amergina

You've reached the journal of amergina!

Who am I? Well, I'm a writer. By day, I write technical manuals for a software firm, and by night I write fiction. I tend to concentrate on various forms of fantasy and science fiction. I'm also an Associate Editor at Entangled Publishing.

When I'm not writing or editing, I'm playing in the garden.

I enjoy cooking without recipes. I love all things coffee. I'm both a stay-at-home type of person and an international traveler. I'm an enigma wrapped in bacon and powered by java.

In LJ-land, I'm one of the moderators of christianity and ljbreviary. If you need to contact me in regard to those communities, please do so here.

Thanks!

Drinking Joie de Vivre tea out of a Fleur-de-lis demitasse cup.

No fic tonight. Took too much time to watch Henry V. (Lots of interruptions. Mostly of the meowing furry kind.)

But my dear friend annesible pointed me to this:

The Henry V Drinking Game.

*cough* *laugh* I do tend to take more than one drink when Montjoy flounces in, though.

(And I really need more Henry V icons. Where'd I put my spare time?)

Addendum to the addendum: I noticed two new things in this watching:

1) The Swan of the House of Lancaster is hanging from Henry's collar of state.

2) Montjoy is wearing his black chaperon over his shoulder in the last scenes. That's the black band across the front of his tabard. It's a very period way of wearing the hat when you're not wearing it on your head.

Addendum to the addendum's addendum... I think I might have actually figured the chaperon thing out before...

I really should have searched for Henry V t-shirts before today. Alas, I don't think the I <3 Henry V shirt will make it to me by October 25.

But tomorrow is my local SCA group's annual Agincourt event, so I'll manage.

The golden-white fire _lick_ed over his fingers,
joining a sapphire flame that _rolled ^up from his skin.
He had not played with fire like this for years.


From my novel The Tyras Key.

Quote is from my novel, The Tyras Key. Idea shamelessly stolen from Jessica Freely (note: Link Not always Safe For Work, if your work is stodgy).

The June Writing Popular Fiction MFA residency kicks off today at Seton Hill. Tomorrow, the In Your Write Mind workshop sponsored by the WPF Alumni kicks off. I'll be at the latter, have gotten a lovely hood and all in January.

I'll get to see some of my favorite people and hopefully have some much needed time to write. I'm also going to be a minion for a literary agent.

Best of all, some of my favorite people are graduating!

So, back to the Hill I go. Hazard yet forward, and all that jazz.

Apparently, I can write fan fiction.

*smacks forehead to keyboard*

Part of me is appalled at myself for 100 different reasons, none of which is a dislike of fan fiction (to make that clear).

But there are many good things:

I've re-learned I can write something that has no elements of the fantastic.

I've re-learned that I like history.

I've remembered that I really should read more non-fiction

I--seem to have a thing for non-modern politics. (Modern politics makes me want to break out in hives.)

Actually, I just love relationships, how people act with one another, and all the ways they are pulled by all that surrounds them.

I also have stellar avoidance techniques, because I only discovered this because I should have been working on something else.

It was not a waste of time, though. Not at all.

Now to decided if any of it will ever see the light of day, or if I'll shove it into the sock-drawer of my computer.

Pennwriters is a multi-genre writing organization based out of Pennsylvania (but anyone from anywhere can join). Every year, they have a writing conference on one side of the state or the other. This year, it was in Pittsburgh, and since I was free from tuition, I decided to go.

It was a *blast*.

I always enjoy talking to other writers, so getting together with a bunch of them and talking about writing is like a mini vacation. Also, you never know who you're going to run into or what sort of interesting things their doing. Everyone was very nice and generous with sharing information.

The workshop/classes/panels were excellent. The keynote speakers, authors Jacquelyn Mitchard and Jonathan Maberry, were inspiring in different ways. All in all, a conference worth attending and one I'll go to next year (in Lancaster).

Specifically, for me, it reminded me that I am capable. I mean, I know I'm far from perfect... but sometimes I forget that I'm a decent writer.

I took part in a read and critique with Jonathan Maberry and Ginjer Buchanan (Editor-in-Chief of Ace/Roc Books). There were problems (like the first section of the first two pages they thought needed to go) but they also thought my writing was very good. And man, is that's nice to hear. Especially from an EIC of a major imprint and a best-selling author.

I also spoke to an agent who has my full. By only looking at my name tag, she knew my story and gave me a quick rundown on the revise and resubmit she hadn't had the chance to send to me yet.

o.O

From reading my name. Yeah.

Needless to say, I'm in a bit of a state of shock. And I have work to do.

I have always loved art from around the turn of the 1900. Art Nouveau, Art Deco, the Pre-Raphaelites.

I was browsing around the Internet after I finished writing a scene (to clear my head to write the next scene) and ran across these two paintings by the Scottish painter John Duncan (1866-1945):

The Glaive of Light



Tristan and Isolde



Sheesh, is it any wonder I write fantasy? I mean, really?