What the title says. I've been buried under a pile of grad-school-y stuff. It's been an amazingly positive experience thus far, but certainly an exhausting one. Voluntarily I've been putting in hours that have had people in the lab I'm rotating telling me that I'm working too hard and I really shouldn't stress so much. The funny thing is that I'm not stressed at all on this score - it's the most biologically-related fun I've had since I left undergrad. Absolutely wonderful!
So wonderful, in fact, that it's been stimulating my writing. Out of the blue I started rewriting one of the most troublesome parts of Glamour - the prologue - and just today came up with a really nifty idea for short stories.
The idea stems from the fact that I know a lot about the characters in the novels that won't make it into even the first draft because it's extraneous to the plot and narrative. It helps me get a sense of the characters, and when I was thinking of writing that high fantasy novel that'd never see the light of day, those stories were what I was debating centering the plot around. But I like the story and world I've built up much more now.
But the problem with characters is that they don't shut up. So I'm walking to pick up lunch before a seminar today, and Our Hero (otherwise known as Ty) pops up in my head and starts spouting his usual schtick. And Our Heroine (Kierawyn) answers him. But - and the key here - she doesn't answer him as she would in the world of Glamour, etc. She answers him how she would if they had just met for the first time. At first I didn't even realize it was her. But Ty keeps playing with it, and goading her, and before long I understand that this is a story that I do want to tell - even if I never get it to print because it's a bunch of high fantasy fluff-romance, really.
So I'm playing out the scenario in my head and by the time I reach the place I'm going to I realize I have the perfect frame - it stems from the twist in the prologue of Honour, actually, and so the story would probably have to wait until I finished that book for people who aren't familiar with the story arc of the novels to read or it'd really spoil that, but the frame works in a very Scheherezade fashion, except creepier. And it could serve as a frame for multiple stories in that world that chronologically predate the novels. And here I thought I was done with that and moving on to something that didn't have to do with faeries after I finished the books.
In other news, I'm enjoying the latest season of Stargate: Atlantis like little else. Character moments! And backstory! And group bonding! Yay! Though I haven't seen last weeks', and won't see this weeks' for a bit. SG-1 is looking good too, though I'm sad about the cancellation.
I'm feeling less-than-thrilled over the upcoming VM and BSG premieres, though. Both shows have kind of left me underwhelmed in the aftermath of their second seasons, and the only way I was able to enjoy the Veronica Mars finale was by tossing the plot out the window and forgetting anything that even stank of continuity and cohesion. Though to be fair, I wasn't thrilled with the the first season's finale, either. Battlestar Galactica sort of went downhill for me after the Pegasus episodes, and for pretty much the same reasons. I'm not at all impressed with the commercials SciFi's been running, either.
My semagic informs me that today is
matociquala's birthday. Happy Birthday Bear!
Today is also the start of Rosh Hashannah, so if you thought that I'd be on more now that I've appeared briefly, you were most likely mistaken. Nevertheless, Shannah Tovah to all that celebrate, and may you be inscribed in the Book of Life!