Liz's Looming Lunacy


An author trying to find her place in the world.

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Location: Bayport, New York, United States

Swain's world (The Cosmic Unicorn #1); A Day in the Life (Alternate Hilarities #3); The Lawnmower that Ate Manhattan (NIEKAS, I forget the issue); Spring Cleaning (Sound Waves); Shadow Play (The Parasitorium II: Parasitic Sands, 2007); Crow's Feat (Free Fall (February, 2007) Oh, and Obligatory Holly Lisle Affiliate Link for writing workshops and stuff.

29.12.04

getting away with it: Getting away with editing part III (final)

getting away with it: Getting away with editing part III (final)

SciFiDaily: BBC Reports Shatner to Blame for Iraq War

SciFiDaily: BBC Reports Shatner to Blame for Iraq War


Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us
Have A Good Nap.


Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting

How grammatically sound are you?

Adopted from 's LJ:

Master!
You are a MASTER of the English language!


While your English is not exactly perfect,
you are still more grammatically correct than
just about every American. Still, there is
always room for improvement...


How grammatically sound are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Fred, the computer's seated on the dresser LOL. I have a bit of reading to catch up on and a bit of thinknig to do for the story I'm plotting for the horror antho, so it works out well enough; and when I get the writing fits I have the AlphaSmart. I wish I knew more about computers though *sigh* so I could actually do this myself. I just don't want to irreparably harm the poor thing. ^^;;

28.12.04

Caffiend's 'Favourite'

Grown from trees then ground
Brewed for alertness purpose
Tasty, dark and hot.

26.12.04

Severus Snape PotterPuppetPals Link

Just because I dun'wanna lose it. ;-)

25.12.04

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas, everyone! We're off to my sister's today (I would rather stay home and sleep but, oh well....)

23.12.04

Two More Nights

I got this from dopeydora_67's LJ:



What Will snapes_angel Get ?
Christmas Gift Oracle
Big wooly jumper knitted by Mrs. Weasley
Pair of Socks from Dumbledore
Bottle of Whiskey from Mr. Filch
Cd from freddok1
Something Cuddly from Rubeus Hagrid
Butterbeer from Dobbie
Something Silly from davidltamarin
Something Funny from knight0fswords
Lump of coal from Tom Riddle
Something Pretty from black_angel_hp
Something Sexy from Lucius Malfoy
Something Naughty from
Remus Lupin
Something Smelly from Melvin Seadragon
Something Breakable from hanaheart
Something Useful from Minerva McGonagall
Something not useful from valiant_scribe
the Kama Sutra from Severus Snape
Gringott's Account from Cornelius Fudge
Auror training from Mad-Eye Moody
An autographed autobiography from Gilderoy Lockhart
Something Geeky from hanaheart

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Made by _imran_ and beyond_bananas.
Hosted at Memeland


20.12.04

Well, the Holly Daze's Here

     It must be December. It's only 6 days until Mom's birthday; she would have been pushing 80 instead of pushing daisies on the twenty-sixth. That's also the seventh anniversary (I think) of the one and only time I failed the road test, memorable because it was the only time I ever took the road test (they wouldn't let me out of the hospital when I was scheduled to take it a second time). I failed gloriously, accelerating instead of braking and pummeling headlights-first into a snow bank on the three point turn. Talk about seeing steam come out of someone's ears. *laugh*
     Trust me; I'm staying off the road. My leg's too stiff now anyway; also, when you confuse your rights and lefts like me, do you really have any business behind the wheel of a car?
     I didn't think so.
     Saturday, Joan is coming all the way from Hempstead to pick us up and take us in for dinner at Bill and Mary's. I wonder if I'll end up sleeping through most of it, like I did during Thanksgiving at Bob and Rose's? Ed's calling from Ecuador around 2. He's only been married a few months now (he only knew her less than two weeks before they were engaged; but since he stayed at a matchmaker's house there while on vacation and the lady was her 35 year old sister, well...)
     I'm happy for Ed and I hope it works out for the. It should, since matchmakers/marriage brokers usually know their business, but it never hurts to wish them well. I'm not sure what her name is but I'll get a handle on it eventually. See, it was all sudden-like and a surprise, and he had a bad marriage and a divorce before (and I only just found out that his ex was an alcoholic as well as a spendthrift) so if this all works out for him (and for them) then so much the better, even if she spoke little English and he little Spanish when they met, got engaged and then married. Six days instead of six months for the church waiting period in Ecuador.
     Me? I'm not sure I'll trust anyone well enough to remarry, not hat anyone would want to marry me LOL. I'm not "marketable" enough. *snigger*

19.12.04

'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' not slasher film?

On one of my Yahoo groups someone feels it's more suspenseful than gory, the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre. I still think of it as more of a slasher. Heck, we have a guy prancing around, hanging his victims from meat hooks and wearing their skin (which he carefully peeled off their bodies). What better slasher matter for a film?

18.12.04

I Managed To Change My Blogger Settings!

     Assuming that there is not a systems failure then my clock should reflect the right time of posting without my having to change it manually like I've been doing here.
     Yes, I see that the right time is indeed on the post.
     Cheers!
     I enabled the links so I can save a few of them. The one I added to this is for my MSN community where we're going to try to make 2005 the year of the novel and write 1k per week towards that goal. If you click on the title for my current blog entry then it will take you to that MSN community.
     That project will not interfere with others that I am working on right now (or with the next NaNoWriMo, or with NaNoEdMo in March. Ah, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month (50k words in the month) and NaNoEdMo is National Novel Editing Month, spending 50 hours editing your book, not necessarily your NaNoWriMo one though, from what I understand, that's why it began.

Just another MEME

1. What food could you not live without?
     Does it have to be only one? Chocolate nad coffee. There are so many different kinds of coffee, one of my favorites is mocha raspberry. The 7-11 in East Quogue stopped selling cups of it but the local 7-11 carries it again, I'm so happy. ;-)

2. What food absolutely disgusts you?
     LIMA BEANS! I don't like the taste or the texture. There are prolly others but I can't think of them at the currant thyme current time. Ah, yes, plum Pretz too (although I enjoy most Pocky and Pretz. the shrimp pretz is exceptionally good and the milk Pocky is very very good, though my favorite still is the choco Pocky).

3. Why did you start an online journal?
     Everybody else is doing it LOL. I think of it as an amusing hobby or toy, much as any other pasttime, although encouragement towards writing and literacy is IMHO A Good Thing.

4. What other online journals inspire you?
     I enjoy 3ominutefics on LJ. Granted, it's for a fandom (Harry Potter), but the writing prompts can apply to most any aspect of fiction. Of course, my being a Harry Potter (or rather, Severus Snape [and no, it's because of Snape's characterization, not because of Alan Rickman, thanks for asking]) might have explained how and why I found the community in the first place LOL.

5. How about humiliating junior high stories?
     I was kicked out of school in the third grade either for violating The Adult Conspiracy or for writing across the page with both hands whe nthe tacher asked me to speed things up whilst writing (I don't remember, so asking me is no good) and did not return to 'normal' academia until the eleventh grade, so I technically have no rmbarrassing junior high school stories, sicne I never attended middle school at all.

6. Have you ever been kicked out of a movie theatre? A bar? A Mall?
     No, though software has arbitrarily kicked me out of chat every once in awhile.

7. Have you ever shoplifted?
     When I was an adolescent, although I was never caught. It's not something I would have done later in life.

8. How do you feel NOW about online journaling?
     As opposed ot how I felt THEN? The entire experience is rather interesting, thus far -- and considering that I'm finding people who share more than one of my interests, I'd say that's A Positive Thing. The moral support too is A Good Thing.

9. How do you feel about your readers?
     Readers? @@;; I have Readers?

10. Do you feel guilty about long absences?
     Who doesn't?

11. Do you make up excuses so that you don't "have" to journal?
     Not yet LOL.

12. What do your friends think about your online journaling?
     Well, I guess people like it so far. We've shared MEMEs (I'm still not entirely clear on what they are, LOL -- is that My Entire Memory Encoded, or something?), if that counts.

13. How do you think your journaling has changed your life?
     It's been more fun than not doing it.

14.12.04

Writing and Editing

     I figured out (finally) what kind of horror story I want to write for consideration for the anthology.
     We have editors now and they probably will not like the story, but I am going to write it for me and then polish it to the best of my ability before submitting it. There are some wicked, wicked, evil ideas that are too much fun to not write, and this idea, for me, is one of them.
     I wish I could find the mythological creatures, monsters, deities or whatever that would fit; but, since I cannot, I will instead create my own and see how they fare.
     After all, isn't that one of the reasons I began writing?

13.12.04

Memories

     I still remember Nana yelling and not understanding when I read about Karim Thompson shouting 'This is the American way" and shooting himself at the graduation ceremony for Weymouth South High back in the late 1970s. I always thought Karim was A Very Nice Person, funny, charming;
     I never pictured him doing something like pulling a gun from beneath his graduation robes and shooting himself in front of a live audience.
     But then, no one knew that I'd made a few secret and unsuccessful attempts at quiet suicide either. Not that I felt anyone really cared; maybe that was the same for Karim. It's a little late to ask him now, I think, it might have been too late when I ran away to California and set in motion the chain of events which ultimately returned me to Long Island.
     I'm a bit jealous sometimes of my sisters. They apparently were better than me in every single way (still are, I guess) and I'm the one who couldn't make anything of herself or her life.
     Maybe that's why I'm trying to be a writer (Yes, I know I'm very trying). In a few ways, it's the only option left to me.
     I can't stand behind a register now, my knee injury and subsequent sucky knee surgery (no slight on Dr. Skilbred's skills, I think this has more to do with genetic predisposition since Nan's cataract surgery didn't take and Mom's own knee replacement also left her hobbling around for the remainder of her life) saw to it. I can't type well enough to work in an office and I can't sit still or stand for long periods of time or else my knee hurts, stiffens… My fingers hurt a lot from typing anyway, I think I may have some arthritis in my hands, I know I have a low manual dexterity,
     I was tested for aptitude at the state employment office while they were still doing those kinds of tests that mentioned predisposition and dexterity.
     What did the test say I would be good at?
     Artistic stuff like writing.
     And now you probably know more about me than you really wanted or needed to, so there.

11.12.04

Growl, Snarl, Grr [Plus links]

     Just how many 'few minutes' must I wait before MSN deigns to let me check my Hotmail inbox, anyway?
     Parcel post was faster.....
     Novel Writing Year 2005 Blogspot.
     Novel Writing Year 2005 Yahoo groups
     Novel Writing Year 2005 LiveJournal
     Novel Writing Year 2005 MSN community
     On MSN it's called 1k words per week or something, NaNoWriYe 05 in a place or two -- but the basic goal is to write a novel in a year, or around 50-52k worth of a novel.

9.12.04

Namakata

Other than at alt.devilbunnies there's supposed to be some sort of myth about the witch Namakata who seems to be associated with the ocean. Now I have to ask the OWW list if they knwo anything. Grr. I despise Google sometimes.....

8.12.04

We Have Deadline! We Have Deadline!

     Ah, how that sounds in relation to the horror genre. *grin* This is the message from one of the editors, Paul Grant.

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Paul Grant"

     Very true. I'd like everyone involved to send me their vote for the subtitle at paulgrant@d... and we'll get this debate wrapped up for good. You have until the end of the week (Saturday at 12AM PST) for your vote to count. Please put "Anthology Subtitle Vote" in the subject line.
     Also, I'd like to have the first drafts of the stories in no later than end of February, 2005. Please send them to paulgrant@d... with "Anthology Submission" in the subject line. I want them in MS Word format, single spaced and intended please, no extra lines between paragraphs.


Bests,
-Paul Grant

Professional Web Design Services:

Corpse Magazine

For Horror, Sci/Fi, Fantasy and Dark Fiction, visit my official website

"It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail."
-Gore Vidal

"Liberate tu-temet ex inferis!"
-Guy with eyeballs
Event Horizon

--- End forwarded message ---


     This should be a lot of fun. ;-) (I know, I'm prolly one of the few people who calls writing and reading horror 'fun'. It is, though -- it's like a game that you know is surreal because it's not really real, although enough of it is based on reality to be plausible. Horror, like other forms of entertainment, is escapism, sometimes for the author as well as the reader.
     How Many Bad Things Can You Have Happen To Bad People Before It Wears Thin? How Many Bad Things Almost Very Nearly Happen To Good People Before They Die Or Catch Or Marry The Monster Or Axe Murderer Or -- well, you know. No need to digress further or engage in more silly overtones. ;-)

7.12.04

BBC Schtuff

     At LinksAPlenty I posted a link to the SciFiDaily blog. They have a story about the fellow who played Legolas converting to Buddhism and they also have a blurb about the new Doctor Who trailer. I DL the teaser after watching it. It does look rather interesting.
     BTW, it's not supposed to happen but the above link somehow keeps directing me to an inane church or something online with links -- and the two hyperlinks are nothing alike. So when you get the http:// something/linksaplenty.com, delete most of it and type in "http://linksaplenty.blogspot.com and it will take you there, which is where you're SUPPOSED to go when you click on the link.

6.12.04

We Have Computer

     Fred made it out yesterday. I have the newer computer. It goes at warp speed compared to the one I had, even if the DVD/CD-RW does not work properly (it treats CD-RWs like CD-Rs so it's useless for saving my IP fics to until and unless I can figure out what's wrong).
     I did have to buy two new monitors. My old one broke while Fred kept switching the connection from one computer to the other, trying to transfer the files over; this process also took over four hours besides, since my old computer kept freezing up and dying in mid-transfer. We finally had to delete a whole bunch of program and data files until it finally decided to work.
     Ah, anyway, we bought the monitor, finished transferring the files over and then decided Terror should get the new monitor because it would be easier to read things online and I'd get the old one which was originally mine.
     When we switched monitors, the one which went on mine was too dark for me to see and we changing the brightness and contrast didn't do any good, so we had to go to Staples again and buy a second one, for my system. The cashier thought we were bringing the one back as a return but we told her no, we were there to buy a second one. ;-) (Just as well, because the design of the new monitor matches my newer computer system). That's $300 down the hole on my credit card but, if I am ever going to get any writing done, the expense is justified.
     Poor Fred. He had to play both tech and transport yesterday. ;-)

5.12.04

[The Morning Edition] Update: The Computer's On Its Way

     I just talked to Fred. He called from the New Jersey Turnpike.
     I had just woken up and reclined lazily in bed, that twilight between sleep and full wakefulness. Then I hear this strange repetitive sound. By the fourth repetition I realize that it is the telephone. Fred said that he would call me when he was halfway to Long Island. (He is actually only 1/3 of the way, but the point is that he actually called, not to bail out of the trip, but to say that he was en route and in transit).
     Yes. Shock is setting in, I think; give me a while to assimilate this data.

Writing In General & Obstinant Computers In Particular

     My ex husband, Fred, has said that he will drive down to New York tomorrow. He is bringing his old computer to me, reformatted and reprogrammed, to replace my older and very buggy bluelight.com one.
     He had promised to do it over a month ago, in time for National Novel Writing Month, when he heard about the problems my computer had been giving me. Still is giving me, for that matter. He procrastinated for over a month.
     It has a DVD-RW. *smile* Definite upgrade city.
     Despite my computer problems I won, one of many people who wrote over 50k for NaNoWriMo. The novel isn't quite finished yet but I'm taking a break from it to write two short stories, one for a horror anthology, the other a bit of fluff for a group of friends on LJ. When I'm done with those then I am going to start writing another novel, following the same timeline as the one I wrote for NaNoWriMo but following very different events in a separate geographical location. I think that I will need to work on the second book in order to finish the first one.
     The NaNo novel, by the way, is a Good Argument For Finishing A Story Before You Post It For Critique. I had written the minor story arc intending it for a lead-in to the main story and the VP character, a thief-for-hire, died after 10k words. I had read that this was an acceptable literary device, so I wanted to try it.
     Naturally, the folk who critique these sorts of stories (fantasy, non-epic, non-Tolkienesque) didn't want me to kill him off. Changing his character and what happened to him also changed the nature of the antagonist--and made me realize that perhaps to tell the entire story I would need to write four books, separate novels, the events of each which would happen concurrently.
     It's still an improvement over the nearly-forty page, single-spaced microtype original outlnie I did for the story, complete with fifty some-odd notes on society, background, culture, environmental concerns -- all that's pretty much out the window now.
     I am also, starting in January, going to do a NIAY or NoWriYe -- Novel in a year, Novel Writing Year -- 2005. I plan to commit 1k per week (along with some friends who will also proceed along with me and write their own BIAY) for the entire year to the first book in my planned series, working title Swain's World. Save the complaints about the title, I like it and I did say it was a working one. If it sounds like humor, well, the original 450-word story I wrote that appeared in the first issue of The Cosmic Unicorn by that title was humorous in tone: though like Buffy The Vampire Slayer it has taken a darker tone than the original story. I have fifteen books planned, more may grow out of the concept, and the prequel to the story is starting to rot my demented little brain. *grin*
     You have to write some stories; if you don't prune them that way, then they fester and grow. ;-)
* * * * *


     The author's long tale
     Grown from a sapling to a
     Giant behemoth.

* * * * *




     With Fond Regards,
     Elizabeth Anne Ensley.

3.12.04

Random Thoughts

     December 3.
     I have done very little writing for three days.
     I think it might be the exhaustion from maintaining a steady pace during Naional Novel Writing Month, even despite my computer problems.
     I might almost be back to normal. I feel a bit more alert now than at this time yesterday.
     Maybe I can get some writing in tonight, who knows?
     I might have to quit some of my busier Yahoo groups though. I do need to preserve some thyme time for writing fiction, as well as email.
     Sigh.