> Recent Entries
> Archive
> Friends
> User Info
> Masha Holl's Writing Page
> previous 10 entries

June 22nd, 2008

08:30 am - WOW vs. FF -- and what does gaming have to do with writing books? As it turns out, more than I thought. And inspiration and revelations come at the strangest moments in the oddest places. Just to show you that you have to keep your eyes open, you ears ready, and your mind flexible. It was at the bank. A casual exchange with a slightly stuttering teller, on the occasion of my daughter's birthday. As it turns out, he likes video games, I like video games, and we both speak computer. We came to the quick conclusion that the main reason we preferred console-based games like Final Fantasy to online games like World of Warcraft is that we liked story-based games where we discover a plot, a motivation, and a resolution rather than fantasy worlds consisting of quests of increasing difficulty. Mind you, nothing was said about the relative merits of either system, and I'm still not saying anything. I could make long and involved comments about the amazing graphics in online games, and the fascinating online communities they generate, and the whole folklore of it... It's all about personal preference. It was one of those moments. Because I truly love surfing the Internet, lurking in all sorts of geeky forums, and learning more about all kinds of software. But I really have no interest in getting sucked into the world of online games. I'd been telling myself it was an act of self-preservation. The truth is that I'm simply not interested. In a video game, as in a book, I look for a story to unfold. In movies, unless there's a strong storyline (mind you, I didn't say it had to be plot-driven), I get quickly bored. I want stories. I tell stories. In my view, the whole world is about stories. But that a whole other... um, well, post. Current Location: Home Current Mood: contemplative Tags: creativity, gaming, life

(4 comments | Leave a comment)

May 19th, 2008

09:12 am - AWOL again -- Blame Life I'm not dead. No one's sick. Well, unless you consider this http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA050708.OLLU_Fire2.EN.40426d0.html an illness. Yes, there was a major fire at my place of work. No, my office (or my building) was not affected, but many faculty members of our division have been displaced, have lost something (if not everything) in the fire, whether to the flames or to water damage. There are more links here: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/specialcoverage/ And some striking photos here: http://www.mysanantonio.com/multimedia/photogallery/News/stories/MYSA050608.fireOLLU.ENss.d67eb363.html There's also a MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/ollucommunity It's been (still is) a very strange time. In the meanwhile, I still had to do the final edits to The Brightest Heaven, and keep up with the family. I feel like I am indeed recovering from a long illness -- and it's only been a couple of weeks (oh, add a few family long-distance health concerns to that, and it's been one of those months). What I really want to do now, I go visit my werewolves, but darn it if I can find a means to travel to that world. Help! Where's a wormhole when I need one? Oh, oops, wrong story. Current Mood: stressed Tags: creativity, life, publishing

(1 comment | Leave a comment)

April 24th, 2008

06:18 am - The Brightest Heaven ...edits are done. That's one step closer to actual publication. I need to remind myself of what's going on, sometimes. Working on a book is exciting, but it's also exhausting, tedious, and all the other aspects of an actual job. This is where discipline, or willpower, or obstinacy (pick your choice of attitude) is needed. In my case, it's sheer stubbornness. I am not going to give in just because writing went from fun to work. The excitement is there, the pride of having your story selected to be published. But reality sets in and scribbling on a notepad is not enough anymore. Suddenly, all the little writing mistakes you thought insignificant acquire a whole new dimension. Suddenly, you're working on the definitive version (well, at least for this edition). This is it. What you're writing is going to hit the world. Anyone can look at it. Anyone can read it. Everyone can criticize it. And you can't hide behind false modesty or shyness anymore. Writers rarely have to stand on a stage and perform. We can hide behind imaginary world. We can create a persona to fit a pen name and hide behind it, like an actor hiding behind a character -- it's not me saying these things, and those emotions are not mine; they belong to the character. But in the end, your writing is what speaks, and you can't hide what's in your written word. Because you must pour everything you can into your story, and there's no taking it back. I can understand why great writers and poets would never try to get published. Not everyone is an exhibitionist. But I can't help wanting to share my stories. I can't help wanting to show off the people that crowd my dreams. I can't help thinking mine are better, bigger, stronger, more vivid than yours. Whoever you may be. Yeah. Writer's ego. Not a small thing. Current Location: home Current Mood: contemplative Tags: creativity, publishing, writing

(6 comments | Leave a comment)

March 28th, 2008

09:18 am - I had (another, weird) dream. Someone should decode my dreams. There was a car I couldn't quite control and I couldn't get where I was going until I got off and started walking. Said car kept trying to move on even when I got out and took the keys out of the ignition, like a restless horse pulling on its reins (I was trying to hold on to its open window). There were other people's children who kept taking my things, and I managed to get them back without upsetting anyone and even while entertaining said children, and pleasing their parents... But at the back of my mind, I knew they were making me waste my time when I was supposed to be getting to my own children who were waiting (patiently) for me. There were giant dogs (bear-hounds) that looked like super-oversized huskie puppies, threatening but not dangerous, held in check by their owners, but ready to wreak havoc on a dense crowd. And all that was happening at night, in a European-ish city (maybe Paris, but not quite -- dream-Paris, I suppose). The streets were rain-wet and shiny, but it wasn't raining. Then the encounter with the children was in some kind of building, either a school or a clinic, or maybe the atrium of a large apartment building. Some of the parents looked like people from real life, others were real-looking, but not anyone I knew. Do you think I'm feeling out of control? Nah, can't be that simple. Anyway, weird, complex dreams in color usually mean good writing ahead. Because if I can see dreams this vivid, I can watch the movie of my story. And if I can watch the movie of my story, I can write it down. Current Mood: perplexed Tags: creativity, dreams, writing

(Leave a comment)

March 5th, 2008

06:14 am - Toothpaste Dreams Some dreams are odd. Some are inscrutable. And then there are the moments when you wonder whether you were dreaming at all. I woke up thinking of toothpaste. No, it wasn't because it was morning, and, well, you know. I woke up thinking that the toothpaste my husband got wasn't the wrong brand after all, and that I had grumbled for no reason last night, so I should check it out and tell him. So I did. He didn't pick the wrong brand. The one I really hate. So I told him. I must have been dreaming of toothpaste just before I woke up. Or maybe the bathroom. Or maybe the store. But before that, I had a dream within a dream. Yes, I had a dream that I was dreaming. In that dream, I woke up and realized I had been dreaming. Usually, this will make me open my eyes and wake up almost all the way, and reconnect with the waking world. But last night, I stayed comfortably asleep and thought about my dream while still dreaming... and then I woke up. My life isn't confusing enough. My dreams have to be confusing. I don't mind weird, odd, and mixed-up dreams, because a morning after a good night's dreaming is a creative morning. But confusing dreams? That's just funny. And I'm not a comedian. Current Location: home Current Mood: confused Tags: creativity, dreams, life

(Leave a comment)

January 3rd, 2008

01:05 pm - Close to Paradise on Earth Well, not really, but it feels to good to be home and have the time to write, plot, write some more, go over my web sites, and get back to writing. And mostly write. That's because I have a deadline. I signed my second contract, this time for a science-fantasy novella which will come out this summer, this one too from The Wild Rose Press. My editor had this fun idea and I jumped on the wagon, and then I had cold feet, but it was too late. Well, guess what, I'm having fun after all. You'll understand why, if you visit my site, I had to review everything about Greek mythology. I thought I knew lots. Well, there was lots more I didn't know, and just as much I had forgotten. But at least, this project made me research something that's more or less in my academic field. Now I have to go describe the Big Bad in his (its?) True Form. Enough of Archetypes, let's get down to details, shall we? Current Location: Home Current Mood: hyper Current Music: Alien Nation, Scorpions Tags: creativity, projects, writing

(Leave a comment)

December 17th, 2007

09:23 pm - Writing for Readers It doesn't matter why, how much, or in what proportion: National Endowment for the Arts - Reading - New York Times One thing the article says for certain: reading is good. Reading for fun is better. As writers, we must always remember this: storytelling is the oldest profession in the world. Story comes first. Entertaining the audience (or the reader) is everything. Make it fun, make it pleasurable, and not only will they come back for more of YOUR stories, but it will benefit your readers in unexpected ways. A bit for romance to enhance math skills? Who'd have thought! But apparently, it all correlates. Teachers of Arts and Letters could've told you that: you need a breadth of spirit in order to grow, and without growth, there is no creativity. So, go find something to read. You should see my collection. Powered by ScribeFire. Current Location: Home Current Mood: curious Tags: creativity

(2 comments | Leave a comment)

December 14th, 2007

10:25 am - They wouldn't buy it if you wrote it. In the "so bad it's good" category, or "so devious it's cool", or to be archived into your villain file... Art Institute of Chicago discloses Gauguin sculpture in fact a forgery -- chicagotribune.com Of course, a writer's twisted mind makes one almost sorry that they got caught, just because they managed to trick the world's most renowned experts. And yet, one's personal ethics insist that it's all just deserts and crime doesn't pay... eventually. Still, it's a good story. I just wish I had written it instead of reading about it in the news. Of course, it would've been something more along the lines of The Thomas Crown Affair or Faking It. What do you want. I really can't make myself make things end badly for the main characters. And the forger seems so creative. Powered by ScribeFire. Current Mood: amused Tags: creativity, news, writing

(Leave a comment)

December 6th, 2007

08:38 am - Greedy Minimalism rules. And I love December. Combine the two, and I get nice little sales on my Russian Alphabet items in my CafePress shop. Like this Mousepad. And my calendar seems well-liked, too. It just tickles me when someone is willing to buy things I "made." Just passing on the fun. A little feel-good on a gray morning. Current Mood: cheerful Tags: creativity, life, selling

(Leave a comment)

November 28th, 2007

06:19 am - The Post That Was Not. I tried to post yesterday. I thought it was a nice post. I thought it had some cleverness in it. And then instead of <post>, I hit <clear>. My finger slipped. There was no retrieving it. No Undo. No back button. Fate. I didn't try to reconstruct it. I thought it was out of despair and spite. It was not. It might have been, once upon a time, when I cherished every single badly written word I put down on the page. Now, I have realized that is not the case. I have matured. I have learned to delete. Ruthlessly. If my post disappeared into the ether, well, it's probably for the best. I did not discover the meaning of life. I wasn't going to announce to the world the discovery of a non-polluting, self-renewing alternative fuel. Now if it had been 400 pages of a tightly polished, ready-to-publish masterpiece, I might have reacted differently. Maybe I'm ready to trash some old hard copies of stuff I wrote long ago. It's just stuff, you know. Not really meant to see the light of day. Ever. Nah. I'll keep it a little longer. Current Location: home Current Mood: thoughtful Current Music: Ahh... Silence Tags: creativity, life, writing

(Leave a comment)