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September 17th, 2006

12:41 am - under the knife Tomorrow, Sept. 18th, I'll be having some long awaited surgery on my shoulder. Doc says (barring any complications, of course) that I'll be able to come home tomorrow afternoon. My right wing will be in a sling for a while (like I need *another* excuse to sit around watching horror movies, ha). So wish me luck and an easy recovery. I'll post back as soon as I'm able. Work-wise, I've been going through the 2nd draft on serial killer novel, tentatively titled: VEX. 120K words so far. I've tried four or five times so far to get back into the island novel I was working on (and I keep thinking, 'my god, it sounds a bit like LOST,' which I love but don't want to simulate in any way). I may have to put it on the backburner until LOST plays out its final season. Thing is, I've been enjoying the show so much, I don't want it to end. And I really don't want to see it fizzle down like THE X-FILES (another show I loved). Well, enough babbling for now. Take good care and send some vibes my way for tomorrow. One-armed hugs to all, ~T Current Mood: calm Current Music: Pink Floyd--Dark Side of the Moon

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June 26th, 2006

08:56 am Fi-nal-ly... It's been a long while since I last posted here at LJ, or anywhere else for that matter. Last December, I tripped in the kitchen and mashed my shoulder on the edge of the countertop, resulting in a painful tear in the rotator cuff. Thing is, I'm still hurting and the orthopedic doc is sending me to a shoulder specialist. Along with the ripped rotator cuff, I've developed arthritis in the fingers and thumbs of both hands. Screaming rusty joints, a writer's real nightmare. But hell, I'm not here to whine about my health (or lack thereof). Nope, I'm here to share a long sigh of relief. It's done. It's finally finished, the project I've been pouring my heart into this past year and a half. 1,500 pgs. 500K words. Biggest damn beast I'll ever write. Title: Gray's Necronomicon As you've guessed from the name, it's a book of the dead. My dead, to be exact, and well, probably some of yours, too. I took every ancestor I could trace and went as far back with them as I possibly could, then I did the same for their spouses, and what emerged from my 20 odd years of research stunned me. It would be a shame not to share it with everyone! The sheer magnitude of the history is amazing. Where we came from. How we came to be where we are today. What our forebears went through to get us where we are today. Those persecuted for being Quakers or executed for witchcraft in the new world, to those who struggled through bloody wars in the old, it's all there. The good, the bad and the ugly. The only things I've omitted are the names of the living, for the living have no place in a book of the dead. In Gray's Necronomicon, the dead speak and the stories of their lives unfold and come alive. If some of your ancestors immigrated to America in the 1600s, you may find some of them in this book. This is more than just a genealogy; it's a history of a big part of the human race from the early 1900s in New England to the faraway lands of Mespotamia and Egypt. The cradles of civilization (of which I believe there were several actually: Africa, China and the Middle East, but then I've been told I have my share of strange beliefs, heh). Of course, the ancient records are dubious and prone to legend, but I think there must have been some seed of truth to them. And yes, they're also included in Gray's Necronomicon. For anyone who's interested, Gray's Necronomicon is a PDF download, 26 MB in size, for $2.99 at www.esnips.com/web/Necronomicon . And no, esnips is not a publisher, it's a place to share or sell computer files (one of the better, safer ones, IMHO). I could have gone the Lulu route, as this book is self published (due to it's bulky size and the type of book it is), but with esnips, 100% of the earnings go directly to the author. And I keep all my publishing rights. Well, it's 1:30 a.m. here on the Maine coast, a misty old night and so humid you could almost drink the air. Time to head to bed and dream about the groaning critters that shuffle about in the fog. Tomorrow, it's back to dark fiction writing for me. Yay! Current Mood: peaceful

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April 22nd, 2005

09:40 am - Long time gone... I've got to be among the worst journal keepers at LJ. Thing is, I think I've figured out the reason why: I really feel uncomfortable talking about myself and whatever's going on in my life; I prefer to keep things private (or at least semi-private). Not that I have secrets to hide...well, okay, a few, but nothing really outrageous or illegal. (Most people wouldn't even consider them moderately interesting, lol). And that's okay with me. Am I unfriendly? Unapproachable? Heck, no! I really enjoy making friends and meeting people. Especially other book lovers. Especially other writers. Why? Because writers understand each other on the level in the way we're wired; we connect with our world through the written word. It's all about passion and the unstoppable, undeniable need to communicate in this manner. Only another writer knows about the trance, the high, and the uncompromising demands of the Muse. So if I don't write much in this Live Journal, it isn't because something's wrong. I do have a health problem that puts certain limitations on how much I can get done in terms of writing, but thankfully, it's not life threatening...and if it's to be the least of my worries, I can live with that. At the same time, I want ya all to know I'm in awe of the writers here at LJ who are prolific in both their postings and in their writing careers. I love reading your entries! You guys and gals really rock--and I'd love to meet you all in person! Bear with me, I'll continue to post here sporadically :-) ~T. M. Gray Current Mood: peaceful Current Music: Rolling Stones--Some Girls

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December 2nd, 2004

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November 25th, 2004

09:54 am - In the spirit of giving thanks... I'm thankful for every day, waking up beside the guy I've been in love with since 1980, for sharing every part of my life with him, and for the two children we made together. I love you, Bob, more than words could ever say. Thank you for the love you give to me. Tom and Robyn, you kids are my world and it's a real honor to be your mom. I'm thankful for the love of friends old and new, the ones I can physically hug and the ones I send cyber-hugs to. I'm grateful for the genuine pleasure of meeting several of my internet friends in person. Only wish I could meet all my online friends like that, but I give thanks to the groups where I've had the opportunity to make such friendships: e-groups: Underside and THWN, and message boards: Damned, Wicked Carnival and Shocklines, not to forget LiveJournal as well. I regret not posting very often but if you saw my writing schedule, you'd know I'm online only a few minutes everyday (if I'm lucky). Heartfelt thanks to the publishers of my novels and the staff working for them: Rob, Todd, and Karen at Black Death, Walt at Hellbound, John Helfers at Teckno, Deb Brod and Tiffany Schofield at Five Star/Gale, and special thanks to my guardian angels: Brian Knight and Rick Hautala, also Ed Gorman for pointing me in the right direction. You folks are the best! Thanks to my readers, too--I love hearing from you! Your opinions on my books matter greatly to me; you're the ones I'm writing for. Sure, I write for myself, too, but you're the reason I send something out to an editor/publisher. I don't see the writing factory in my head shutting down anytime soon (God forbid!)--and you guys know where to find my stuff. Thank you for buying and reading my books. Your letters and emails keep me going! Last but not least, I want to thank the great teachers I was lucky enough to have in school (waaaay back when): Mrs. Strout, Mr. Davis, Mr. Mills, Mr. Monroe, Mr. Marshall, Mrs. Lyons, Mr. Smith, Mr. Townsend to name a few (there are many others--and yes, I still address them all by Mr. or Mrs. in respect for their time and efforts in teaching). I was never a pet student; I was the quiet one sitting in the back, scribbling stories in my notebook...but I paid attention when it really counted. Thank you all for showing me the basics, from taking notes and doing outlines and research to inspiring me to really work at writing better. Teachers rock! There are a billion things I'm thankful for, including the great family I married into. Because of your love, I am truly blessed. I'm also thankful for living in a country where dreams can be achieved (thanks to those, both military and civilian, who have defended freedom in the past and those who continue to defend freedom). Hats off to you! May everyone reading this have a terrific Thanksgiving. We're breaking with tradition this year and having homemade lasagna and my famous hot buttery rolls...there are parades on the TV, so I'll go join the kids on the couch. Who knows, I may even take the whole day off, lol. Cyber-hugs, ~T. M. Oh, p.s. the first advance review of Ghosts of Eden has come in (5 shining stars at Amazon!): *********** After five years in a mental institution, Saxon Faraday returns home to Roquefort Manor in Bar Harbor, Mount Desert Island off the coast of Maine. It is not a happy homecoming for the twenty-three year old woman because her father is dead, killed by Saxon in self defense and her mother is in Florida with no plans of seeing her troubled daughter. That is bad enough but she returns home knowing she must still battle the Serpent, an evil entity, who has made the house a magnet for ghosts and spirits. The Serpent is very much aware that Saxon has come home and is waiting to capture her soul along with the other seven he has in his possession. He is ready to molt and transform himself and he needs Saxon to make his metamorphous complete. Saxon is stubborn and intends to go to war with the Serpent; she has two allies to help her, a mentally challenged sixteen year old and a man nearly a century old. If they lose, Earth as people knows it will never be the same. GHOSTS OF EDEN is a very scary horror novel, one that would easily make a great movie. Readers hearts go out to the heroine who suffered so much yet is still willing to battle an evil older than time. The action starts almost from the very first page and continues at a breathtaking pace until the bittersweet finale. T.M. Gray has talent and will one day be one of the superstars of the genre if this book is any indication. Harriet Klausner ************ Thank you, Harriet! I'm so glad you enjoyed the novel! ~T. M. Current Mood: thankful

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November 3rd, 2004

08:42 am - November It's been a while since I updated, but at least it's been an interesting time between journal entries. Through the month of October, I continued to experience internet connection problems. I'm talking major headaches (connection speeds of 8K bps, getting bumped offline, line busy, etc.). Finally, it got to the point where I couldn't log onto the statewide toll-free dialup number and could only check my email once or twice a day using a toll number. I tried calling the company to report the problem, but no one was answering the phone. Then their toll number stopped working, so I made the call for a new ISP through a different company with a better service. Got it. Things are working better than ever and I'm very satisfied. My heart goes out to the folks with the old company who paid for their internet service months in advance. Word has it that the office at the old company has been completely cleaned out. Office furniture gone. I guess that would explain why they weren't answering their phones. I voted yesterday. I had a bad stomach ache, but I made it out to the polls. I vote every time there's an election, not so much in the belief that my vote really counts but because I have the freedom to vote. My dad fought in Normandy on D-Day, and he was fighting for that kind of freedom. My teenage son cast his vote for the first yesterday...and it made me proud as a mom and an American to see him do that. He knew the issues on both sides of the ballot as we've had many (and I do mean many) discussions in our household over each candidate and what they stand for, and it's been interesting because ours is a bi-partisan household in that my husband and I each supported opposing sides in the presidential race. No fighting or arguing went on as we respect one another's opinion, but it made for some interesting political discussions and fortunately our son listened to the issues we're concerned about. I don't know who he voted for (I respect him too much to ask), but I'm positive that he was very aware of why he was voting and the issues he was voting for. Cheers to all the young people who voted for the first time yesterday! The ARCs (Advance Reading Copies) for Ghosts of Eden arrived last week from Five Star/Thorndike--and I'm sooooo impressed! The coverart is beautiful, the typesetting perfect. I've poured through the novel and haven't found any corrections to be made. I'm anxious and excited to see this book in hardcover come January 21st! My teenage daughter just finished reading an ARC (this kiddo reads everything she can get her hands on--and she insisted on reading it). She called Ghosts "amazing and deep." Coming from a 13-going-on-40 reader, that's quite a compliment, especially since the novel takes place in 1947 (an era she used to consider "kind'a boring"). Now I have a feeling she's going to be looking for more novels that took place in the 40s :-) Halloween came and went. We sacrificed a pumpkin and carved a raven sitting on a skull into it in memory of Poe. Had six trick-or-treaters, and watched some old horror movies on the VCR. Also watched 'Witch Hunt' on The History Channel, an indepth look at the Salem witch trials. So sad it tore at my heart, but very well done on part of the researchers and film crew. If you haven't had the chance to watch it, keep an eye out for the next time it comes on. I can't recommend it enough. On the writing front, the screenplay for Mr. Crisper is finished and is being shopped around. I'm hard at work on my Isle of the Dead novel, and as always a handful of shorts. Back to work for this kid. Have a great day, everyone! ~T. M. Current Mood: calm Current Music: The Guess Who: Greatest Hits

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September 2nd, 2004

08:44 am - I'm baaaack! It's been a frustrating past couple of weeks, connection-wise. Verizon in Maine did some padding upgrades on their lines, which made it difficult to get online during that time. If I managed to make a connection, I couldn't keep it for more than a few seconds before getting bumped offline. It seems to be working better now; proof that I'm actually able to post again, answer emails, etc. Funny how we depend so much on the internet, isn't it? I'm a real johnny-come-lately to new technology; bought my first computer with a modem in 1999. I remember staying up until the wee hours of morning, surfing around, amazed--no, transfixed, literally--by all the information and sites I could find, both good and bad, some well-constructed and some not. I found writers/artists/publishers/BB sites and made like-minded friends  (many still keep in touch). My horizons expanded; I've done much more traveling online than I could ever do in a lifetime offline, in person. It's so good to have the internet back up and running...but the time without it made me wonder what we'd do if the World Wide Web (God forbid!) ever shut down. I'm talking total blackout everywhere. Could it happen? I dunno, but just in case, I'm going to create an address book (one I can hold in my hands) of all my pals so we can keep in touch by snail mail. Am I being paranoid? Maybe, but having something to fall back on can't hurt, can it? Of course, if the internet goes belly-up for any reason, it would probably stand to reason our phones wouldn't work either, so we couldn't depend on those. Would the post offices face problems, too? Who knows. Our world might go from being quite small and compressed to being the huge planet our ancestors were familiar with, at least in terms of communication. I remember a time when postage stamps were 7-cents each. I think if there were a communications blackout, the 37-cents we're paying now isn't anything compared to what stamps could cost. It would be unreal, wouldn't it? This is just a fragment of what could be affected if we lost the internet. What about banking? The media? The economy in general? Scary thoughts there. While we're thinking scary thoughts, I just found out one of my few non-fic pieces, Slippery Little Devil, has been accepted for the next issue of print mag, Morbid Curiosity. Yes, I'm going to share with MC subscribers a real life horror I experienced in 1995. This is something only my closest friends know about, but I really feel the need to make others aware. If it can save just one person from going through the same thing, it'll be well worth it. (It's something totally unexpected, something that should never happen, and there are ways to avoid it.) Well, I'm off to catch up on some email, read posts at a couple of my favorite hangouts, then work some more on Devil's Dream, the novel I'm currently writing. Hallow House has gone out to my first readers, then goes off to market. I'm listening to Now-Is-Now's new CD, Days of Summer. Excellent songs, fantastic lyrics (hi to Mitch, and a big thank you to Dave!). Friends in Florida, take good care of yourselves out there; looks like a rough one coming. Keep in touch, ~T. M. Current Mood: good Current Music: Days of Summer--Now Is Now

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July 23rd, 2004

11:09 am - Computer horrors--don't do what I did! I've been reading up on browser/email viruses, trojans and worms...and being the paranoid person that I am (or at least try to be), I decided to make the switch from Internet Exploder and  Outlook Not-So-Good to Mozilla's Firefox and Thunderbird. Why? Because they're a bit more immune to security probs, bugs, and most all other nasties out there. Plus, they have extras you can option...like the one I'm using now: Deepest Sender. (I logged into LJ from my new Firefox sidebar--and am typing this here, not from the Update Journal page.)  Of course, I won't know how well it works until after I post it, so this is an experiment. I like Mozilla so far, but I spent all last night until 4:30 a.m. cursing Mr. Gates' evil ingenious--and myself as well for being SO stupid as to uninstall Internet Explorer from my computer after installing Mozilla. (Not that Moze needs IE in order to operate--but rather Windows needs IE--and dummy here didn't know that.) I found, at least on my computrid, that without IE, I was basically locked out of making any changes whatsoever to how my computer runs. Forget using the Control Panel--it vanished, along with all its folders. Couldn't right-click on the desktop either. Well, I could but all I kept getting was a message (I think it must have been from some prison warden type program dwelling inside the computer) telling me I did not have the authorization to do that. Huh? What the hell do you mean I'm not authorized to right-click my own desktop? I don't need a system administrator--I AM the system administrator, well, at least of this system. Or I thought I was. Now I'm quite convinced that Gates is the devil incarnate and he infected Windows with the demonized bastard IE. No exorcism can be performed. You are not authorized. Fortunately, I've got System Restore, and I learned enough from the last time I had to use it to put anything I didn't want to lose (mainly my writing stuff) in the My Documents folder. (System Restore won't touch anything in that file.) Because I'm lazy and didn't want to have to download Mozilla again, I put those progs into My Docs, too. Then I took the red pill just like a good girl. At 4:30 this morning, my computrid is back to its normal self, Windows is working fine, and my Control Panel is back where it should be. Oh, and I can right-click again, too. Word to the wise: if you're running Windows and change browsers/email programs don't uninstall/delete/otherwise maim or distress Internet Explorer. You don't need to use it; your computer does. It's like feeding and watering the damned gremlins after midnight. Don't do it. It'll be messy. I do, however, recommend Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird. There's a small learning curve to using them, but not bad. Moze's Firefox is a tabbed browser like the new Netscape (but has LOTS more features to chose from). Thunderbird keeps the addresses of your email contacts in a separate file (making it very hard for viruses to write themselves off to your pals), so that's a nice touch, too. Well, it's 11 a.m. and I'm going back to take an early siesta. I've got a major case of red-eye, and I'm wiped.... Current Mood: exhausted

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July 19th, 2004

09:17 am - Another July update: Waiting for the June issue of Scared Naked Magazine? According to editor A.B., it's running a bit late but will be out soon. My contest winning tale, Morning After will be in the June issue (along with stories by Keith Gouveia and Diana Bennett), so don't miss out on reading one of the most depraved stories I've ever had the pleasure to write! Dream Forge book reviewer horrordiva has written a review of my upcoming novel, The Ravenous. Thank you, Nancy--so glad to hear you enjoyed the book! Scrolling down the page, I found a review on Compositions for the Young and Old by pgtremblay...and now I simply must buy his book! His publisher, Prime Books has published books by Mort Castle, Jack Fisher, J.F. Gonzalez, Victor Heck, nihilistic_kid, nick_kaufmann, Brian Knight, Michael Laimo, and many more. Check 'em out! On Friday, my ARCs of Mr. Crisper arrived in a nice big box on my doorstep--very cool!--and right now there's a contest over at The Damned forum, where if you post in the 'Win MR. CRISPER' category, you're eligible to win a copy of the novel. Contest ends July 23, so don't miss out! What else is new in Grayville? Well, hubby turned 43 yesterday, and we had a nice BBQ dinner. Later on, I watched The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan on SCI-FI. Not sure I really got it, but I do think Night wasn't particularly pleased with the documentary. I guess what bothers me is the general conception that something's weird (read: wrong!) with people who work in the horror genre. If that's the case, then there must be something wrong with everybody. We all have secrets to keep, don'cha think? Have a great day, folks! ~T Current Mood: good

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July 11th, 2004

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June 23rd, 2004

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May 26th, 2004

12:51 pm - ...no signs of slowing down Last week I went over the final edits from Hellbound Books for Mr. Crisper. The inside illustrations I sketched for the book turned out 'wicked good', and I'm pleased to say, it won't be long before Crisper hits the shelves. Fact is, advance orders are being taken at Shocklines as well as Barnes & Noble online. This week, more final edits: Ghosts of Eden and The Ravenous are both back from the publishers (Five Star and Black Death Books) for a last read-through before going to press. Everything looks fine so far; the cover art for The Ravenous came in today and I posted it to my site. You can view it here: T. M. Gray's site. (I tried posting it in LJ, but all I kept getting was that annoying little box with the 'x' in it.) Assuming you took a look, cool, eh? Many thanks to Majik and Keith. You guys rock my world! Let's see, what else is up...well, after I get done with the final edits, I have to write a story for an upcoming antho (as I promised to a friend), then Hallow House gets a good going over. Aside from editing, I have managed to watch 'Colonial House' on PBS and that was interesting as some of the scenes in Hallow House occur in that time era. As interesting as the program was, you couldn't pay this kid enough to live like that, uh uh, no way. (This unruly gal would have likely run off to join a Native American tribe! Like a lot of folks, some of my ancestors were natives, so chances are I would have fit in...albeit my luck, probably as their slave, heh heh) Oh hey, before I forget: cukecumber slices work wonders for tired eyes. I've been using them a lot this week. Late lunch is over. Cukecumber and mayo sandwiches, yum. No, not the same slices I used on my eyeballs, lol. Back to work for this kid.... Current Mood: calm Current Music: Goo Goo Dolls: Dizzy Up the Girl

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May 11th, 2004

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May 10th, 2004

09:35 am - well, yeah...if there's blood involved (grin) You're a Mystery writer! What kind of writer are you? brought to you by Quizilla

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May 9th, 2004

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April 8th, 2004

12:02 pm - Spring has sprung? Well, maybe...yesterday the last of the snow on my front lawn melted away and has essentially turned to muddy dead grass. Temps are up in the 40s now. Sweeeet! This poor neglected journal. I really should be better about updating it, I know. I've been so busy that this is the first time I've come up for air in a couple of weeks. Here's what I've been up to: Hallow House has reached a length of 75K words, which is nice but it's still not nearly finished. It's taken a ton of research into some very interesting places: Jewish Pseudepigrapha, Haggadah, Kabbalah, etc. along with the writings of Sir Laurence Gardner. As with most things, I realize the more that I learn, the less I actually know...and the more I am driven to learn more, hence the endless cycle. Aside from writing, I'm working on illustrations. Some very cool news: Scrybe Press is going to publish the Book of Monsters anthology, edited by C. Dennis Moore. BOM contains my psycho killer story about a young model who meets up with a rather disturbed artist in 'Colors of Murder'. A Halloween release is anticipated. Also heard from Black Death Books with an acceptance for my short 'Where Secrets Fester' for their anthology The Blackest Death, vol II. This story is about a social outcast who gleans certain information from the things that people throw away. Also sold a book review to the Book of Dark Wisdom print magazine, which will be published in issue 4 (Sept.). Did I mention spring cleaning? I've no idea why I take part in this annual ritual (I keep my house comfortably clean throughout the year--I'm no neat freak, don't have time for that-- but surely this surge of 'must scrub down everything with Spic-n-Span mentality' must be something genetic? Hormones, maybe. Funny how no one else in the family is stricken with this affliction, isn't it? One gripe, no biggie, though. Doesn't it just figure they moved Kingdom Hospital from Wednesday nights to Thursday nights, just opposite CSI: Crime Scene Investigation? Now why the heck did ABC do that? Doesn't it make sense that the same general group of folks who are interested in KH are also CSI viewers? This means I'm going to have to tape CSI in my son's room while watching KH in the living room. I know, I could wait for the CSI reruns...but most of my patience is used up on waiting for replies to submissions. Lunch break is over, back to work for this kid.... Current Mood: working Current Music: Gordon Lightfoot--Gord's Gold

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March 8th, 2004

07:32 am - HH update Pink Floyd What Classic Band Are You? brought to you by Quizilla *** I've finally finished the POV redo on Hallow House, and from here on out it's full steam ahead. With any luck, the words will come fast and furious, and I'll live ala Danielle Steel (whose books I do not read at all) in sweat pants and tee shirts, existing on caffeine and nicotine (down to 5 ciggies a day now and holding strong.), forgetting to eat meals, etc. This happens with every book I write, and I'm pretty sure it's some kind of writer-magick-transcendental-obsessive thing. 'Open a vein and bleed,' said writer Red Smith (paraphrased). Local weather says it's not snowing today. Well, I know what I see with my eyes when I look out the window near my desk. That's fluffy white happiness coming down from the sky, uh huh. Oh, before I forget...I started reading The Rising by Brian Keene last night. Excellent zombie novel--it takes off at a gruesome lumbering gallop and so far (I'm on page 91), there's no sign of slowing down. I love page turners! Okay, so now the sun is shining and it's still snowing. Devil must be spanking his wife or something. Time for my daily bloodletting on Hallow House, which now stands at 40K words. By most calculations in word length 40K is at the low end of novel length. It's less than halfway done; I'm anticipating it will be somewhere in the 90-100K range. I am about to hemorrhage; I can feel it coming :-) ~T

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March 6th, 2004

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February 28th, 2004

10:02 am - Games we play.... Last week I gave in to my secret indulgence and purchased Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. Confession: I'm a HUGE Tomb Raider fan, thanks to my son who got me hooked from the very beginning with the original Lara Croft game back in 1996. I've played every game in succession and enjoyed each one (with the exception of the horrid ending of The Last Revelation)...that is, until AOD. While the storyline of AOD is compelling, and for the first time you get to talk/interact with many characters throughout the game, unfortunately Angel of Darkness for PlayStation 2 was waaaay too glitchy for my enjoyment. Time spent (wasted): 16 hours. Game froze: +20 times. Saved game erasure (game froze during 'Save'): twice. After the first loss, I played it safe and saved in two slots. Some of the new features included the ability to belly-crawl and to walk about in 'sneak mode'. Both were slow but workable. Other new additions: time-limit for hanging/climbing, and the introduction of a new male character, which takes Lara's place for a couple of levels. All was cool except while in sneak mode, Lara tended to sink into walls, ending up in some kind of strange, turquoise dead space where she could walk, run and jump, but there was no earthly way to get her back into the actual game. At one point, she fell from a high ceiling beam into a room below and couldn't get back into the upper room (where she'd come from). Frustrating to say the least. Not to mention the loss of weapons she'd accumulated at another point in the game...including the machine gun I'd worked so hard to get. Now I could understand if she'd been captured and her weapons were removed (as in previous games), but in this game, none of the kind happened. Online, I did a code search and found one for level changes, enabling her to skip/select a level. This is always a last resort, but was the only way I could get to the end of the game. Not that the bosses were hard; quite the opposite, they were nearly harmless, but the awful sequence of glitches made game play next to impossible. Did I mention frustrating? Cool storyline, though. The graphics and puzzles were well done (except the characters still had blocky hands), and it was fun exploring around and talking with the other characters when I could chose Lara's responses. By the end of the game, though, I'd had enough, and returned it to the store's used bin for resale. I felt a little guilty losing $11 on the game, but I learned a lesson from this experience. I don't know if it's the same for other versions of the game, but for PS2, AOD seemed to me as if it had been rushed out, not given quite enough testing before being put on the shelves. Don't get me wrong, Eidos folks, I love Tomb Raider, and I'll buy the next one that comes out because the games are fun and I like the stories. Just please, please, pleeeease test more thoroughly for glitches in the future. I'd have gone apeshit had I bought AOD for full price when it first came out instead of waiting for it to go half-price. On my budget, $50+ is a lot of money for a game, yes indeedy...and $25 is too much for a buggy game. Frustrating, you betcha. Okay, end of rant. One horror game I highly recommend is Konami's Silent Hill 3 for PlayStation 2. Great game, eerie playing atmosphere, excellent story and monsters with backbone. Well worth the money. I left a short review of SH3 at Horror-Web; here's the link if you want to read it: http://www.horror-web.com/reviews/YaBB.cgi?board=Console;action=display;num=1068655714 My son just bought the latest Resident Evil game, and it looks very interesting, good-n-creepy. I haven't had much luck playing the RE games; my fingers are just too slow, but it's fun watching Tom fight the zombies. More entertainment: Books. For me, that's really where it's at. I finished Deep In The Darkness by Michael Laimo, and what a good read that was! Michael has a great way of evoking heartfelt empathy for his characters and draws the reader into their situations right from the start clear through to the end. DITD is the story of a doctor and his family who move from the city to a remote, rural area to become participants/victims in the utter strangeness going on there. No spoilers here--there's A LOT more going on in this book than a mere 'who done it?'. Highly recommended reading! I also purchased the 16th Annual Edition of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. Tons of good information on last year's genre offerings, and a slew of short stories. I've been skipping around the book, reading them at random (not in order), and the ones I've read so far are very entertaining, proving once again that Datlow and Windling have their fingers on the pulse of speculative fiction. And what's new in Grayville? Well, I finally finished laying the hardwood floor (red oak--looks beautiful!) in the kitchen, and laid sheet vinyl down in my office. I've come to the conclusion that you don't know how many books you really have until you need to move them, heh heh. Hubby and I are both wicked readers, so while I was putting down the new office floor (the pattern looks quite Tomb Raider-ish, btw), we had stacks upon stacks of books throughout the living room with just a narrow path for a walk-through. Mostly his WWIIs and my beloved horror with some historical fiction, and (gasp!) a couple of old romance novels I couldn't bear to part with. One was Love's Tender Fury by Jennifer Wilde (Tom E. Huff). The reason I hang onto this book is because waaaay back in the late 70s when I first read it I had no inkling that the author was a man who'd written many romance novels under several female pseudonyms. I was just a teen when I read the book, but I remember my amazement (not only about the author being male, but that he'd written the book in a first person POV and done it so convincingly that I figured he HAD to be a woman!). Lesson learned for me as a budding young writer: you can write first person in anyone's POV--male/female/unisex--but if you're going to do it, you've got to be convincing. Step back as an author and let the main character take charge. No, I didn't master that technique as a kid, but from reading LTF, I learned how it could be done. The other romance novel I've hung onto is Glynda by Susannah Leigh (Brigitte Yerna). This novel taught me all about sub-plotting as the third person narrative tells the epic story of Glynda's love for Duke Phillip of Verlaine. The setting is 13th Century England, my love of history--one of the reasons I bought the book, which takes place in the turmoil of Norman/Saxon England, and is chock-full of subplots. Not one of the twists takes the reader away from the story, but draws them deeper into it (just what subplots are supposed to do). As a writer, I find effective subplotting takes a lot of work, so I make use of outlines and index cards when writing a long novel. That's because I get lost easily (makes traveling verrry interesting, heh heh). Outlines/cards help me stay on course with a tale as well as making sure there are no loose ends at the book's completion. I like to keep things tidy, especially when in the end the reader may have to decide something for themselves. (I love making the reader a participant!) Well, after my flooring adventure, I have blisters on both knees (which, I'm sure, sounds like some kind of sexual innuendo, doesn't it? lol), and some on my toes, and splinter scrapes in my fingers, but I'm a happy gal. What am I working on now? Still picking away at Hallow House. This one's wringing a lot of sweat from my writerly pores--almost halfway through, I realized I've presented the story all wrong. Instead of being third person, limited omniscient POV, it needs to be written in first person. Fifty whacks with a wet noodle for Gray, yup, and it's a little aggravating to have to go back and change everything--but it's well worth it if it makes the story better (and I think it will). At least it's not half as frustrating as Angel of Darkness (grin).... Current Mood: calm Current Music: Blue Oyster Cult--On Flame with Rock and Roll

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February 16th, 2004

01:27 pm - Thoughts about writing... Not too long ago someone asked how many pages I write a day, and do I write everyday? Here's what I told them: I don't measure what I write in pages. Not for first or second draft, anyway. I do try to keep track of my word count, and I do try to get down somewhere between 2K and 5K everyday. Yes, everyday. (This does not mean I always succeed--sometimes life gets in the way and things come up that pull me away from my desk.) The key word is "try". I don't always succeed, and sometimes, even when I do get those 2-5K words, I'll edit them to death so only about half remain. First draft for me is just to get the thoughts down on paper. In first draft mode, I don't pay much attention to spelling, grammar or punctuation--all I'm after is to capture the idea, to scoop it out of my head and spread it out before me. (Pretty picture, huh?) Once the contents are exposed, albeit with many flaws, then do I can pick away at the first draft. Poof to most of the adverbs and all the exclamation points (perhaps with the rare exception of one or two); most verbs that can be substituted for the word 'said' are exchanged for the 'said verbs' (Why? Because readers' eyes glide right over 'said' and 'say', but they get snagged on 'murmured' and 'scream'. Only occasionally will I use a word like 'whispered', but only when I'm unable to "show" my character whispering.); and cliches, ugh--if I can't come up with new, unused substitutes, out they go. After dealing with the adverbs, the 'said' verbs and the cliches, then I read (usually out loud) the draft through for flow. If it sounds choppy, I know I need to lengthen my sentences. If I have a sentence that's more than two or three lines long, I know I may have to shorten it. I listen carefully to my words as I read them, asking myself: Is each word the strongest it can be? Am I saying what I mean to say? The thesaurus is a tool that should never be a crutch. I keep mine in the bottom drawer of my desk, so should I need it, I really have to dig for it. Why? Because more often than not, the word I thought of first is the right word, exactly the word I need; I've just used it in the wrong way. In this case, 'sentence sculpting' remedies the situation (and I thank my soul-sis, Susannah, for that phrase). The dictionary, though, is kept right beside me within arm's reach. That's the hardcover Merriam Webster Collegiate version because it's easy to handle. Webster's Unabridged lives on the bookshelf, heavy, unweildy and huge, because there are times when I need a good pipe wrench and the trusty monkey wrench just won't deliver the goods. In the second draft, I check for grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes. The 'grammar/spell checker' in MSWord and its cousin, MSWORKS, doesn't do all that great a job. Sure, it can catch a typo (if the typo isn't an actual word), and it catches repeat words, but that's about all it's good for, IMHO. The best grammar/spell checker is your eyes and brain--or someone else's eyes and brain. Which is what I use at the end of my second draft: someone else's eyes and brain. No one except me ever sees my first drafts. Why? Because it would be difficult reading, and no one else knows what I'm trying to say. And because my first readers are people I respect, people who are brutally honest, I wouldn't want them to think I'm any crazier than they already do. First drafts aren't meant to be pretty. Good thing. Mine are horrendous. Second drafts are like children with brightly washed faces. Yes, I send them out for others to read, but I also keep in mind that they're not perfect. Their teeth may need to be straightened, or I might have forgotten to scrub behind their ears. My first readers look them over and send them back to me with suggestions on how to make them more presentable. Do I listen to what they have to say? Yes, even though I don't always carry through on every suggestion. It's not that I don't need the advice, I do, and I always appreciate it...sometimes, however, a suggestion will help me think of something else I can do to enrich my writing. Something I probably wouldn't have thought of if I hadn't been given the suggestion in the first place. Third draft, for me, requires that I make sure my formatting is as perfect as I can make it. For this, I use the 'All Characters' command. That's the only way I've found to be sure I have used hard returns at the ends of paragraphs, and no tabbed indents. 'Find' and 'Replace' in the Edit commands are handy for deleting any 'white space' (extra spaces after punctuation marks). It's also a handy tool for double-checking proper names for consistency throughout the text. By the end of the third draft, my work is as close to marketability as I can come. This process isn't how every writer writes; it's just how I do it. Not that I'm an expert on the subject, I'm just someone who tries to write everyday. There are about a million things I haven't mentioned here involving style, but that's such a personal thing, anyway. If you've developed your own writing voice, you have found your style. Some writers write a hundred or so words a day. Or a thousand words a week. They may not need to go through all the rigorous backflips of editing and re-editing of more prolific writers. In the end, for the prolific and the not-so-prolific, it all boils down to one thing: quality over quantity. *** Today, I've resumed my research on 18th Century New England sailing vessels, and Trinidad, specifically Port of Spain in 1742. This is part of the work I'm doing for my novel HALLOW HOUSE. I've managed to type 3K more words on it today. So far, so good; it's coming together well. I'm still feeling a bit under the weather. Think I caught a head cold, ugh, but the spearmint tea seems to be helping. Glad I put up the leaves last fall. Yep, I grow my own . Cool news: The anthologies CHIMERAWORLD #1 and BE MINE have been released and are available to order from Cyber-Pulp Books. Stay warm and cozy with a good book! ~T. M. Gray Current Mood: content Current Music: Steve Miller Band--Greatest Hits 1974-78

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