Category: Ponies

Magical Tree Killing

I didn’t watch the Emmy Awards last night, but had a Doctor Who marathon instead, which means that while I may have lost some gay street-cred, my geek cred is through the roof. Aw, yeah.

The autumnal air is OUT (bringing my allergies with it…) and it fills me with warm, pumpkiny feelings. I want fireplaces! Magic! Sweaters! Magic! Halloween! Magic! Did I mention I think this is the most magical time of year?

For those of you who’ve been worried about my progress, worry not! I can pretty much officially say that the first draft of Apprentice is half-way done. I’M SORRY FOR KILLING YOU, TREES, BUT I NEED SOMETHING TO WRITE ON IN RED PEN! (PS, Mister Editor, I’m expecting those annotations soon!)

Apprentice (1-11)
254 pages of tree-killing sin.

Some Cocoa Butter, Please

So, aside from the fact that my very nicely compartmentalized heart —  mended all tidy-like from a year of therapy and some really fun drugs — has been torn to shreds in less than a week when I finally decided to let it be vulnerable again, I wanted to let you all know that contrary to my previous post, not everything in life is the utter crap-show I made it sound like. Some reasons:

  • The weather is nice and I have two pumpkins. Considering from the first purchase until Halloween I average about two pumpkins a day, the tally this year will be epic. This is key to my autumnal happiness.
  • I snapped up a 4″ Shining Armor pony (he’s kind of smexy) and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Monopoly, the latter of which is sure to provide hours of drunken amusement. Pinkie Pie will be screaming, “CANTERLOT IS MIIIIINE. WITH TWO COTTAGES, 700 BITS!”
  • I go to the gastroenterologist tomorrow. That doesn’t sound exciting, but keeping all the Bao parts in prime working order is becoming a big priority post-30. And who doesn’t love a barium milkshake!?
  • iOS 7 produces effects similar to being on mushrooms. Really. Using my iPhone is now like swiping Psilocybin AND BOOM! You’re manning the helm on the newly-designed Enterprise bridge from Star Trek.
  • Oh yeah, chapter ten turned out to be CHAPTERS TEN AND ELEVEN, which is happy news, as it’s (1) one less chapter needed writing, and (2) there’s some pretty big character development, and I hope it gives the reader some insight into some of the protagonists’/antagonists’/non-tagonists’ motivations. There’s also a big WAIT WUT? clue in there, and I hope that when the beta readers finish chapter eleven, they’re wondering about certain connections. Or lack thereof. (Beta-readers will be getting copies tomorrow.)

So, okay, that was a crummy list, and I know I’m whinging… but hey, what is an author supposed to do with his blog? Still, there are some good things to look forward to, like the new Sailor Moon musical, Downton Abbey (hope it doesn’t suck like last series), Strictly Come Dancing, and getting to level 50 white mage in FFXIV. Crap, I sound pathetic.

WELL, I LOVE MY FRIENDS.

In conclusion, reinforcing my new-found calling as Drunken Enlightened Buddha (DEB), I give you all out there a big ol’ fortune cookie of advice: never sign up to be someone’s emotional surrogate; sure, it doesn’t seem like a long period of time at first, but the stretch marks will last forever.

No More Leprechauns

Sorry about the delay in blogging!  I was swept away in a tide of St Patrick’s Day fêtes, beer-filled reunions with old school mates, a ton of great food, and meeting up with the Master of my College, St Cross, at Oxford, and some alumnae about the new addition to the buildings.  Excitement!

Subsequently, zero work was done, New York City was a massive blizzard all weekend, and now I am back to my mundane existence and feeling rather melancholy about it.

But much fun was had, and I did experience some of the finer highlights the City has to offer…

Ponies and Bubbly
Ponies, pate, and bubbles.

And…

Brian Tackles Mega
The “mega” size Sapporo at my fav izakaya.

5 Chapters, 100 Ponies

Well! Last week was jammed full of work, editing, work, editing, and not-so-much sleeping. The weekend was nonexistent, though I did manage to implement the changes suggested by my copy-editor up through chapter five of Librarian. I formatted and printed it so it would look like an actual book, and it gave me a feeling of exuberance and the drive to push forward. ROAR!

On another happy note, I crossed the 100 pony mark. Please do not calculate how much this has cost me monetarily, because I would probably cause myself great bodily harm. Expect a photo shoot of my centurions soon!

Banana Bliss Goes on Holiday

Once again, a big shout out to the kind people on Reddit who’ve provided valuable feedback and even offered to beta-read.  It’s really amazing to see such goodness in the community.

Insanely busy week here — I’m actually in the finance business when not writing — and with it being tax time and all, and taking the time after work to grow my social presence, the second part of Lenna’s arc is still in chapter three.

HOWEVER!  I’m in for a mini-vacation: heading to sunny Cali for the weekend, which means 6 hours on a plane with Lenna, a Bloody Mary (or two), and some of my new ponies.

Banana Bliss

Between Trepidation and Gigglefits

I have officially posted online the first chapter of Librarian.  Thank goodness I’m at a pub to get some liquid courage; I’m not sure I’d otherwise have the strength to click “update.”  Still, if I can’t stand the critique of my friends/family, I have no business being in this business, anyway!

Hurrah for MacBooks, wifi, and Pinkipolitans.

Pinkipolitan!
The only way to work.

Nor’easters and Alicorns Lead to Disappointment

So, as I’m sure most people are aware, another “snowpocalypse” is striking New England.  Boston is stealing all the snow from me, and I’m not happy about it.  I want a massive blizzard to strike my Pine Forest, forcing me to do nothing but cook all the delicious venison my neighbor gave me this morning (seriously, I’ve got pretty much an entire deer).

As it is, we’re slated for 1-3″ or 3-6″ — we’re right on the line — and I have a dreadful feeling it’s going to be just enough to cause a massive inconvenience but not enough to shut the office.  This makes me angerful.

Re: Librarian, my faithful critic Jimbles is giving me a chapter a day, so content-wise we’re getting there!  Also, it looks like I actually HAVE scored a copy-editor, so it’s just a matter of contract stuff.  Yay!

On a final note, I AM SUFFERING FROM DISAPPOINTMENT.  If you want to know why, read more.  SPOILER ALERT! Continue reading Nor’easters and Alicorns Lead to Disappointment

Snifflesauce.

I’ve been flirting with some flu-like being for almost two weeks now, and it’s really starting to make me want to go FLUTTERSHY on my immune system’s behind.  By the time I get over this, allergies will kick in (damn you, springtime in the forest!) and I will turn into Brian-mush.

Good news, though!  The snowy evening has forced me to update a little, with some coding help, and there are now some pony pics up in the ‘stuff‘ section of the website.  Official content?  No, not tonight.

…

I’M DOING MY BEST!