Inspired by Remus, uninspired by October

[mellotron_breakfast]

A star-nosed mole. I've seen one that a cat killed before, but generally when I describe this thing foreigners don't believe me. These are the sorts of burrowers we get in lieu of any hedgehog.

I'm still somewhat out of sorts, I first dreamed I was chasing Eleanor trying to keep her out of trouble, then she became Oona, and then she became a mosquito. I pleaded with her to change back because I might have to swat her if she kept being a mosquito. I didn't like this at all.

Then I had another dream which smacked of unrequited love, this time from a much more recent... still, there are generally good reasons these things didn't work out, and so I'm not happy with my subconscious for dwelling on these sorts of things further.

A fortune cookie told me Rome wasn't burned built in a day. It's about as reliable as that horoscope that kept bothering me, except instead they are trying to find universally applicable axioms to sell to everybody. It's never as good as the fortune cookies miss_tee had fresh made for her wedding. The cookie may have a point this time. Why don't we have some Transylvanian equivalent, like fortune cabbage rolls? Other than that the paper would get soggy?

Packing stuff--saw that my can of spray sunscreen might be frowned upon, so I switched it for the old goopy crap that's been in the medicine cabinet for at least one year. Difference of 10 SPF between them. It looks like I have everything I need and can use; just making sure my USB-charging old Sony mp3 player, which continues to laugh at death, is fully charged before I go. Also making sure I pack the regular lens with the camera, and actually put the battery inside the camera body as it's otherwise in a charger all the time. In contrast, the memory card almost never leaves the device.

Oh, and the proofread cutoff for AAManuscript--I wish there were a version still existing that didn't have the Elfkin revision to the beginning, unfortunately I think I lost it with the old hard drive--is July 24. If you even get it in on July 25 Australian time, failure will ensue. If you really don't like it and believe it will end in failure, then you have a golden opportunity to say nothing, so I can delight in succeeding despite your gut instinct. If I haven't given you enough time, too bad, I'm revising this all August long and then getting to the other one in September, then being more depressed in October as usual, then writing the third in November. I can't stand not doing anything with it anymore, except for the next week.

Comments

[remus-shepherd.livejournal.com]

How did I inspire *that*?

I have a good chunk of AAManuscript critiqued in detail, but I can't get much farther in it. It's not my kind of story. Shall I send what I have?

[mr-figgy.livejournal.com]

It's Lovecraftian, just like the tentacle flower you posted.

I have plenty of suggestions already from those who have answered, and I worried a while back that I did indeed give you a story you were not going to enjoy even before the rest of its problems. How about don't trouble yourself with either script and we'll find some other way to work together at some point? :)

I'm on the fence here though, as I'm actually terrified of how bad it would have to be for you to make it not so far in. Suggestions so far will result in a new beginning being written, and the entire first section reorganized in a manner that actually makes sense, just for a couple of examples. So really I'm looking at, send what you've got and don't bother with any of the rest, or don't send what you've got and don't bother with any of the rest. I could live with either I guess.

[remus-shepherd.livejournal.com]

I'll send what I have...there are some suggestions in there that I hope will be constructive. I don't have a lot, though, so don't worry about it much.

[mr-figgy.livejournal.com]

Read it 'cause I couldn't hold off. Seems okay. Few have actually tackled the way the prose should work as opposed to the story/structure so there's stuff that nobody else said yet. Thanks.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

It's Lovecraftian

That's what I thought as well... Imagine scaling it up a bit. Instead of a star-nosed mole you could have a star-nosed dhole!

[mr-figgy.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't surprise me if HPL encountered one of these things. He's on the correct side of the correct continent, given that the critters have been reported as far south as Georgia and definitely in local woodlands.