August 1, 2011 | Uncategorized

First let me say Comic Con is not for the faint of heart, legs, feet, wallet, or mind. My journey began last summer as I watched Comic Con broadcast on G4, a cable channel. I’d heard about the event for a number of couple of years. I knew I’d found my 2011 vacation spot. If of course you think 125,000 plus people descending on San Diego city at its Convention Center and surrounding hotels a vacation hot spot. And I quickly discovered getting to Comic Con isn’t the same as booking a trip to Italy or Disney. That dear reader, would a snap.

My first ‘hint’ this was not going to be easy was Saturday, February 5th. I eagerly sat at my computer waiting for 11am PST so I could buy tickets. Easy, peasey – not. The ticket vendor Ticket Leap, whose logo is a frog, didn’t leap, it didn’t even jump, or twitch. It crashed, croaked. Over and over and over. What a new and terrible experience. But thanks to Twitter posts from Comic Con veterans I learned how to exercise my index finger and the F5 key, over and over and over again. So while Ticket Leap continued to crash/croak I multi-tasked, kept an eye on on my bank account to make sure if I ever got pass the shopping cart my account wouldn’t be debited for additional tickets. Four hours later, I had individual tickets for each day except Preview Wednesday and Saturday and I made it to a friend’s daughter’s baby shower with a story to tell. Of course my friends had no clue what Comic Con was or why I’d spent half the day trying to purchase tickets, but they listened, smiled and nodded in the appropriate places. When it came time for hotel reservations, I had the sinking feeling I was going to be online for hours. No crash, no croak. You are provided a list of all the participating hotels and then you rank them according to where you want to stay. I wanted something close but not too pricey. We stayed at the Doubletree in Mission Valley – easy, peasey. I’m willing to stay there again, located next to a strip mall that had a Starbucks, Joe’s CrabShack and Applebees. One suggestion DoubleTree Hilton – free inroom wifi please. Booking our flight with Frontier Airlines was easy and their flights were on time, our connections smooth and they served warm chocolate chip cookies.

We arrived in San Diego Wednesday afternoon safe, exhausted but excited for Thursday to arrive. The time change was a massive adjustment, one my twenty year old son didn’t have a problem with. Since we came from Central Standard time, we gained an extra two hours. This played havoc with me. I’m an early riser, 6am, so waking at 4am was rough. Thursday morning the first shuttle took us to an off site where we could pick up our badges. We did and I discovered I had a slight badge problem which almost sent me into cardiac arrest. My ticket wasn’t in the system!! Suggestion: When Comic Con sends you the final email right before the convention begins and tells you to print the confirmation pages. Print the confirmation pages. I did but left it in the hotel room and the last two digits on Thursday’s ticket had changed. The staff told me to go to the badge help desk in the convention center and they’d straighten it out. So we took the next bus to the center, my heart pounding, my brain freaked out but once we got there the problem was solved and our badges were printed for every day. When I put on my lanyard, I felt like I’d become a member of a very exclusive group.

Let me back up to our arrival at the San Diego Convention Center. After the second bus dropped us off, across from Petco Field, we crossed over the Pedestrian Bridge. What I saw was so eye opening and overwhelming that television doesn’t do justice. The camera may add ten pounds, but it doesn’t show what thousands of people really look like up close. I was overwhelmed, confused and eager to be a part of it. And I don’t do crowds. I stood there and marveled at all the people, families, and those dressed in costume. After the badge solution, I was given my Comic Con bag big and deep enough for grocery shopping, carry a small child, or an inflatable mattress (not a bad idea by Saturday). Cartoon characters on one side, actors from various programs on the other. Life size almost. On Twitter there was a picture of one woman who’d turned hers into a dress. I scored a Supernatural bag with Sam and Dean Winchester on one side and was approached by a young lady who wanted to switch. No way, child. I am a Supernatural fan. That’s another great thing, if you get a bag you don’t want, ask around someone may be willing to swap.

The convention book is almost half an inch thick – and in small print. Study it. In a corner. Standing. You’re going to do a lot of standing. You can’t sit against the walls, fire hazard. Electric outlets are a premium, you’ll need to find them to recharge your phone. Comic Con gives new meaning to ‘hurry up and wait’. I’ll be glancing through the 2011 edition in preparation for 2012 probably while waiting online to purchase tickets as inspiration to keep pressing F5. The convention is held in several of the hotels, not just the convention center. The Exhibit Hall was were all the vendors, television stations, stars who come for signings, free game playing took place and is equal to three football fields with every inch covered. Buy your Comic Con tee shirt early, they’d sold out by Sunday. Sold Out? Really? I purchased River Song and the Eleventh Doctor’s sonic screwdrivers, a Tardis that lights up and makes sounds and a Tardis usb hub.

So as a first time, but will return Comic Con devotee, here’s just a little of what I experienced.

1. What happens in San Diego, doesn’t stay in San Diego. Especially when you’ve got Twitter and a smartphone with a camera. Constant tweets provided minute by minute updates as to who was where, what to do, who’s doing what, and how to find it. With pictures. Panel video uploads were available right after a panel ended. Just in case you didn’t get in to see it live. Which is possible, check #3. I didn’t go to the Cowboys and Aliens screening at the Civic Center, but there were plenty of other movies being shown at hotels.

2 Wear comfortable shoes. I mean really, really comfortable shoes with support.

3. Lines, lines and more lines. I underestimated the long lines. I don’t do lines. But this was Comic Con so yes I stood in lines. I stood in line for Ballroom 20 on Friday probably longer than my flight from Chicago to Denver. I started way, way back near the water and finally gave up right outside the center. By that time I knew I wasn’t going to get in for Torchwood which was the first panel. I wanted to ask Jane Espenson, a writer for the series questions. Seeing John Barrowman would have been a bonus. If I’d gotten in, I would have stayed in that room all day. The line up after Torchwood was The Walking Dead, Big Bang Theory, Eureka, Warehouse 13 and then True Blood. The rooms are not cleared between panels. You can get bathroom passes and food vendors are located right outside the door. If you don’t get a pass, then it’s back to the end of the line, where ever that is. Back near the pier maybe? I did get in for True Blood, ain’t saying how. It was awesome, no spoilers given.

Anyway since I didn’t get in for Torchwood, it was time to find another panel, another shorter line, one less than a mile long. So what time should you arrive to get in line? Well if the panel begins at 10am and the actors and programs you’re interested in are wildly popular I suggest 6am. And that I think doesn’t get you into the convention center itself. No I’m not kidding. One trick is if you want to see a particular panel, but there are three or four panels ahead of it that you may not really want to see, get in line, get in, sit down and wait. There are no boring panels. After NCIS LA with LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell I stayed for the Worst Cartoon Ever panel. It lived up to its name. My son was off at the Marriott Hotel which was much quieter. Gamers don’t talk, they play games and watch anime.

Sunday I wanted to see SuperNatural and Doctor Who in Hall H bigger than Ballroom 20. I got up early, arrived at the convention center around 8am and was in line across the street from the convention center. Glee was the first panel and I got in standing room only. I kept an eye on people as I stood in the back, when the panel was over, I hoped a lot people would leave. I stared at chairs at the end of several rows. When the panel ended, people left and then it became a game of musical chairs. I bolted for the first chair open I spotted, sat and didn’t move. During the question and answer period for Doctor Who there were two absolutely amazing Dalek costumes that must have taken days to construct. Life size with a person inside. Matt Smith and Karen Gillan took time out to sign the creations.

4. Misery loves company or geeks love geeks. Long lines at Comic Con creates bonding if only for a few hours. There is also a sense of ‘Boy did I get here in time. Do you see where they are?’ when you see how long the line is behind you and you’re happy to be where you are. People are polite, talkative, and will hold your spot if you have to make a break for the bathroom. But don’t try to cut in line, pretend you were there all along. You’ll be reported to the nearest usher. Experienced that. Not me, someone else. Somehow I ‘wandered’ into Thursday’s Batman Arkham City line. Someone I’d met at the hotel told me about it and seriously I just kinda found myself in line. I learned a lot about the characters, actors who do the voices, Mark Hamill, the game, and the trailer was awesome. May have to buy it and play.

5. Hydrate, sunscreen, a small chair, blanket, pillow and camera. I will pack a small folding chair next year maybe put it in my convention bag. The weather was absolutely perfect. I did remember to bring an umbrella which helped while standing outside. Camera and extra batteries are necessities because of all the costumes. People go to great lengths to realistically dress up. It’s fantastic and they love to have their pictures taken.

6. Keep track of Twitter, kept me up to date about happenings and where.

7. If possible a Comic Con buddy is essential. You can’t be in more than one place at one time. My son didn’t count because he headed to the anime and gaming hotel and wasn’t seen until he was hungry or the room closed down for the night. There is so much to do. I got Jim Butcher’s autograph and took a picture with him. And I had my picture taken with Richard Hatch, the original Apollo on the original Battlestar Galactica. He’s still hot and damn nice. There’s a system for getting autographs and it’s written in the guide. I’m going to read it for next year.

8. Where can you sit? Almost anywhere you can find a chair and those are rare. There’s seating in the the Sail Pavilion, I finally figured out where that was because I was sitting in it. I actually took a short nap, but kept waking up to watch a different costumed person walk by.

9. I wish I’d had tickets for Saturday. Sherrilyn Kenyon was there, plenty of authors. A number of publishing houses, Tor, Del Ray, Simon and Schuster also had booths. When I’m published I want to sign at Comic Con.

9. Tickets for 2012 Comic Con were sold at this year’s convention at one of the hotels. Again long lines. I’ll wait for my index finger and F5 in February.

We did venture out into the Gaslight area, across the street from the center. Streets were packed and we had lunch at Cafe Diem, the Eureka restaurant at the Hard Rock Hotel. There were plenty of activities going on there as part of the convention. I definitely want to explore the area more next year. I’m pretty sure I experienced not even one tenth of Comic Con which why I need to go back. I still don’t do lines, but I’ll stand in a Comic Con line. I don’t like crowds, but at Comic Con it’s not a crowd, it’s a large group of people like me who are having a good time.

January 30, 2011 | Writing

Today is Sunday, January 30, 2011 and I just finished setting up my writing goals for the year. You might think I’m thirty days or sixty days late since you’re supposed to begin January first. Why? December is filled with holiday craziness, last minute things to do, parties, presents, family coming in, family leaving. And in the chaos of it all I’m expected to be goal-oriented, write down what I intend to do in 2011. I needed time to breathe, review 2010 – after 2010 ends, consult my change partner Laurie Powers (who thinks I’m nuts in my goals for this year and yet is willing to support my madness), write them down, scratch a few out, add a couple, tinker with how I could achieve them. 2010 was when I finally got healthy again and I intend to respect my positive physical condition, be active, be creative. Take good care of me.

So my question is: Have you already failed in any one or more your goals for 2011? If you said you weren’t going to eat chocolate until RWA New York, have you had a twix bar? Exercise daily? Did you commit to writing every day for a certain amount of time and so far only written two days a week? Maybe one day and no longer than an hour? Does this mean you’ve failed for 2011? No. There are eleven months, three hundred and twenty-six days by my math. I’m including January thirty-first but not counting Christmas, Thanksgiving, fourth of July, RWA (five days), and your birthday.

I believe in not setting yourself up to fail, but make goals that challenge you when you’re thinking straight and not at the end of the year when happy chaos reigns. After the revelry dies down, people go back to work and school, the house is clean, and you catch up with yourself, then this is the time to set your goals. You have a clear head, clean paper, and can see what you want to achieve in the upcoming months. By the second week of January I had my writing goals written down, put each project on a calendar and began fulfilling each goal. Write, revise daily – check. Have more than one project going on at a time – check. Submit at least once a month beginning in February – check. Enjoy the process – double check. Comic Con – triple check. Enjoy and spoil my granddaughter -quadruple check. Play tennis – okay only a double check. Yeah exercise is a goal, twice a week at the health club – half a check. I spread my goals over twelve months, ending January, 2012 and applied a lesson learned when I was a banker. Many large retailer’s fiscal year ends January after the holiday season ends. So why not do the same thing?

Goals are broken, sometimes it’s inevitable. They’re made to be pushed back another month, if necessary. Life gets in the way, you get in the way. Something always happens. If nothing happened and you could work through your goals without a hitch you’d be worried the world was about to end. Goals are made to be changed if the original one isn’t working out. Be flexible, realistic. Be accountable to yourself, don’t give up if you wrote twenty days in January and didn’t the rest of the month. Ask why, assess what you did right, dust your ego off and get back to work.

Laurie made me promise that if I missed a goal, I wouldn’t be depressed. Since I just received a rejection Saturday, we were able to quickly put my promise to the test. I was dejected, upset, and decided that this rejection was for work last year which has been greatly revised since I submitted it, so the rejection belonged in 2010. The past. It’s a Lion King thing. I’ll move forward and submit elsewhere, I’ve got a quality list of agents and editors to send my work to. And I came up with my way to deal with rejection. I’m buying a sterling silver stackable ring for each 2011 rejection. A thin band I can wear on each finger. This could get ugly so let’s hope that I only have twenty or less rejections before my first sale.

December 20, 2010 | Writing

Ah, I got your attention – didn’t I? So let’s get down to the real nitty gritty , I’m talking about where do you do it – your manuscript revisions? You know that novel you’ve been working on? Slaving over? Just dying to get to ‘The End’ again.

This question came to me as I finish revising my completed manuscript. First, let me say here that I will never write a full manuscript again without some type of ongoing revision schedule in place. I looked at 350 pages and cried. What the Frack had I done? So once I dried my tears, I sought a better more sane way to do this with future work. Which then brought up the question: Where do I do it (revisions)? I’d read published authors advise not to revise in the same place you write. Reason being you’ll get a clearer, fresher perspective on your work if done in another room or another place. Sounded reasonable so I decided to ask authors available on online groups I belong to where they did it (revisions).

The answers I received can be applied to whether you are a plotter or organic writer (which is a much better term than panster). And the consensus was: wherever you feel comfortable and just do it (revisions).

Two authors do it (revisions) in bed. Alone. They print out the entire novel or pages, and work page by page and then input changes on their computer. One stated ‘Is there a better place to write romance than in bed?’ She said she felt special surrounded by books, dictionaries, thesaurus and paper. She also said she locked the door. I considered their method and the Goldilocks in me said I’d be asleep in ten minutes. I don’t find my work, even in its crappiest form dull, but a bed is way too comfortable. I admire their discipline. It also means you don’t have to make your bed.

Another author said she did it (revisions) whenever and wherever she could. Given she worked and had two small children, she’d learn to do mini-edits at doctor’s offices, sport practices and could shut out the distractions. Me I’m too damn nosy you never know when someone might provide a potential juicy plot. However once a woman behind me in the grocery line was sobbing on her cell phone to a man about how he done her wrong. I was extremely uncomfortable and got the heck out of there quickly as possible. When my son had tennis lessons with his pro, I was too busy making sure every bit of my money was rung out him on the court to concentrate on revisions. Another published author did it (revisions) on the morning train to work. It worked for Scott Turow and it works for her, she’s multi-published.

So it came down to this, where you do it (revisions) is a matter of choice and where you can achieve the most success. I’ve held several revision sessions on the computer but everyone agreed it was best to print the pages. So now do I and use a purple, green, or purple pen to mark it up, then input changes on my computer. As for where I do it (revisions) it boiled down to my writing room. I confiscated the living room six years ago and remodeled it into my domain. It is a ‘relatively unchanging environment’ as one writer said why she preferred her writing space. It’s my space and my children have felt my wrath if they enter without knocking or use my computer to check Facebook.

The reason I put revisions in parenthesis is to keep your mind on what I mean by ‘where do you do it’. You know how a romance writer’s mind works.

As 2011 draws to a close and the holiday season is on us, keep doing it (revisions) so when 2012 blasts in you’ll do it consistently and in the right place. Keep writing.

Oh I was going to write about Weight Watchers and writing, but since they changed the program that subject will be tackled in 2011. Still good stuff.

Happy Yule,
Yasmine

September 16, 2010 | Inspiration

This September I am celebrating two major milestones in my life. First, is the redesign of my Yasmine Phoenix website. It has taken a year to revamp and my web designer, Emily Swank, has been of tremendous support. We bounced ideas off of each other, she created drafts based off my whimsical and sometimes very vague ideas but in the end we collaborated on what I believe is a image of my view of writing and use of The Phoenix as my inspiration.

The site is colorful, the Phoenix’s ribbons of flames are mystical and the links are user friendly. Look around, it’s still a work in progress as I’m adding more information for readers and authors. So if you don’t see your link email me and I’ll add it. There was one major hiccup, a hacker. A Facebook friend saw it first and emailed me. Panicked, I emailed Emily and it was resolved as I was warning my multiple groups not to click on my site.

The second event is more personal and life altering. Last year, 2009, I had two major surgeries. The first was elective. I play tennis, have arthritis and needed left knee replacement surgery. The surgery went well and I was up and around; well on my way to a full recovery, looking forward to walking without pain and playing tennis in the fall. However, it seems fate had something else in store. Labor Day, I experienced severe abdominal pains that resulted in my lying on my bathroom floor, screaming – alone. Well my trusted beagle was by my side, but she couldn’t do much except stare. My husband had driven our son to DePaul University. I called him; he hurried home and I was more than eager to go to the hospital. Paramedics took me and I figured it was my appendix. By early morning, after several tests, I was prepped for surgery. My surgeon said there was an unidentified mass in my abdomen. I began to think, ‘What if I don’t survive?’ My husband looked worried, something I have rarely seen in our twenty-seven years together. I thought about my son and my daughter, of friends I’d leave behind; stories I hadn’t completed and rejections I’d never receive. Strangely I thought about being reunited with my deceased parents.

When I did wake in recovery I found two nurses working over me and a huge open incision down the middle of my abdomen. Drugs are wonderful, when prescribed, I went back to sleep and the next time I woke, I was in a hospital room with tubes coming out of every orifice, and one created by my surgeon. Needless to say it wasn’t my appendix, but Doctor Johnson removed it anyway.

I had acute diverticulitis, a severe infection in my large intestine. There was a significant amount of inflammation in my colon and called for a bowel resection. I’ll spare you the details, lets just say six months later I required a second surgery for bowel reconnection. I have a deep respect and admiration for individuals who have to live day to day for the rest of their lives with what I only had to endure for a short period time. They have full active lives and no one has a clue as to their health issue.

I spent a week in the hospital the first go round and almost went to ICU because my blood pressure refused to respond to the different medications. I was completely incapacitated. I don’t like not being in control of my body and I don’t like being scared. There was only one thing I could do, relax, watch the second week of The US Open, allow my body to heal, and accept my doctor’s prescribed treatment. I’m not a very good patient. Once home at my first office visit with Dr. Johnson I asked specific questions, beginning with ‘What did you do to me?’ Thankfully my husband was along to ‘ah diffuse’ my direct questions. Dr. Johnson handled my attitude very wel. I’m not sure he looked forward to my followup visits.

I was anxious to have the second surgery and six months later, all my plumbing was reconnected with no problems. I was tempted to put a smiley face post-it note on my belly pre-op , just for laughs. Hubby didn’t think it was a good idea, Dr. Johnson saw the humor and said it would have been fine. Recovery this time around proved to be a bitch. After eleven days, blood transfusions and the insertion of a pic-line because they couldn’t find a vein, I went home and crawled into bed and in a deep depression. Instead of fighting it, I wallowed in it. I laid in bed, couldn’t eat, food had no taste and I gagged when I took small bites. I couldn’t even drink half a cup of Starbucks. My behavior worried my husband and basically I didn’t care. I balled up into a fetal position and let the days and nights pass. I didn’t watch tv, tv watched me. My faithful beagle remained by my bedside and even when my home care nurses tried to cheer me up I remained unresponsive. My daughter called every day from Atlanta. My son came home from college on weekends. My husband, who should have been at his office, worked from our kitchen table. I. Didn’t. Care. What no one including me could understand was how I bounced back so easily from the first surgery and not the second when everything had gone well. My good friend, Nellie, understood and left me alone, not like after the first surgery when she called and added me to her Sunday prayer circle. I did appreciate her themed get well cards, dogs. Nellie is scared of dogs so that was about as close as she was going to get to the little four legged creatures. Laurie text me on a regular basis, encouraging me to get up. Good thing she couldn’t see me roll my eyes at her.

Sometimes it’s good to just allow yourself to go blank. And I’m not recommending my solution for those who suffer serious medically diagnosed depression. The fourth week a nudge of clarity poked me. I spent more time out of bed. The taste of food returned. Bitter first I went through a jar of kosher dill pickles. I lost over twenty pounds bedridden and have found ten of them again. The sun seemed brighter, my mood improved and finally I found myself back in my writing space. Not really doing much, checking emails, reconnecting with friends, Internet shopping. My energy picked up, I drove my car. I put on makeup. I played tennis. I GOT MY HAIR WASHED!!!

Then like the bird that is my Muse, I, Phoenix, rose from the ashes and returned to my world. Just in time to attend my Chicago North RWA conference. I was nervous, but it soon disappeared. I was among friends who missed me and I’d missed them. I volunteered, attended fantastic workshops, drank a beer, and got a request for a full copy of my manuscript. I was ‘whole’ again, but the difference this time was a real eye opener. I’d come to the edge of a cliff, peaked over and realized you can’t just put off until tomorrow something you want today. With good health, a better grip on Weight Watchers, and an appreciation for all those who had my back, I’ve challenged myself to attain my goals. Write, be rejected, be published, be prolific. To write, polish, edit and submit the stories that shout in my head, characters that want to tell me explain their motivation, create plots that are imaginative, colored with a dose of reality and delve into the question: Would you commit a bad act for a good reason? My tag line is ‘Where good and evil can turn on a dime’.

Yasmine Galenorn once wrote a blog about her near death experience when no one was around. She’s a fantastic author. Her incident was a wake up call for her also. Now look how she’s succeeded. Success is not a one time thing. It’s an every day work in progress.

If you want something you have to work not one hundred percent, but two hundred percent. Find the time to write, even if it’s twenty minutes while sitting on the toilet, because that’s the only quiet place, or 2am in the morning when your eyes are so heavy with sleep they feel like weights, but your Muse is saying ‘One more word, just another sentence, add that paragraph, your villain needs your input, sleep is overrated’.

I’d said 2010 was the year of hard work, I thought I meant hard work as in writing. What it’s turning out to be is the year of the hard work of learning myself all over again.

This Phoenix is back. Next week – How Weight Watchers ten points can be used for writing. Until then enjoy my new site (I love the links page) and above all – write.