names and other

The other day I realized a pretty extensive character list had been added to the listing for The Vampire's Boy on Shelfari. I'm terrible at remembering names. As I was looking at it, for a couple of them I thought, "Who the hell was that?" Took me a moment. I put more thought into the main character names, but for many of the minors, the names come after I've planned them with no real significance attached.

I was happy to see Bernie (the neighbor's dog) and Malvoline listed (Jared's cat). I love them.

Work on Rising Wolf continues, slow but steady, and I am satisfied with it thus far. I figure I'm about 20% of the way through it. Mal's monthly transformation is causing changes in him that influence the rest of his behavior during the month. The interesting part to me is that Zach handles it better than Mal.

Goodreads

Just a note about Goodreads. Once in a while I used to pop in on reviews of my novellas, usually a friendly comment, but I've stopped doing that. There's been a lot of conversation online over reviews and how authors can sometimes react badly. Even though I don't believe I've ever said anything out of line, I realize that some readers might feel intruded upon when an author pops in. I don't want that! I also realize I don't feel particularly comfortable doing so. I've given up a lot of things I used to do and that authors are told to do to market themselves. It's probably not at all sensible.

I'm a friendly person, and I enjoy talking to people about a lot of things, writing and good books particularly so, but there's this blurred area at some of these review sites where the mingling between author and reader can get uncomfortable. So even though those kinds of interactions have made me a few friends and I love that, well ... I'll just be over here in this corner if I'm needed;)

health and writing

After years of not knowing what was happening to me and then suddenly growing quite a lot worse for the wear, I've been diagnosed with an as yet unidentified autoimmune disease. They're often difficult to identify, but the possibilities at this point, I've been told, range from lupus to some kind of connective tissue disease. I am getting treatment, but it isn't curable. Hopefully I'll be able to handle it a bit better, just knowing (somewhat) what I'm dealing with.

The post is to let you know what's going on because of the delay from my intended start date in late 2012 for the Beneath the Neon Moon sequel, not to mention delays with other planned writing projects. I am currently working on the sequel, enjoying the hell out of it. I am actively scheduling time to write (I always tried to simply fit it into my day before, which didn't work well) and keep a continuous flow going. 

I've always found it odd to hear how an author loves their characters, I suppose because we make them up. So are we saying we love our own minds? Maybe we do, or at least what our minds conjure, because I love Zach and Mal. They feel like extraordinary fellows who go to extraordinary lengths for each other. Whatever part of me that brought them to life truly believes in them, and they continue to present themselves to me as strikingly real persons as I write them.