Liking the Kiera Cass vids - thanks Amy!

Amy, Kristen uses Final Draft (Tim does, too, I think it's industry standard) that is pretty helpful because it formats for you. I think you can get a free trial if you want to try your hand at it, and then you can just save as PDFs.

I've tried it, and became very hyperaware of time. It's a good exercise in word economics.

To be clear, though, it was the worst thing that happened to paper. Just awful. I had no sense of timing. It was Buffy spec, that answered the question, "how does Buffy afford all those ridiculously expensive clothes?"

As it turns out, Sunnydale has a very lucrative death industry. Aside from fortunes being made in the coffin/funeral business, it's also loaded with consignment shops, where the wealthy grieving parents of dead teenagers drop off gently used designer clothes, shoes and handbags.

A fashionista ghoul of some sort actually chooses victims by wardrobe. She kills and eats her victims, and then gets a great deal on clothes.

The idea was crappy, and the execution was worse. But I wanted to say something about the monied in Sunnydale, and that their economy was death driven. And that Buffy was somehow cutting into the profits with the slaying.

Aside from fortunes being made in the coffin/funeral business, it's also loaded with consignment shops, where the wealthy grieving parents of dead teenagers drop off gently used designer clothes, shoes and handbags.

I like this part, though! That makes sense.

Maybe I'll try that software eventually. I love to write dialogue, and I don't completely suck at it, which is one of the only reasons I want to try scriptwriting. I'm pretty sure most of my ideas are better off prose, though. And I have no industry contacts and no knowledge of how selling scripts works, so.

I have Celtx, cause you can get it for free.

I have a new short story 'The Adventures of Lloyd' written for a contest. It's supposed to be a parody of a fantasy-fiction cliche. Or cliches as the case is here. There's a bit of swearing in there.

[link]

Password is 'foamy'. I have e-reader versions there as well.

I don't know if I'll do something with it or not, hence the password protected page. I'm not sure there's a short-story market for a parody of this type.

That first story I submitted bounced back. I'm going to put it through an edit and send it somewhere else before I get too maudlin about it. I have another story out, and two getting close to heading that direction. Hoping something will make it past a slush pile sooner rather than later.

Hang in there Sox.

My short story won't likely be bounced for quite awhile. There's a long wait time where I sent it.

I'll admit I haven't been sending out queries on the novel. I'm not wanting to take the time to tweak up a new query letter when I'm rolling along so well on my current draft of Cog. I'm at 30,000 words and I'll be using the term 'steam-power gatling snow-cannon' at the end of the chapter I'm working on.

What Gud said, Sox. Send it off to the next name on the list.

Gud, it's excellent you're having so much fun with the new book.

Book ~ma, Barb!