I am in Antarctica!!!!!!!!!

We’ll see if I can get into a regular blogging schedule, but for now here is quick summary:

 

I am in Antarctica!!!!!!!!!

 

 

We are 20 hours ahead of MST -- so for me it is the next day, but four hours behind. (GMT +12 for those of you who are counting).

 

Arrived in New Zealand on December 1st. Remained there until December 6th poking around Christchurch and waiting for the weather to clear so that flights South could resume. Arrived at McMurdo Station on December 6th. Went right to work, touring the sites and helping with tests. Didn’t get to unpack until about 9pm.

 

Having a busy week and adjusting to the environment, culture, work pace, food, etc.

 

Sharing a room with a friendly janitor from Wyoming. This is somewhat lucky as one of our team members who arrived in October is stuck in a 5-person ‘temporary’ room. But not that lucky as another colleague has had a double all to himself since the day he landed.

 

Have only showered twice since arriving.

 

Have been too hot or too cold much of the time, though I am starting to get used to it (and I’m learning when to wear what).

 

Spent one day working on a ridge with no shelter, 40 mph winds, and temperatures around -4 C with a wind chill somewhere around -19. It was cold, but Big Red (the program issued extreme cold weather parka) kept me comfortable so long as I had my back to the wind.

 

Spent another day mostly in the office (boo!).

 

Today’s highlight: took a midnight hike -- since it is 24/7 daytime and tonight was clear-skies with almost no wind, I took late night hike out to Hut Point (a short hike). Saw a couple seals, watched a C-130 take off and looked over the original hut Scott built here in 1902. It is a protected historic site so we cannot go in or tamper with it. The oddest oddity there is a bundle of old ropes and canvas topped by the desiccated corpse of seal. I have no idea what the story of this detritus heap might be, but there is a chance it is from the original expedition (a 100 year old seal carcass -- yay).

 

 

3 interesting things:

1. Up until 1972, the station’s power came from a 50’s era nuclear power plant. It was removed in the early 70’s due to a requirement in the Antarctic treaty that allows any signatory to inspect equipment on the continent. Not wanting to share proliferation technology, they removed it.
2. Water + volcanic fines + cold = concrete. Watched an excavator trying to trench through fines (loose volcanic rock). It was making good progress when it hit a patch where water had penetrated forming ice-crete. The excavator only managed to chip away a couple inches over the course of an hour. He finally gave up -- they will need heavier equipment to break through the ice layer.
3. Burger night -- it’s a big deal here. People line up 30-40 minutes early, standing outside (freezing) to get their $3 burger at Gallagher’s Bar.

 

So you want to be a writer?

• First, write.
• Second, write well.
• Third, write often.
• Forth, get feedback.
• Fifth, revise, revise, revise.
• Sixth, submit, submit, submit.
• Seventh, grow a thick skin.
• Eight, mediate on patience.
• Ninth, continue until your find success (or you die...whichever comes first).

Congratulations. You are now a writer.

Colorado Gold writer's conference

This weekend I attended the Colorado Gold writer’s conference put on by the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Yes, practicing what I preach. Here are my thoughts on conferences:

• Attend at least one professional conference each year. The experience and contacts are well worth the time and expense. (check)
• Attend at least one fan convention each year--learn what your market is reading, talking about, tired of. (planned for October)

Colorado Gold was a great experience. Met a ton of interesting people, recharged the writing batteries, learned new tricks, picked up new books, added several new authors to the ‘must read’ list, and had the opportunity to pitch Zombie Proof Fence face-to-face.

The pitching fascinated me. There was both a formal pitch appointment, and informal pitching. In the appointment, I had ten minutes to catch the interest of an agent. There were editors on hand as well, but each attendee was permitted only one appointment and I chose an agent. The pitch went fine, far more low-key and conversational than I expected, and the agent asked to see more (wahoo).

The informal pitching involved talking to other attendees about the book. This gave me a rare opportunity to talk about the book, the characters, the world, why I chose the subject, and how I tackled the project. In my day-to-day life this almost never happens. This part surprised me because so many people were not only interested, but positively bubbling with enthusiasm.

My biggest surprise of the conference came when people I had not talked to started to approach me, asking about the book by name. A stranger knows the name of my book? And cares? Wow. The first time, I thought it was a fluke. But it happened again, and again. Buzz? Whoa. I hope (fingers crossed) that the buzz reached some of the industry people who were there.

Status - September 6th

Writing a lot, but most of my work has been on side projects. Mixed feelings about this. While it is fun, lets me try some new things, and builds up some marketing collateral for ZPF, it is slowing down production on Forbidden.

• Finished one ZPF spin off: Soma
• Worked on ZPF book 2 outline.
• Worked on ZPF spin off told from the dog’s POV.
• Reading up on graphic novel writing, illustration, etc.
• Submitted short stories that were collecting dust on the shelf.

This puts me about 2 weeks behind plan for Forbidden, but I am feeling productive.

Write-a-thon Day 9 --> The End

Worked at Coffee shop in am, library until pm

• Solid day -- very productive
• However, all the work was on projects other than forbidden:
• Rough draft of Soma -- short story in Zombie Proof Fence universe.
• Novel pre-work for 7-facts
• Extensive character sketches for 7-Facts
• Blogging
• Sketching for blog
• That added up to a solid 6320 words

 

Results: Success!

• 84.5 hours (beat goal by 4.5 hours)
• 36,632 words
• A bit low on the word count, but a lot of time was spent reading old material and organizing.
• Major progress on Forbidden, and did work on 5 other projects.

Write-a-thon Day 8

• Worked at the library
• Marked-up sections 3,4 and 5
• Finial analysis:

          > Throw away 40% (old Academy setting and related material)
          > Rewrite 25% (opening and several key character interactions)
          > Survives more or less intact 35 %

• Outlined first month at workhouse, though many details are sketchy.
• Added to introduction.
• 4239 words
• From here: back to the beginning to fill in gaps and make required updates.
• Sadly, tomorrow is the last writing day, then it is back to the hour or two each evening. Ahh, sweet productivity, how I will miss you.

Write-a-thon Day 7

Very productive day.

• Worked at the library.
• Drafted new scenes in section 1.
• Re-plotted introduction to the Cogs, and shifted that sequence from Academy to Workhouse. Most of Section 2 will need re-done (30K words).
• Changed Mal’s backstory substantially, he now has a driving need to help kids at the workhouse.
• Also sketched out a Captain Nemo short story (one of those ideas from nowhere).
• Total of 5985 words.
• Getting tight--only 2 more write-a-thon days.