Distractions

I am often easily distracted, something that's become a family joke. Sometimes, that becomes a huge hindrance to getting any work done. Here's a brief glimpse inside the scary place that is my brain. Since I wrote the first draft of the book I'm revising with the soundtrack from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as background noise, I put on that CD to try to trigger myself back into writing mode. That reminded me that Hugo nominations are due this week (since the last HP book will likely be a nominee) and I needed to think of what I want to nominate (incidentally, Damsel Under Stress would be eligible as a novel, if you're so inclined). I know I want to nominate the Doctor Who episode "Blink" in the short-form category, and that set off this stream of consciousness: "I'm glad Doctor Who will be back soon, but it will be weird watching it in the spring. It seems like it should be more of a fall show. I wonder why that is. Maybe it's that the first two seasons were on in the fall here, and even the latest season that started earlier ended in the fall. They also do a lot of their filming in the fall, so the episodes look fallish. Not that the time of year really matters or is consistent, since it's a show about time travel. Or it could be that both times I've been to England, it was in October, so I automatically associate anything about England with the fall. Why do I think of "Blink" as a fall episode? Did they say when it takes place? I guess spooky old houses make me think of Halloween, and then there was rain, and the lighting had a golden, fall-like quality to it. But it will be good to have Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica on back-to-back again. I wonder which archetypes fit the BSG characters. I think it's possible that Lee Adama might be a Best Friend. He seems to have high ideals about mankind in general rather than a specific Warrior-type mission, and he's always so disappointed when others don't live up to his ideals about everyone just doing the right thing and getting along. That archetype would make him similar to my Owen. Maybe that's why I like him. You know, Jamie Bamber would make a good Owen, if he kept his hair dark. I'm not sure whether I like him better dark-haired or blond. I think I've only seen him blond when he was much younger and still had some baby fat on his face. I wonder what he'd look like blond and as lean as he is now."

You get the picture. Then, of course, I was sidetracked with mentally composing a blog post about getting sidetracked. Later, I was in the shower and actually had some good ideas (which so often come in the shower), but got sidetracked there and realized when I went to rinse my hair that I hadn't actually remembered to put the shampoo on in the first place.

I've talked in the past about how each book seems to need to be written at a different time, but I'm starting to wonder if it has more to do with the time of year I'm writing it. This book is turning into a night book, where I can't focus at all during the day, but I make progress at night. But the first draft was an afternoon book. My last real "night" book was Damsel Under Stress, and I was writing it at this time of year. Summer and fall books seem to mostly be afternoon books, where I can kick into gear at 3 in the afternoon and get my goals done before dinner. Anything written January through March seems to happen at night, with me being useless in the afternoon. So I may go with it. There's not much on TV lately, so there's nothing to get in the way of writing at night. I'm also way behind on administrative stuff and housework that I could do in the afternoon instead of staring at the computer screen and letting my mind wander. Of course, the fact that my next-door neighbor is remodeling her house and the day is filled with the sound of power tools and hammering doesn't help matters. And, wow, I don't think I've written a book in the spring, at least not recently in my current circumstances. I've done editorial revisions, but I guess I've usually been busy in April and May with books coming out.

And by the way, the latest Battlestar Galactica promo pictures with Lee Adama in his lawyer suit look very much the way I imagine Owen. I know I said I didn't want to discuss any particular dream casting now that the book has been optioned (since I don't want to have said I want one person when someone else entirely is cast), but this isn't so much talking about casting as it is saying, wow, this particular picture fits my mental image.



Yeah, I'll be in my bunk. And in case the movie does go into production, and in case the actor cast to play Owen does some research and finds this, it doesn't mean I don't love you or didn't want you to play the part.