Ceallaigh's Blog

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Several years ago, I printed two books for myself via Lulu.com. They were mementos of my early writing, intended for me alone, and I made sure they were private. Today, as part of a personal data sweep and planning session, I checked in with Lulu.com and found they had both been made public and were both for sale on the web site. Not only that, an 'author' page had been created for me (I need a Lulu.com 'author' page like I need to be shot in the foot), and the books were listed on it.

Naturally, I made the documents private again and even tried to delete them. But Lulu.com won't let me delete the completed projects or the files they were created from. I can't find a customer support phone number anywhere on the site, and I've read through various web searches that the company doesn't answer e-mail inquiries (though I do intend to try e-mailing customer support this evening).

Thursday, October 6, 2011

In the last 24 hours, I've had to address two instances of social bullying from people who used the good manners and good will present in professional and personal situations to say wretched things. Both instances were perpetrated by repeat offenders, and both happened because they thought that nobody (and certainly not a middle-aged woman) would have the courage to call them on their bad behavior.

I did. Both times.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Ingredients

  • A crock pot full of apples, cored
  • 2-4 tsp. cinnamon, to taste
  • 2-4 tsp. nutmeg, to taste
  • 3-4 cups sugar, to taste

Instructions

  • Core the apples.
  • Add spices and sugar.
  • Put mix in crock pot.
  • Cook on high for 1 hour.
  • Cook on low for 9-11 hours.
  • Remove lid and cook for 1 more hour.
  • Blend mix with an immersion blender until desired smoothness is achieved.
  • Try not to eat it all at once!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011

I've taken the requisite week off after finishing the last chapter of Twilight of the World Sea People, and I begin a section pass tomorrow for Chapters 13-17. I'm really looking forward to it too; they were the hardest and most alien chapters to write, but I felt great about each one as I finished it. I honestly don't think they need much, but I owe them a look before I begin the final edits.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Last Wednesday, I began an intermediate session of TIP (Total Immersion Plus) Gàidhlig classes through Sgoil Gàidhlig. Tomorrow, I begin the Atlantic Gaelic Academy Intermediate I Gàidhlig session of classes via Skype. I confess I didn't study nearly as much through the summer as I had planned, but I still believe my Gaelic has improved tremendously in the last year.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

I've completed the "Things to Read" side bar on the front page of my web site, which links to a selection of poems and stories you can either read online for free or buy in digital edition back issues of the magazines they appeared in. I had originally intended to re-publish some of my printed stories through Kindle and other venues, but I think I'd rather point you to the original publications where I can. The digital editions aren't very expensive, the work in them is beautifully-presented and if you buy one, you'll get the whole issue to read.

I've listed all the poetry I've published online but only a few of the stories available in PDF. Of the poetry I've listed, I like the Strange Horizons poems best, and of the stories, I like The Longest Road in the Universe best. So if you're interested in browsing just a few pieces, you might start there.

You can find the whole list at: csmaccath.com.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Ruidhle an Fhìdhleir (web site|Facebook) premiered last night as part of the Atlantic Film Festival. Sean and I went to see it along with the set of short films it appeared with. It was the best of them, inasmuch as I could be an objective critic, and it was lovely to see so many familiar faces on the screen. I was also pleased to find my name in the credits!

When the film is available for purchase, I'll post a note with information about it. In the meantime, here's a link to another of Marc Almon's Gaelic films, Faire Chaluim Mhic Leòid (The Wake of Calum MacLeod), which is also excellent.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

I've read a number of blog entries in the last week about today's remembrance of the September 11th attacks. A few have rightly commented that in some respects, the media's spin of the ceremony would seek to supplant our own, natural grief.

However, I'm grateful for the news today, because 2001 was the beginning of a dark time for my husband and me. In particular, the events of September 11th that year occurred atop a pair of personal tragedies that made it hard for me to connect with the greater tragedy of the terror attacks. I went numb. I shut it out. I focused on what I could solve; the problems in my own life.

I've always felt badly about that, because I wanted to grieve then, and I still do. But it gets harder, the farther it passes from the present, to mourn that day and what came after. I've promised myself that someday I'll go to the new 9/11 memorial in a good suit and sit for awhile, and find out what my own, natural grief actually feels like.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Twilight of the World Sea People is now a completed draft. The last chapter is nearly 11,000 words long, which means it needs a measure of pruning, and the last couple of paragraphs need the spice that makes all good endings savory, but these things belong to revision and not to drafting.

I've read that other writers have a catharsis of sorts at the end of their projects, but all I can think about now are the problems I'll be addressing in Monday's work; the two thousand words I wrote today (2,000! I was motivated!), the last couple of paragraphs, whether or not I want to spin one of the hooks for the next novel differently, etc. I think today I was just a word machine. I wanted to be done, done, done.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

I used to think it was somewhat cliché for a writer to claim that characters 'arrived' in her head and needed to be written 'their way'. I know better now and would add that one of the great joys of writing is discovering where the story is going before anyone else does, as it unfolds on the page.

I have some interesting places to go in Book II.

Very close to the end of Book I. Writing the last 1000ish words today and tomorrow.

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