wherein Liz is extremely annoyed at "Secrets"

I hate chapter 12 of "Secrets" right now. See, for pacing reasons the chapter cannot end until I get through a certain scene. The trouble is that that scene will take at least 1,000-1,500 words to do properly -- it's the climax of the action/mystery half of the story, and while it's not one of the two emotional climaxes, it's certainly important to the character-based plot thread -- and the chapter is already 11,150 words long.

I refuse to let any chapter of "Secrets" go over 12,250 words at the absolute maximum.

Clearly, I have extensive editing in my future.

...

That's not a completely bad thing, since chapter 12 is currently very flabby (it suffers from being written so piecemeal over such a long period of time), but it is incredibly frustrating to realize that at least a thousand of the words I have pulled out of myself with such difficulty will have to be thrown away.

---------------

On a completely different topic, I am debating whether to go to work dressed as a low-key vampire, or to pull out some old family crosses and go as a half-breed vampire hunter. Either way, fangs and long red nails will be involved. Also lipstick.

And this year I'm not going to get sick and stay home! :-)

wherein Liz is extremely annoyed at "Secrets"

I hate chapter 12 of "Secrets" right now. See, for pacing reasons the chapter cannot end until I get through a certain scene. The trouble is that that scene will take at least 1,000-1,500 words to do properly -- it's the climax of the action/mystery half of the story, and while it's not one of the two emotional climaxes, it's certainly important to the character-based plot thread -- and the chapter is already 11,150 words long.

I refuse to let any chapter of "Secrets" go over 12,250 words at the absolute maximum.

Clearly, I have extensive editing in my future.

...

That's not a completely bad thing, since chapter 12 is currently very flabby (it suffers from being written so piecemeal over such a long period of time), but it is incredibly frustrating to realize that at least a thousand of the words I have pulled out of myself with such difficulty will have to be thrown away.

---------------

On a completely different topic, I am debating whether to go to work dressed as a low-key vampire, or to pull out some old family crosses and go as a half-breed vampire hunter. Either way, fangs and long red nails will be involved. Also lipstick.

And this year I'm not going to get sick and stay home! :-)

3 unrelated things: Halloween costumes; smoke shop news; trick-or-treaters

1. The fangs would not stay in. :-(

Fortunately, I had a mostly empty tube of dark, dark red lip gloss stuff, so I improvised as a vampire victim instead. It worked fairly well... though if I try that costume idea again next year, I think I will use nail polish, which is less likely to keep rubbing off and needing reapplication every couple hours.

---------------

2. JG is no longer working at the store. The official reason is scheduling conflicts. Apparently when PM asked him if he would be able to work 4-9pm on Fridays, he said "School comes first," which is not an answer, but is a pretty good indication that he wouldn't have been able (or wouldn't have bothered) to get in early enough. It's also a good indication of how cavalierly he views any real life job.

Seriously, I don't care how stupid and pointless the job is. If people are relying on you to be there (and paying you to be there), you show up on time, you follow the rules, and you do your damn job. If you can't manage that minimum, don't take the job, because you are just going to cause your coworkers grief and wind up fired anyway.

Argh. This is basic common sense. How do so many people reach adulthood without learning these things?

---------------

3. I got home around 7pm and immediately noticed that, although my landlords had left out a basket of candy, they'd forgotten to turn on the porch lights, leaving everything drowned in darkness and very uninviting. So I flipped all the lights on and brought down my own candy basket to sit beside theirs at the top of the steps.

Despite the BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS BASKETS, I am still getting kids ringing the doorbell every twenty minutes or so.

Clearly a lack of common sense is not just a problem for young adults. *sigh*

3 unrelated things: Halloween costumes; smoke shop news; trick-or-treaters

1. The fangs would not stay in. :-(

Fortunately, I had a mostly empty tube of dark, dark red lip gloss stuff, so I improvised as a vampire victim instead. It worked fairly well... though if I try that costume idea again next year, I think I will use nail polish, which is less likely to keep rubbing off and needing reapplication every couple hours.

---------------

2. JG is no longer working at the store. The official reason is scheduling conflicts. Apparently when PM asked him if he would be able to work 4-9pm on Fridays, he said "School comes first," which is not an answer, but is a pretty good indication that he wouldn't have been able (or wouldn't have bothered) to get in early enough. It's also a good indication of how cavalierly he views any real life job.

Seriously, I don't care how stupid and pointless the job is. If people are relying on you to be there (and paying you to be there), you show up on time, you follow the rules, and you do your damn job. If you can't manage that minimum, don't take the job, because you are just going to cause your coworkers grief and wind up fired anyway.

Argh. This is basic common sense. How do so many people reach adulthood without learning these things?

---------------

3. I got home around 7pm and immediately noticed that, although my landlords had left out a basket of candy, they'd forgotten to turn on the porch lights, leaving everything drowned in darkness and very uninviting. So I flipped all the lights on and brought down my own candy basket to sit beside theirs at the top of the steps.

Despite the BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS BASKETS, I am still getting kids ringing the doorbell every twenty minutes or so.

Clearly a lack of common sense is not just a problem for young adults. *sigh*