Apologies for the lack of updates, dear readers!
As you can probably tell, my writing has become horribly slack. I haven't had any time at all to write, or at least, I've convinced myself that I haven't had any time to write. Still no word from Fantasy and Science Fiction, I'm working on three short stories, one of which is actually getting written ("Get Them While They're Spicy-Hot!" is the tentative title), with the other two in the Idea Phase ("Magic Doesn't Grow On Trees" and "Daughter of the Moon's Companion").
I've begun to have serious thoughts about giving up on my novel, The Shining Empress. After reading books like The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing a Novel, I've managed to convince myself that I've done so many things wrong with Empress that there is simply no hope of rewriting the whole thing. Of course, by then, I get the little voice in my head that says "What?! You're going to give up on your novel again? How are you going to write good novels if you can't finish bad ones?" Then, of course, there is another little voice in my head that says, "Well, you've already finished the first draft! That's an accomplishment! Don't throw it away, just stick it in a drawer and forget about it until you're ready to fix it again."
On the other hand, everytime I actually set down to write Empress, I can't help but believe that what I've written is brilliant, and that (at the very least) I have to finish my second draft and have my mother read it before I make any more novels. But I'm getting impatient. There are so many more ideas for novels waiting in the wings, but that I haven't been going very far on, due to the fact that I haven't finished working on Empress. I think I'm still going to work on the second draft, which may take a while with all my procrastinating.
In other news, a celebrity visited the theatre a few weeks ago. Our Canadian city was holding a Big Important Event, and several stars who happened to be working on films in our province at the time all decided to come and have a look-see. Well, one of them came to our theatre (on a night when I wasn't working. Damn!) and went to see Batman Begins. My manager recalled him as familiar from the get go, but couldn't remember his name. Suddenly, he did recognize the man, but all he could think of was Doogie Howser! Yes! Neil Patrick Harris (also of Undercover Brother and Spider-Man: The New Animated Series fame) came to visit our theatre, and complain about how our sound sucked! Of course, the manager couldn't say anything, because all he remembered was Doogie, and he was sure he would get punched in the mouth if he called Mr. Harris by a name he hadn't adopted since 1993.
Moving on, Animethon 12 was...well, alright. I didn't get to see much anime this time, actually, because I spent a great deal of time waiting in line for large events like the Anime Music Video Contest, and the Cosplay. As a result of that waiting, I got good seats for everything, but the events themselves were rather boring. The AMVs did not get a good crop this year, not enough that was interesting, and too many "sentimental" videos done to gooey Top 40 soft-rock. The only one that was really funny was a video called "The Importance of Scenery" by Doki Doki productions that made use of The Arrogant Worm's song "Rocks and Trees" ("we've got rocks and trees and trees and rocks, and rocks and trees....and water....").
Cosplay was a drag (literally in some cases) as well. Not a lot that was particularly impressive. According to a friend of mine who was working at the Artist's Alley, the very last cosplayer (who had an astounding costume that had to be helped onto the stage by a large number of volunteers) found out belatedly that she, as a member of the staff, wasn't supposed to be cosplaying, at least not to win. She was never told, and neither was the new cosplay director, so no one was really at fault, but the girl admitted to me in the line the next day that she was disappointed, because she's a very competitive cosplayer who never wears the same costume twice and never does the same skit twice, and she hadn't wanted to waste it on a competition she wasn't supposed to win.
I did, however, spend the vast, vast majority of my money, something I was not trying to do but ended up doing anyways. The good news is, I didn't waste the money on a series I'd never seen on a whim, or buy crappy merchandise like Hello Kitty make-up mirrors and FullMetal Alchemist stuffed dolls.
Moving onward again (I should update more often), my parents and Sister #2 are gone for the week, relaxing in B.C., leaving Sister #1 and I alone at home for the first time with no parents. Well, I bungled up that situation pretty badly already by forgetting to lock the front door at night, but I hope I can make up with Sister #1 early enough to go and waste all our parents' money with her doing something fun.
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