Your Friday Funnies

Today's Friday Funny is courtesy of Evecho and is especially for the benefit of my editor friends.

WHY SENTENCE STRUCTURE IS SO IMPORTANT

The boss had to fire somebody, and he narrowed it down to one of  two people, Debra or Jack. It was an impossible decision because they  were both super workers. Rather than flip a coin, he decided he would fire the first one who used the water cooler the next morning.

Debra came in the next morning with a horrible hangover after  partying all night. She went to the cooler to take an aspirin.

The boss approached her and said: "Debra, I've never done this  before, but I have to lay you or Jack off."

"Could you jack off?' she says, "I feel like shit today."

5:06 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Where I’ve been

Hi all - or anyone who still checks in here. This is the first time I've been able to get back into MySpace in about a month.

We had fun at the Lesbian Festival, except that it was really - really hot!  I'm not sure if I should be out for revenge against the Low Riders MRC or thankful to them...they paid to have four tries at dunking me in the dunking booth..  I went into the water twice.  Although I think secretly Mike (Spectrum MRC president) is largely responsible for that.

Vicki and I got to meet and hang out with Linda Crist for a while. We'd actually met her a couple of times before but hadn't really talked or anything. She's very nice and may be riding with me in the truck in the Dallas Pride Parade. 

Oh yes, and I got another tattoo while I was there. It's a dragonfly, pretty much lifesize and realistic looking - like it had just landed on my arm, wings still spread. It's shades of teal with a little bit of yellow highlights.

As for the Pride Parade this year, only Spectrum members and sponsored guests can ride with Spectrum MRC. That's because of some events that happened last year involving fines we had to pay because of the actions of some non-Spectrum members as well as some Spectrum members. Stacey and MG, you are more than welcome to ride with us and I'll make sure you are sponsored. Still the same requirement of wearing a Spectrum tee-shirt though.

On the writing front, I finished the Editing Class offered by Reese, Stacia and Evecho. I must say it was well worth it!

For anyone who writes and is interested in getting a 'prompt' to spark the muse, I have a Live Journal community where a weekly writing poke is provided. Actually there are two 'pokes' and you can use one or both.  You don't post the story there, it's just something to get you started.  It can be found at: Writing4Fun

For anyone who is (for some unknown reason) interested in keeping up with me or at least read the Friday Funnies...you can still find that at my Live Journal: JRosestar

Yes, I know there is a running Live Journal theme going on here, but LJ is the only site I can still get into at work. *keeps fingers crossed they don't block that as well*

I'll be back in here when I can.

12:54 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

my limited access and The 2nd Annual Lesbian Festival

I'm having trouble getting into MySpace - if you want your Friday Funnies and/or to keep up with me, you can check my Live Journal - http://jrosestar.livejournal.com/

*I'll be there all day...just look for the woman with the bright red hair hanging with the motorcycles.

July 26th in the pay parking lot behind the Cedar Springs clubs 3009 Throckmorton, starting at 3pm Spectrum and Sue Ellen's will host the second annual Lesbian Festival with live bands, food and fun. Dunking booth, water sports and other activities to keep you entertained all day and evening. Proceeds to benefit the Resource Center and Rocking for rescue. Pre sale tickets are on sale at Sue Ellen's bar for $10 or $15 at the gate.

On the main stage from 6-8pm http://www.sarahbettens.com/ with bands starting at 3pm.

Opening band will be Ciao Bella. Followed by Kathy Corbin, Anton Shaw then Sarah will close out the show with a near 2 hour set. If you have not heard these bands, you should... they are very active in the community and do a great job of playing music and singing.

6:45 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Whew! and something fun, cause I missed last week’s Friday Funnies

Whew! This dial-up thing is difficult. It's taken me two hours (really - cause I started when Vicki left to go downtown at 7:30) to just review my friend requests. Posted to Spectrum-MRC's My.Space page. I am NOT going to go back and find the link to insert it here...that will take another 15 minutes, and I'm tired! If you're curious, just check my Friends section, they are 2. (I think - not going back to check that either.)

It's only for a while. We will be getting dsl sometime. But, since they've cut me off at work this how it will be for now. I promise to still keep up the Friday Funnies - except they will be posted either Thursday night or Friday night.  Bare with me...or is it bear with me? I'm guessing Vic would probably prefer if ya'll do the 'bear' with me part.

Now for the fun stuff I promised. Well - it is fun if you're a writer, editor, geek, nerd or some such creature.

7:26 PM - 4 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Writing status update

Last night I rewrote "Coffee Break" for submission to:

Market: Two from Cleis
Kathleen Warnock is now accepting submissions for Best Lesbian Erotica 2010, to be published by Cleis Press in Fall 2009.
deadline is April 1, 2009

Not that I'm overly thrilled with Cleis, or at least one of their editors who uses a variety of names, but I need to start submitting stuff again.

The edited version of "Coffee Break" comes in at just over 1,000 words. The call for submission said 5,000 max, but didn't list a minimum. Is about 1,100 words okay for a short story, or should I try to expand it?

I cut a lot because it's about voyeurism...and if you're watching, you don't know what they are feeling or thinking. DUH! I had to make sure that it only includes what the main couple can see and hear. Of course what the main couple thinks and feels are most definitely included.

Made a lot of changes based on things I learned in that recent editing course:

Watched for lots of word re-usage
Eliminated unnecessary adverbs

Vic also made sure there were no continuity problems - like the two main characters having to wear hardhats to enter the back warehouse area...so the other two had to have had hardhats (and clothes) somewhere.

While I certainly don't profess to be any kind of expert...I can see the difference between the amateurish early draft and this more polished version. The new one flows smoothly. The first one is choppy. I can't explain it, but I can feel the difference.

On the Shadows status - I had decided last night that...since it's just sitting on my shelf waiting for the rewrites, perhaps...just for the hell of it...I would submit it to Bywater's Annual Contest. But when I went to their website today I see that:

1 - it is a minimum of 60,000 words and I believe that Shadows is just slightly shy of that.
and
2 - they (now?) charge $20

I could go back to the ... d.r.e.a.d.e.d ... Shadows and rewrite it again (it will have to be done sooner or later anyway) to add a couple thousand words.

Well heck - for that - if I'm going to rewrite it, I may as well submit it to another publisher.

I originally submitted it to BSB and it was rejected. They kept it for quite a long while, something like 14 weeks. Of course, it was the holidays. But, perhaps, they kept it longer because they really were considering it???

I was going to write back and ask what I could do to make it more acceptable for a resubmission - they used to say that if you followed their advice, often it would be accepted the 2nd or 3rd time around. But I read (somewhere) that Rad, or one of her staff said they stopped doing that because they then saw those same books (rewritten using their advice) published by someone else.

Dang! I'd really like to rewrite it and resubmit it to them - but I'm not sure what they didn't like. I got a pretty standard thanks but it doesn't meet our current needs. Okay - so does that mean you're just not in the market for a lesbian romance with comedy, reincarnation, vampires and stalkers at the moment? Or ever? Or does it mean "go away dummy?" Or does it mean that if I reworked the story and made the stalker/darker side of the story more intense, and perhaps wrote better they might reconsider?

Of course, all this happened back in January or February. So even if I did write back now - they wouldn't remember it anyway.

Perhaps I should concentrate on the rewrites of "ABBIC." But those are going to be EXTENSIVE rewrites. Basically I'll be keeping the same main characters and they will have the same backgrounds. The story will now start when they meet. It will still have the woman/dressed as a man/dressed as a woman story line. There were be some strong secondary characters. The ending will have just a touch of "Josey Wales." It's going to require a totally new outline.

On the up side...I DID do something writingly this weekend!
Go me!!!

7:20 PM - 4 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

An actual post about writing! (and a call for submissions)

I was thinking about "ABBIC." Where should the story start? Does it really need to start with going through their lives before? Or should/could it start when they meet?

I started thinking about Branded Ann. That story starts when the two main characters are just about to meet. Yet each of those main characters have backgrounds as complex as the two main characters of "ABBIC." One of the things I enjoyed about Branded Ann was learning about the MCs background as I went along. I found that kept me reading as much as anything else. I wanted to know what backgrounds led them to where they were.

That technique could work quite well for "ABBIC." I just have to watch how I mix in their history - I don't want to do too much "telling." I think I need to get my copy of Branded Ann back and start studying it!

I also have been thinking seriously about POV for that story since I took that editing class. (Thank you stacia_seaman, reeseszymanski and Evecho! While most of the books I read seem to have both MCs with pretty much equal POV, Branded Ann spent the majority of the time in Branded Ann's head. (if I remember correctly - it was something like 80 to 90%)

merryshannon Don't worry about my lending it to her - she has already said she's buying both of your books when she gets stabilized. Her and her partner just adopted three (yes - 3) children ages 1-3. And I hope you don't mind me using it for a study guide. If/when "ABBIC" gets published, I promise to give your book credit!

BTW - If anyone wants to jump in here and offer suggestions regarding ways you've incorporated back-story into the main story PLEASE feel free to do so.

erotic_authors

6:12 PM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Friday Funnies

I'm not sure if I'm blocked out of My.Space at work, or just what is the problem. I don't get that "blocked" message I get on some screens. But I just haven't been able to access it in a week. AAAGGGGHHH!

And now, a little something to share with all of you. Those of you who are in my age group will probably enjoy it the most. This was emailed to me by a friend.

7:46 AM - 0 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Where to find good lesbian fiction

People often ask me where they can find good lesbian fiction. Well, here's your answer...mostly copied from stacia_seaman. Is it plagarism if I tell you exactly who I stole it from?

Second Helpings, volume two of Read These Lips is out! You can visit the Read These Lips blog here. Also, for those of you on LJ, you can add read_these_lips to your friends page. Here is the official release notice:

Second Helpings from ReadTheseLips.com arrives with more stories and an expanded scope. In our new anthology, incredibly talented writers explore what it means to be lesbian and, in so doing, add definition to our lives and loves.

Please welcome in Second Helpings the enduring pens of Lee Lynch and Marianne K. Martin; the award-winning insights of Nicola Griffith, Susan Hawthorne and Ruthann Robson; the dynamic voices of Erin Davies and Lorenza Martelli; and the diverse contemporary adult fiction of Ovidia Yu, Fran Walker, Stacia Seaman, Lois Cloarec Hart, Robin Alexander, Fletcher DeLancey, Jac Hills and C.C. Saint-Clair.

Second Helpings is now available to download from ReadTheseLips.com.

But wait, there's more!

To celebrate the release of Second Helpings, we are giving away a free e-book courtesy of Spinifex Press! All you have to do is send us a picture of Second Helpings in a funny or unusual location. (Nothing dangerous or X-rated please, as the winning pic will be posted on our blog.)

Click this link to view Spinifex Press's range of e-books.

Send us your picture and your contact details by 31 July in an email to info@readtheselips.com, with the subject line: Photo contest. One picture per entrant.

The winner will be announced the week after.

Enjoy the book.

Evecho and Linda Lorenzo, Editors.

7:40 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

GCLS Finalists

MySpace Comments

7:00 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Guess what I did...and Your Friday Funnies

As you all should know by now, I love riding with Vic on her motorcycle.

Because of my bad hands, I cannot ride a motorcycle because I can't do all the hand motions required with shifting gears. But - scooters are automatic!

Still, I'm not sure I will be able to use a scooter. There is a Basic Motorcycle/Scooter course which provides you with the use of a motorcycle or scooter to take the class. Also, upon successful completion of the course, you get to waive the driving portion of the MC licensing process.

Yep - I've signed up to take a class. I will be taking it with a friend who will be riding a motorcycle for the course. EEEeeeek!!! The course isn't until the middle of July. (Yeah, I know - great time to take a riding course in Texas!)

Okay - and now

10:23 AM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment