Hit 22k today. Not nearly up to where I wanted to be, but well above where I should be to hit 50k by the end of the month. If I can do another 3000 by the end of the day I'll be halfway there.
Excerpt:
Plans told her that the building held 120 sufficiencies, tiny family apartments that held, at most, four people each. Common sanitary facilities, common kitchen to which a sufficient number of nutritionally balanced meals was delivered on a daily basis.
The meals were uniformly tasteless, their texture something like hardened jelly from the one Nix had tasted many years ago. With her ancestors being teachers, she'd never had to live like that. And yet these people had pride in their own way, even when they had next to nothing, determined that their children would be better off than they were. That determination held them on track to make sure that their children had education and a higher position in the nonexistent hierarchy of the Council.
Without connections and without any ability to influence the decision makers, that hope was a dead end road. But still they worked, hoarding their social credits to buy the special schooling, the tutors and good clothes so that their children didn't need to be ashamed.
She found the little boy in the common classroom with fifteen others. All of them worked on their own studies. They all knew they were being watched, so there was no overt bullying, but a note was passed from hand to hand until it reached the child next to the boy.
He looked down at it, looked over at the smirking originator, and opened it. After a moment he folded it carefully and dropped it on the floor.
The boy who had planted the garden outside the apartment house looked down at it and swept it toward himself, centering it carefully under his shoe. He went back to his work.
After a time he froze his Teaching program and ran upstairs, incidentally sweeping up the note as he left his seat. He closed the flimsy door carefully and filled a pitcher with water, carrying it down the narrow stairs and out the front door.
There he stopped, and stared. He knelt in the dirt and read the little note at the base of one of the plants, then looked around as if expecting to find someone hurrying away with a shovel.
Carefully then, he emptied his pitcher around the base of the two plants and piled dirt around them before he went back inside, the pitcher swinging from his fingers.
The grin on his face seemed bright enough to illuminate the hallway.
The door he had entered gave her the names of the occupants, and only one was in the right age range. Nix was unsurprised when she accessed the records to find that he spent much of his time in Axon planting and tending a garden.
A look at his records showed her about what she expected—although he and his parents hadn't been informed yet, this was his last year of primary school. His scores alone would have indicated he should continue on. He was listed as a "disruptive influence," often interfering between the other children when they were involved in tormenting each other.
Nix looked deeper, grimaced at the "educational path" outlined for him. Street maintenance. Another mind gone to waste.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Friday, November 1, 2013
NaNo update 1
I got 9000 words today. I was hoping for 15k, but I don't think that's going to happen. Right now I am going to go take a nap.
Last year I worked up to 4000 words per day prior to NaNo. This time I didn't "warm up" so my writing muscles are screaming.
Excerpt from Axon:
"Exactly. Nationalism nearly destroyed our world, even before the collapse. Ania, can you give me a quote that supports this?"
Ania blinked at her, as if surprised. She didn't look to the side. "Nations must be abolished. We must come together under the banner of a shared humanity in order to stop the madness."
"Who said that?"
The other students stared at her, surprised that she would ask what everyone knew.
Since it was Ania she looked at, Ania answered. "Faber Milanoiaki. He gave us the peace after the collapse."
"You're close. Actually it was his wife Gina who said it first and the first Councilor always gave her the credit. She died in the second year of the collapse, killed by an assassin sent for the Councilor. Records indicate that the assassin was supported by Unistat, although they disclaimed all responsibility."
She looked around at her students. "Think of that. A single nation made a decision that could have destroyed any chance for a recovery from the collapse."
A light on one of the monitors indicated that Georg had a comment and she nodded to him. "Go ahead."
"They all feared him, so why limit it to one nation? It could have been Rus, Unistat, the Chin. Any of them. I looked at the records, and all we have is a statement by the first Councilor indicating that he thought it might have been Unistat."
Nix shook her head. "Regardless of who did it, it was nationalism. The idea of borders, the idea that people are different because of where and how they live, is one of the first fallacies that the great Councilor changed. Analysis of records captured from the Unistat databanks indicated it was them." He still looked skeptical.
"I've seen those records too," Anai commented. "In my analytics class last year. I see half a dozen ways that the information could have gone in another direction. All we know from that information is that Unistat knew who did it after the event."
Foolish girl. Most of Nix's co-teachers would have been confused, muttered and stuttered until they inadvertently supported the girl's delusions. "The Councilor had access to other information and he stated that it was Unistat. In any case, nationalism killed her. And the Councilor as well, later."
"It took more than a century to abolish nationalism," Priete commented. "And the nations fought every step of the way."
"Why would anyone fight against it?" Francis asked, his forehead furrowed in real confusion. "It's the only system that makes sense."
"But they didn't abolish nationalism." Ania smiled faintly and Nix began to wonder if the girl was doing this deliberately. "There are still a few nations that hold out."
How had the foolish child learned that? It wasn't common knowledge even among the elite of the university. A dangerous statement, and a dangerous situation she had put her teacher in.
Last year I worked up to 4000 words per day prior to NaNo. This time I didn't "warm up" so my writing muscles are screaming.
Excerpt from Axon:
"Exactly. Nationalism nearly destroyed our world, even before the collapse. Ania, can you give me a quote that supports this?"
Ania blinked at her, as if surprised. She didn't look to the side. "Nations must be abolished. We must come together under the banner of a shared humanity in order to stop the madness."
"Who said that?"
The other students stared at her, surprised that she would ask what everyone knew.
Since it was Ania she looked at, Ania answered. "Faber Milanoiaki. He gave us the peace after the collapse."
"You're close. Actually it was his wife Gina who said it first and the first Councilor always gave her the credit. She died in the second year of the collapse, killed by an assassin sent for the Councilor. Records indicate that the assassin was supported by Unistat, although they disclaimed all responsibility."
She looked around at her students. "Think of that. A single nation made a decision that could have destroyed any chance for a recovery from the collapse."
A light on one of the monitors indicated that Georg had a comment and she nodded to him. "Go ahead."
"They all feared him, so why limit it to one nation? It could have been Rus, Unistat, the Chin. Any of them. I looked at the records, and all we have is a statement by the first Councilor indicating that he thought it might have been Unistat."
Nix shook her head. "Regardless of who did it, it was nationalism. The idea of borders, the idea that people are different because of where and how they live, is one of the first fallacies that the great Councilor changed. Analysis of records captured from the Unistat databanks indicated it was them." He still looked skeptical.
"I've seen those records too," Anai commented. "In my analytics class last year. I see half a dozen ways that the information could have gone in another direction. All we know from that information is that Unistat knew who did it after the event."
Foolish girl. Most of Nix's co-teachers would have been confused, muttered and stuttered until they inadvertently supported the girl's delusions. "The Councilor had access to other information and he stated that it was Unistat. In any case, nationalism killed her. And the Councilor as well, later."
"It took more than a century to abolish nationalism," Priete commented. "And the nations fought every step of the way."
"Why would anyone fight against it?" Francis asked, his forehead furrowed in real confusion. "It's the only system that makes sense."
"But they didn't abolish nationalism." Ania smiled faintly and Nix began to wonder if the girl was doing this deliberately. "There are still a few nations that hold out."
How had the foolish child learned that? It wasn't common knowledge even among the elite of the university. A dangerous statement, and a dangerous situation she had put her teacher in.
NaNOWriMO!!!!
Ha! Today is the first day of November, so that means the next month will be crazy busy and impossible. So fun.
NaNoWriMo is an international writing contest (in a sense) and the goal is 50,000 words in a month. That means a little over 1600 words per day if I write every day, but since I don't write on Sundays I do 2000 words the rest of the days to make my goal by November 30th at midnight.
I'll be posting bits and pieces here, along with word count updates.
For the last few years I haven't been able to contribute to support NaNoWriMo, even though I participate every year. This year I found a blog-hop that's "giving back" to the NaNoWriMo website to support their programs.
They've written an anthology, The Spirit of Christmas, and ALL PROCEEDS are being donated to The Office of Letters and Light, which runs the NaNoWriMo programs.
So here's my wish. All I want for NaNo is...a cover for my next book. :)
NaNoWriMo is an international writing contest (in a sense) and the goal is 50,000 words in a month. That means a little over 1600 words per day if I write every day, but since I don't write on Sundays I do 2000 words the rest of the days to make my goal by November 30th at midnight.
I'll be posting bits and pieces here, along with word count updates.
For the last few years I haven't been able to contribute to support NaNoWriMo, even though I participate every year. This year I found a blog-hop that's "giving back" to the NaNoWriMo website to support their programs.
They've written an anthology, The Spirit of Christmas, and ALL PROCEEDS are being donated to The Office of Letters and Light, which runs the NaNoWriMo programs.
So here's my wish. All I want for NaNo is...a cover for my next book. :)
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Publish
Sometimes the hardest part of writing is pushing the "publish" button.
Understand, I'm a writer. That's what I do, it's what I am and I'm not going to apologize for that. But I've always been a writer for me rather than for other people. Letting other people see my work is a risk.
But the interesting thing there was that once I started letting other people read my work I learned that it wasn't so hard. And the first time I pushed the publish button on a blog post, it wasn't so hard.
The first time I pushed publish on one of my books--that was hard, it took several hours before I was willing to actually jump. But the second was only about half an hour, and I have no doubt that the third will be even easier.
My first negative review--I still laugh every time I think about it.
Understand, I'm a writer. That's what I do, it's what I am and I'm not going to apologize for that. But I've always been a writer for me rather than for other people. Letting other people see my work is a risk.
But the interesting thing there was that once I started letting other people read my work I learned that it wasn't so hard. And the first time I pushed the publish button on a blog post, it wasn't so hard.
The first time I pushed publish on one of my books--that was hard, it took several hours before I was willing to actually jump. But the second was only about half an hour, and I have no doubt that the third will be even easier.
My first negative review--I still laugh every time I think about it.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
An alternative to healthcare
I was just on the Matt Walsh blog reading responses to one of his posts. This particular post is real-life stories from people who are being affected by the Affordable Care Act.
Someone mentioned a bill-sharing ministry, which I've heard of before but not by that name. My understanding is that everyone pays into the "fund" each month, and medical bills are paid out of that fund. When someone submits a claim, it's paid out of the existing funds and the rest of the participants pick up whatever the fund doesn't cover. So if you have 100 people participating, and they're each putting in $100 per month the fund has about 10k per month to work with. So if someone submits a 20k claim, 10k would be paid out of the fund and the other 10k split between the individuals, so each would pay an additional $100.
My proposed structure is more like a health-insurance credit union or a health-insurance trust. The participants pay in every month, and medical bills are paid up to a certain limit, pretty much the reverse of our current system. As the fund builds, the amount available also increases. For the first year (or two years, depending on how it's structured) people would be restricted to the amount they've paid in to the system, but by that time the fund could have grown to the point where it is self-sustaining. If everyone has a particular limit per year then the fund could take a 30% loss and still be self-sustaining. And the next year each person has that same (or a higher) limit based on the fund balance. So a person who has 100k in medical bills could keep claiming the maximum per year as long as they continued to pay into the system.
People with preexisting conditions would have the same payout and the same "premiums" as everyone else.
Statistics say that 2% of individuals will have a "catastrophic" need in any given year. Even assuming that more than 2% of the individuals in the plan claim the maximum, the plan can take a 30% loss while remaining viable and continuing to grow. People would be in charge of their own medical coverage, deciding for themselves what they want to claim.
Example: Individual paying $100 per month, fund balance of 100k after the first year, 100 participants. Per family limit of 5k per year. 6% could claim the max and the fund remains viable. Year end balance of 160k, maximum goes up to 6k the next year or add 100 participants.
Makes sense to me. Someone please make it a reality?
Someone mentioned a bill-sharing ministry, which I've heard of before but not by that name. My understanding is that everyone pays into the "fund" each month, and medical bills are paid out of that fund. When someone submits a claim, it's paid out of the existing funds and the rest of the participants pick up whatever the fund doesn't cover. So if you have 100 people participating, and they're each putting in $100 per month the fund has about 10k per month to work with. So if someone submits a 20k claim, 10k would be paid out of the fund and the other 10k split between the individuals, so each would pay an additional $100.
My proposed structure is more like a health-insurance credit union or a health-insurance trust. The participants pay in every month, and medical bills are paid up to a certain limit, pretty much the reverse of our current system. As the fund builds, the amount available also increases. For the first year (or two years, depending on how it's structured) people would be restricted to the amount they've paid in to the system, but by that time the fund could have grown to the point where it is self-sustaining. If everyone has a particular limit per year then the fund could take a 30% loss and still be self-sustaining. And the next year each person has that same (or a higher) limit based on the fund balance. So a person who has 100k in medical bills could keep claiming the maximum per year as long as they continued to pay into the system.
People with preexisting conditions would have the same payout and the same "premiums" as everyone else.
Statistics say that 2% of individuals will have a "catastrophic" need in any given year. Even assuming that more than 2% of the individuals in the plan claim the maximum, the plan can take a 30% loss while remaining viable and continuing to grow. People would be in charge of their own medical coverage, deciding for themselves what they want to claim.
Example: Individual paying $100 per month, fund balance of 100k after the first year, 100 participants. Per family limit of 5k per year. 6% could claim the max and the fund remains viable. Year end balance of 160k, maximum goes up to 6k the next year or add 100 participants.
Makes sense to me. Someone please make it a reality?
Thursday, October 17, 2013
One step at a time
I admire people who can speak their mind. I tend to try to make sure that no one will be offended, which is self defeating but as an indie author it's rather important not to alienate my audience.
Then I realize (every time) that if they're going to be offended it doesn't matter what I say or don't say. I could stand still in the middle of a room and someone would find my stillness offensive.
That seems to be the world we live in.
The problem is that all my life I've been taught not to make waves. Not told, mind you. Taught. There's a difference.
Keeping my mouth shut and my head down has always been my safety net, but now I'm an author. I've put my work out there for other people to read, which means I can't hide in the dark anymore. Eventually, what I write is going to clash with what someone else believes. It's inevitable.
And in my writing, what they think doesn't matter. It's in my life that I have to fight to say what I really think rather than pulling back into my safe turtle shell. I learned early that the only way to survive was to have no opinions, no feelings and keep my interests to myself.
I am working on stepping out of the dark, but it's an uphill struggle.
Then I realize (every time) that if they're going to be offended it doesn't matter what I say or don't say. I could stand still in the middle of a room and someone would find my stillness offensive.
That seems to be the world we live in.
The problem is that all my life I've been taught not to make waves. Not told, mind you. Taught. There's a difference.
Keeping my mouth shut and my head down has always been my safety net, but now I'm an author. I've put my work out there for other people to read, which means I can't hide in the dark anymore. Eventually, what I write is going to clash with what someone else believes. It's inevitable.
And in my writing, what they think doesn't matter. It's in my life that I have to fight to say what I really think rather than pulling back into my safe turtle shell. I learned early that the only way to survive was to have no opinions, no feelings and keep my interests to myself.
I am working on stepping out of the dark, but it's an uphill struggle.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Is Without A Voice a thriller?
I talked to one of my readers the other day and she said that she found Without A Voice frightening.
I can't get my head around it. It's alternately described by other readers as suspense or a thriller, but even that I can't quite figure out. Thriller? When I think of thrillers I think of chainsaw murderers. I don't like thrillers. I don't like blood and guts and extreme violence, so I don't write it.
The book is tense, yes. It faces topics of domestic abuse, stalking, etc, but there are only two violent scenes and even those are what I would consider extremely mild. I cataloged it as suspense for a reason.
I think my idea of "thriller" must be seriously out of whack.
What do you think? Is Without A Voice a thriller? Did you find it frightening?
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