Due to a severe injury I was unable to do any work this week. I tried to convince R to take photo evidence of what I'm sure was a near-fatal wound, but it was decided that it was simply too horrific and gruesome to document (so you can tell Rotten.Com to back off because I won't cave in to internet blackmail!). It's a miracle that I'm still alive.
I have a scrape on my forearm. There are five parallel lines scabbed over measuring approximately � inch long. If that wasn't debilitating enough, THEY'RE SITTING ON A FADING BRUISE. The middle of my pinkie finger also got some action, leaving another couple of scratches on the skin. Overall, I'm lucky that I still have use of my arm, because, as far as scrapes go, this one is EXTREMELY HARDCORE.
'I have this scrape,' I've been announcing for the past several days, sniffling and pointing at the yellow-red abrasions on my arm. You'd think that within four days I would've flogged saying so to death, but you'd be wrong. After every tearful proclamation comes a wave of concerned sympathy from R, culminating him kissing the spot and me shouting 'EW, WHAT THE FUCK, DON'T KISS IT, YOU'LL GET GERMS ALL OVER IT AND I'LL DIE OF LOCKJAW' (maybe he could use it as an excuse for not paying his taxes, hey, it worked for Thoreau!).
Ill-fitting clothing was the cause of my close brush with death. I absolutely refuse to retire a pair of pants that are so big they keep falling off, and they've now become a health hazard. The flaps of material around my ankles got caught beneath a pair of oversized flip-flops and I dangerously pitched over the threshold of the door towards a flight of steps. The only thing that saved me was I bracing myself against the car and an abrasive wall.
Anything could've happened if I tumbled down those three, unforgiving concrete steps. A concussion, a broken spine, complete and total paraplegia. I was lucky that day, and live to tell the tale (and the tale begins with 'I have this scrape...'). R said 'those pants need to go'. I protested, 'BUT THESE HAVE SENTIMENTAL VALUE, MY RECENTLY DECEASED MOTHER GAVE THEM TO ME' (the first part is bogus, the second part is true.) It may take another death-defying stunt to convince me.
God's clear favoritism aside, I'm currently taking it easy. After writing several months worth of updates in a short space of time I was on the verge of feeling burned out. Fall's always represented a period of getting back to work for me, so I decided to go on a mini-vacation until September. I'm still around and still updating the site once a week, but I'm not pressuring myself to get anything significant done when there are still days I can continue working on getting skin cancer topless.
Having said that, THIS is the best time to get in contact with me. Usually I'm too fucking busy working to reply to email, so, as some of you already know, R's had the dubious honour of acting as a filter for me. Seeing how I'm taking things easy for the rest of the month your chances of getting a proper response go up exponentially. Besides, I like putting names/personalities to email addresses, it gives me a sense of the perverted masses that read my writing.
So, if you've ever been tempted to send me a note this is the time to take the plunge. Contrary to very popular presumptions I DO like receiving letters, provided you've read through my FAQ and DON'T DO WHAT I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO. I ALWAYS look forward hearing from readers and visitors, especially when characters are involved.
Nothing makes me happier when I receive an email from a person going on about their favourite character or one of the stories I've written. I even welcome suggestive letters from seasoned readers - as long as it's in a format like 'I really like character X, will you be writing with X in the near future, if not, could you try?', and NOT 'I think it'd be good if you had X do X, or X do X with/to X'. (Please let me reiterate that I won't acknowledge or act on any suggestions of the second sort, ever, so please don't send me any.)
Speaking of narrowly missing death...
This week's story is narrated by Vienna, the non-ghost ghost girl who also had an unexpected encounter that left her sort've dead for a while (see how I flawlessly worked that in?). I'm sure having your entire family die and then spending ten years trapped in the house you grew up unable to communicate with anyone or anything is bad, but...I HAVE THIS SCRAPE.
During my ten character challenge a reader wrote in requesting to see Vienna again. I had all but forgotten about her (I'll stress yet again how hard it is keeping up with 60+ characters), so I was impressed by the suggestion and quickly added her to the supernatural list that also features Liberty, Mert, Ostia, & Valda. Even more recently she managed to snag second place in the public 'which supernatural character would you like to see next?' poll, which was another surprise.
I remember writing this, and I remember having a difficult time with it. It was written in the middle of the night after I downed five cups of instant coffee. It was one of the last stories written during the prolific period that spanned May/June and it was like pulling teeth to write (wasn't in the mood for it, uncomfortable with the character, and really fucking tired of writing in general.)
R mentioned that there's an archaic feeling to it, which was intentional - ha! At this stage Vienna's still a relatively new character and I haven't settled on her personality; I have an idea where it's going, but it'll take another several runs with her before I make up my mind.
I've been meaning to write this story for months so I can get ready to introduce a third character in the Daniel/Vienna saga. Old Time's Sake kind've sort've deals with grief (much like Abberlaine's Until Sleep), but there wasn't a conscious effort to address it in relation to my own situation. The connection is incidental, but probably strengthened by losing my mother recently.
I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen to Vienna. Currently I have larger, more urgent projects that require my attention, so characters who have little to no connection with them will be on the back burner for a while. As with most ideas I prefer to give them a chance to mature before I really begin working with them; characters within the Benway Bunnies and Band groups have been around for years, and have an advantage when it comes to character and plot development. Eventually Vienna will be in the same position, but it won't be happening anytime soon. Then again, she's dead, so it's not like she's going anywhere anyway.
To read Vienna's new story, Old Time's Sake, click here. Or you can develop your interest in necromancy (don't like, you're interested!) by summoning the Misc. Sexy Girls link (pst, it's within the Fiction section). Sacrifice a virgin or goat (or a virgin goat!) and you'll find Old Time's Sake under the 2005 header. Vienna's other two stories (Vienna & Breakfast) are further down the list.
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