the following chapters up a number but, overall, the structure feels much better.

And now, for those of you reading along, I’ve posted the new Chapter 8 draft which used to be Chapter 7.

If you want to read along, swing by to read the ground rules.

I had a good day yesterday and today and finished Chapter 9 so posted Chapter 7.  It’s really a reward for myself for finishing a chapter, besides the benefit of being able to go back and weave things into the story if I need to.  Today’s bracket involves the color of the carpet in the Vanderbilt Library. No, I shouldn’t worry about it but my brother is at Vanderbilt so I figure he can just swing by and ask.

I also found this great photo of a geology exhibit in the Science Hall. I just don’t know when it was taken. More specifically, if there was a t-rex in the room in 1907 I am totally working that in. Hot-diggety.

Here’s a teaser of Chapter 7, with bracket.

One of the things Walker had missed, about more than anything, was the quiet hum of students working in the Vanderbilt library. Folks weren’t talking so much as just thinking real hard. It wasn’t quite the same since the fire of ’05, but the remodeling had provided a dense burgundy [check] carpet which absorbed footfalls, leaving only the whisper of pages turning. He was just glad the Science Hall had been largely untouched.

Walker had found a table tucked back in the corner behind the geology books. A doorway had been walled off after the fire, leaving a hall that went nowhere. Someone had shoved a table in there to make a study space, but since it had no windows, it wound up being too dark and stifling for anyone to want to use.

I’ll tell you, as productive as I’m being while I’m here, I suspect I should visit Hawaii more often.

For those who are reading along, I’ve just posted the draft of Chapter 6 of The Transfigured Lady.

I left one bracket in place, although I usually try to strip them out before you read. There was a holding area in some old vaudeville houses in addition to the green room. I’ve seen it when I’ve performed in some old theaters and the area shows up in movies, but don’t actually know what it’s called. I need to do more research there so I can call it the right thing, but it’s not worth stopping over.

If you want to read my draft as I write, swing by to read the ground rules.

Words and phrases looked up this week to see if they were in use in 1907.

• black market — No! Not in use until 1931. Changed from “on the black market” to “knew the right trafficker.”
• loosen up — No! It doesn’t start turning up until the mid-teens. Replaced with “unbuckle.”
• to kill time — Yes! Since at least 1751
• one up each other — No! It came into use in 1963. Swapped with “to lick”
• Hi — Yes! Since 1862
• tech or technical rehearsal — No! Not until the 1930s.
• full run — No! Swapped for “full rehearsal”
• green room — Yes! Since 1701
• Your timing is good — No.  Changed for “you have good timing.”  I know it’s a small thing, but…

I mostly stayed in today and wrote. I did a little bit of SFWA business in the morning, but nothing particularly strenuous.  The rest of the day involved goofing off, writing, and  napping.  Somehow Rob’s mom only catches me when I’m writing so has this mistaken impression that I work All The Time, which is just not true.

I did walk down to the park and sit outside to write for a bit, but that’s so relaxing it hardly counts as work. And seriously, in Hawaii, everything blooms. Even the birds.

This evening we all went out for Mongolian Grill at the Air Force officer’s club, courtesy of Mr. Kowal.  The setting is really lovely although we were a little late for the sunset. Still you will get absolutely no complaints from me.

This vacation thing. I sort of like it.

Today Rob and I headed out to have lunch at the La Mariana Sailing Club, which is one of my favorite things. It is this charming old school spot, tucked way back in a corner in a heavily industrial area. You drive past metal buildings and chain link fences, then suddenly there’s a wall of trees in front of you, through which you can catch bright glimpses of a bay.  Walk through the trees and the sailing club awaits. It is decorated in high tiki from the 40s or 50s and is a place of rattan and breezes.

There is nothing pretentious about the menu or the service, and the decorating is in earnest, not an ironic hipster nod. I adore it.

After that we went to the Bishop Museum. I hadn’t been there before and was astounded by the building.  The exhibits were also quite lovely and remind one that the native culture of Hawaii is a living one.  Also reminded me that the U.S. illegally annexed Hawaii which is easy to forget, living on the mainland.

I also got an idea for a novel, which I’ll have to poke at for a bit to see if it’s viable.

From there we went to Baldwin’s Sweet Shop for shave ice. I got lychee and green tea.  We picked up some crack seed while there which I’ve learned to like — some of them — while married to Rob.  He talked story with one of the owners who could tell that he wasn’t a tourist despite the fact that he’s been away for so long.

Then we came home and I napped.

A very satisfying day.

Hawaii continues to be lovely.  Yesterday Rob made Taro waffles and papaya with lime for breakfast. We chatted. I napped. We went for a walk. I napped. I wrote a little and then napped… you see how stressful it is to be here.

Meanwhile, in Portland, I understand that there are winter weather warnings.  I might take a nap and think about that.

Amal El-Mohtar has a very sweet post about what it was like to get “The Phone Call” that her story “The Green Book” was nominated for a Nebula.  I got to be the one who called her. She was adorable. It is one of the things I love most about working with SFWA is getting to be one of the people who make those calls.

Let me tell you, an astonishing number of writers lose their use of language.

Go read Voices on the Midnight Air – Nebula Nomination: The Phone Call.  I think she really captures exactly what that moment is like.

Why do we call people? Two reasons: The practical is in case someone wants to decline a nomination — which does happen. The one I think is more important is so that someone can share that moment and prolong it. With an email, you get it and have the wave of disbelief, but unless someone is in the room with you, that moment is very transitory. You already shift into how you are going to tell someone else your exciting news.

But a phone call.  Back when I performing regularly, I got a phone call from the president of UNIMA-USA (the American Branch of the international puppeteers organization) to let me know that we’d received a Citation of Excellence for one of our shows.

I had the exact loss of language that Amal describes but there was someone there to bear witness and let me expand the sheer joy into the world.

So, I was very happy to be able to call Amal and let her have that moment.

So, the exciting news is… that I need a new evening gown!

In all seriousness though, Shades of Milk and Honey has been nominated for a Nebula, which is an incredible honor.  Particularly when you look at the ballot this year.

• The Native Star, M.K. Hobson (Spectra)
• The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit UK; Orbit US)
• Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
• Echo, Jack McDevitt (Ace)
• Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor (DAW)
• Blackout/All Clear, Connie Willis (Spectra)

The full list of nominees is on the SFWA site. It’s a very exciting year.

We had no travel problems worth mentioning on the way here.  Rob’s folks picked us up at the airport. I’m wearing a lei.