Vi har sett Avatar på bio! Vi hade turen att se den på Royal (Malmös största biograf) i 3D och jag tror verkligen att det här är en film som ska njutas i 3D.  ( Here be spoilers! ) Ja, jag vill tillbaka till Pandora. Snarast möjligt. 

... but otherwise fine. I'm in good spirits for somebody waiting for her manuscript to be returned.

That's right, I haven't told you the update on my book. So far I've finished one set of revisions and I met my deadline with the help of two dedicated beta-readers. I got an answer from my publisher and editor at once, telling me that they've received it. That's a relief. I'm always a bit nervous when I've sent things off. Things can get lost in cyber-mail as well as in the normal kind.

Anyway, I enjoyed my vacation and didn't think about the book much at all. When I got home I had a few days according to schedule before I'd get the book back for last revisions so I've used those days writing the steampunk calendar Ombord Franz Ferdinand, and what a pleasure that has been!

And so, a few days ago, I got a letter from my editor telling me that they will take a few days longer with my book than initially planned, but that I'll get those days back in the other end of my deadline. They didn't give me any hint as to how they've found the manuscript, but I try not to fret over it too much.

The result is that I have a longer period of free writing time than I'd anticipated and I use it as well as I can. I get up in the mornings and write. Every day, with or without success.

When I were in Berlin for the workshop I brought my The Ticking City with me and I got a lot of good response on that. Somethings I wan't to fix immediatly and other things will need some time to ripen before I get around to doing a re-write.

I like the feeling of waking in the morning and wanting to read my own book. And right now that book is The Ticking City and not The Book Formerly Known as Udda. I suspect that will change as soon as I get the pages back for the last revisions. Then I'll be all about Udda.

But right now it's all Franz Ferdinand.

I'm tired, my nose is red from tissue and there's no end to the effects of the cold (hard to write around, but I wanted a post free from descriptions of bodily fluids) and I need to write at least two episodes to the calendar tonight.

The appartment is dusty, full of clean laundry in bags, dirty travel-clothes in other bags, suitcases, christmas ornaments, the knick-knacks from Japan, the paperwork that gathered before and after the trip, the presents we bought and the souvenirs. I have nothing ready in the fridge and not a speck of energy to fix something up.

I just drank juice out of the carton. Where is the bottom? Have I reached it yet?

In Sweden we would describe my present state with sunk!

Well. I'm a grown woman. I know where to find my hoover, I can at least eat sandwiches (when I stop feeling sorry for myself) and I really love writing the calendar - so the only thing I can't change is the cold. Ironically that's the thing that make me listless and tired in the first place.

Oh well. It'll get better soon.

Did I mention I'm too tired to read? It's a dissaster.

I've promised some posts on my journey to Japan, but I'm sadly stressed out by other things and I still haven't downloaded my pictures from the camera so this isn't even the post where I'll make good on my promise.

This is the post where I, on popular demand mind you, put together the day-to-day updates I did on the trip. So those that want to can share in the experience. And again I have to apologize for the language - it's in Swedish.

Och för alla som faktiskt förstår svenska - här kommer en summering av resan. Jag hade det fantastiskt där, jag önskar att alla kunde få uppleva en så makalös resa som vi hade! Nu hade vi ett rejält försprång i det att vi hade en mecenat som var lysande och som visade oss sidor av Tokyo vi aldrig hade sett annars. Men jag vågar tro att man även utan en guide kan få en fantastisk upplevelse där. Japan har inte sett det sista av oss!

1. Nu åker vi! Är säker på att jag har glömt något. Men det får vara. Jag har pass, pengar och praliner. Jag klarar allt!

2. Japan - helt jävla fantastiskt! Resan - sjukt lång.

3. igår: Shibuya - tonårstrender, världens mest berömda övergångsställe, sitta på café och titta på folk, nicka igenkännande till okända vitingar, sova länge, slappa. Ätit underlig mat, shoppat medelst teckenspråk (bla pinnar, numer pass pengar pinnar), åkt lokaltrafik. Semester, det är grejjer det!

4. igår: regnade det. Vi gjorde en repris på gårdagen och åkte tillbaka till Shibuya för att sitta och titta på folk i paraplyer som myllrade över ett övergångsställe. Betydligt exotiskare än vad det låter. =) tittade på kendoträning, gick på yakitorirestaurang, vidare till en riktigt underlig bar, sen till en underligare...

5. igår: Asakusa, Ueno, parker, tempel, fika och sol. Sushi från rullband och våffelbakelser från gatustånd, frukt på pinne och en superduperlyxig middag innan vi gick till champagnebar. Det är inte synd om mig.

6.igår: sovmorgon (se champagnebar ovan), smoothie, kaffe, Kejsarens östra trädgårdar, Akehabara, maid-café, spelhall, middag på en restaurang som hette 'torkad fisk'. Löper risk att överdosera på nya intryck. All mat är fantastisk.

7. igår: Harajuku, ungdomskultur, lolitas och intensivshopping, dumplings på bredden och tvären, nepalesisk kvällsmat (första maten jag inte behöver göra om) och kassar fulla med plunder.

8. igår: Odaiba (en konstgjord ö med helt ny bebyggelse), superunderliga hus, enorma köpcentra, monorail, Tokyo-vy i solnedgång och efter solnedgång med alla ljusen, en frihetsgudinna (!), en zeppelinare på avstånd, middag på en familjerestaurang i värsta helgdagsrusning. Ytterligare en fantastisk dag!

9. idag till fredag: strax rusa till tåget till Kyoto. Planerar en sväng till Nara och en dag i Osaka. Boende osäkert (det löser sig, om inte annat på kärlekshotell), tempel, trädgårdag och höstlöv utlovade. Ska bli spännande att se annat än Tokyo. Tre dagars radiotystnad, troligen.

10. I förrgår: resa m shinkansen t Kyoto, strula m boende, promenera i geishakvarteren, se geiko, bli regnade på, åt yakiniku.
Igår: silverpaviljongen, filosofens väg, zen-kloster, höstlöv, promenad kring palatsparken, bo på ryokan i tatamirum, äta fancy middag o fika til sent.
Idag: Nara, tempelsafari, Guldpaviljongen o tempuramiddag vid låga bord.
Japan är fortfarande lysande!

11. igår: lämnade Kyoto för Himeji, såg det vita hägerslottet (det som är med i Shogun bland annat) och promenerade runt i timmar. Reste tillbaka till Tokyo, gick på liten men vacker bar och drack absinth. Det ledde naturligtvis till karaoke till fyra på natten.

12. igår: en förklarligt långsam morgon, rullbandssushi, Ginzas glittrande gator, finkaffe (och då menar jag _fint kaffe_), middag, sen kväll, många samtal. Det här landet har bjudit på matupplevelser utöver det vanliga och igår var det en av resans två höjdpunkter - wagyu. Det måste vara det godaste köttet i världen, den här gången tillrätt på den bästa restaurangen.

13. igår: ytterligare en långsam morgon, politikpratfikafrukost, tåg till Edo-Tokyomuseét och sen gick vi där i timmar. De hade underbara modeller av Edo och det modernare Tokyo. Yakiniku i Shinagawa till middag, är rädd att det blev något av en köttfrossa. Förberedde packningen och drabbades av vånda, var väskan verkligen så här liten på vägen hit?

14. idag: sett delar av den japanska byråkratin, tittat på japansk historisk såpa, gått i Akihabara Electric Town och shoppat, fikat på maid-café, shoppat i Shibuya och i Meguro. Ätit middag på 38e våningen i Ebisu Garden. Tokyo är vackert om natten, maten var mycket god. Separationsångesten har börjat på allvar.

15. idag: postat vykort, drällt i Shibuya, gått på Tokyo Hands (som måste vara den bästa butiken i världen. Hade de bara haft choklad också så hade jag aldrig behövt lämna den), fikat, promenerat, fikat, tittat på folk, fikat, ätit yakiniku i Shinagawa, badat i axelhögt badkar (satt förvisso ner, men ändå) och avslutat kvällen med att väga bagaget. Det väger på pricken. Bara att hålla andan när det vägs in...

16. Separationsångesten är till viss del närvarande, folk är inte alls lika trevligt artiga på öresundstågen som de är på Tokyos tunnelbana och att gå från supertrevliga Tokyo till supernonchalanta Charles De Gaulles var något av en kalldusch. Men: pratade med främlingar över kaffet på morgonen, träffade glada underbara arbetskamraterna och lunchade med en gammal vän. Nej, livet i Malmö är inte dumt det heller!

Ja, det var väl den resan det? Jag ska använda det här för att brodera ut senare, men det får vänta. Nu ska jag packa för att resa till Berlin. Jup, jag är en liten globetrotter jag!

Silly, silly LJ, or possibly silly, silly computer.

Anyway, I can't post in Rich Text and it refuses every link I try. So I'll settle for a discription of my current mood. Horrible.

There. I'm prone in bed, or semi-upright in the sofa and down with a cold. I had to leave work today and have slept since. There's no time for this! None! I'm a busy girl with a tight schedule! Do you hear me world?!

No. I didn't think so.

So far I've treated myself to a glass of julmust (Swedish softdrink available during christmas time and Easter) and a clementine. My nose is red and my cheeks are white. That's the holiday spirit.

Don't mind me, I'll just mope over here for a while.

This is rather wonderful - a quote I found on Kaitlin Kiernan's blog (greygirlbeast ):

"Yesterday, I followed a link Neil Clarke (of Clarkesworld Magazine) posted to Twitter, and found a fine little essay/blog entry on writing, in the blog of Damien G. Walter: "Show Me the Writers Taking Risks." It speaks very much to my "writing process" (though I do loathe that phrase), and opens with this quote from Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles (borrowed from Frederico Fellini): "Don’t tell me what I’m doing, I don’t want to know." It moves along to another Bradbury quote: "First you jump off the cliff, then you build the wings." Which is about the best advice I could ever give any would-be writer. Stop plotting. Stop outlining. Stop writing character profiles and fretting over arcs. Kill the spreadsheets. Forget the workshops. This isn't science, and tedium won't save you. Writing is art, which means it's pretty much magic. Peer over the edge, size up the drop, then just fucking jump off the cliff and get to work, because the ground is rushing towards you, or you're rushing towards the ground (it hardly matters which). Just write the damned story. In this short essay, Walter writes:

So many writers seem set on not just building wings, but complete impact survival systems before they even venture to the cliff edge (while others are hurling themselves into the void without even a sense that the ground exists).

Anyway, yes...I suggest you have a look."

I am as always in awe of her writing and to hear that she does it this way makes me even more impressed. I'm not very good at plotting either, glad to hear that it's optional. =)

Och med det i åtanke - ni läser väl min och Tomas kalender? Tomas Lif gör de charmigaste teckningar och jag störtar själv mot marken i en riktigt svindlande hastighet. Med lite tur har jag byggt en ångdriven helikopter innan jag blir bryskt introducerad för marken.

And for you English speakers: check out the cute calendar at tailsfromtheburrow.blogspot.com. It updates daily with a fable picture and a verse.

I'm home again! Glad to not to be on a plane but a little dissappointed not to be in Japan anymore. This has, without a doubt, been the best trip of my life. I'll try and sort out the impressions and the pictures and post a little later, but right now I have to dig into normal everyday life. Laundry, to be precise.

I'm also unpacking our loot - it's a lot! The best part of the haul must be the umeshu (plum wine) that we managed to squeeze into the bag. The bottles held and now I can continue my tradition of a glass of umeshu on the rocks after dinner. Feels good not to have to give up all of Japan at once.

The jetlag isn't as bad as I hade imagined but I feel out of sorts and dizzy and have a hard time focusing on the letters on the screen. This is bad since I have some writing to do but gives me time to unpack instead.

If you felt left out by my calendar in Swedish here's one in English! It's about two little bunnies and it's supersweet!

Då var vi igång! Första avsnittet av Ombord Franz Ferdinand - ett luftskeppsäventyr i 24 delar är uppe!

I'm still in Japan but I wanted to show you my Secrit Projict since it's up now. I've made a calendar for Sweetest to count down the days until Christmas and when I told friends about it (I had to get some feedback) they wanted to see it as well.

So, here it is, for your enjoyment: a steampunk story about an airship pirate attack in 24 parts. I'm sad to say that it's in Swedish, but it's illustrated by my friend Tomas and the pictures are nice enough to go and check it out, I promise.

For you so inclined it's over here.

The characters are some of the people that I started writing about in The Ticking City (not yet published in any form) and I had a wonderful time figuring out what they did before I met them.

I don't have access to a computer as much as I would like but just let me tell you - Japan is fantastic! I've eaten more interesting food, seen more interesting things and enjoyed myself more than I've had in ages.

What I haven't done is reading and going to museums. I can't believe it. I usually run directly to a museum when I arrive (or something old, ancient or in ruins anyway) and then I alternate museums and reading with fika and food.

Not so here. I watch people, walk around, look at the city, watch some more people and when I get home in the evening we socialize with our host and get out to eat at a local restaurant.

I'm so spoiled.

Tomorrow me and Sweetest will leave Tokyo for Kyoto and Osaka (and maybe Nara) and will be back on Friday. It's going to be grand to see other parts of Japan than Tokyo. Even if it's a fantastic city.

I can't believe it's only a week left. I can't believe we've only been here a week! Magnificent.

So, we finally arrived, after the longest journey I've done. Ok, the trip to China was rather long as well, but we flew direct then so I didn't have two transfers and four hours wait at an European airport of choice to deal with then.

Well, we left our appartment at 11.30 am on Monday last and arrived at Shinagawa train station in Tokyo 19.00 pm on Tuesday last. Yes, there's the time difference to deal with but even without that it's crazy long time to spend traveling.

We had the best luck in Frankfurt when we checked in for the leg between Frankfurt and Narita. We got bumped up two classes (they have four, we were in the normal one, at the back of the plane and now got to sit in the middle just over the wings). It wasn't just the seating that changed, even if the seats were amazing (folding, massaging, flatting out to become beds and so on), we were also waited upon like royalty! I've never been so pampered in my life!

So far all our impressions have been good. People are friendly, food are strange and tasty, things are odd and wonderful, trains are punctual and frequent, the weather... well, Tokyo are the living fantasy of Blade Runner and never more so than when everybody runs around with umbrellas between the high-rises and neon lights of this metropolis. Yesterday we had sun for a few hours but otherwise it's decidedly overcast.

I'll try to get more time to tell you the rest later, but for now I'm off to actually see it all!
Take care!

So, that's it. I'm off! Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and maybe Kobe as well, but mostly relaxing, relaxing, relaxing. I'm going to try this whole immersion traveling-thing. Going there and see where the day takes me. It's so far off from my tour guide-days that it feels like splitting personalities.

Well. Wish me luck and I'll fill you in when I get a chance at a computer!

I got my manuscript done and delivered to the publisher well before deadline (three hours before to be precise). I couldn't in the end decide if I should tinker with it some more and what exactly I should change in that case, so I sent it in.

Then I set about packing. And as of this minute I'm done with that as well.

I got to take three books (All Those Windwracked Stars, Bonehunters, Territory) and two pairs of shoes.

The orcids have been tended to, the keyes delivered to the neighbors and the fridge is empty.

I'm sure I've missed something, but other than that I'm all set to go! Two and a half week of vacation! Wohoo!

And I have a lot to fix. Just small things (like missing letters from where I've cut and changed and re-written and cut again. It's fiddly work and I'm glad for the help I've got to find it all.

Yesterday I got an Brilliant Idéa. Yeah, I hear ya, Brilliant Idéas just before bedtime - usually not so brillant. So I did the sensible thing and went to bed.

I've slept really badly. I've dreamt that my publisher hates my revisions, hate my book, write me a horrible letter letting me know (in scalding detail) how I've failed. And they especially hated the part that I didn't change according to my Brilliant Idéa. Oh well. I'm still not convinced.

Back at it! 14 hours and 52 minutes left!

I absolutely adore my betas! They have been the audience that I craved, told me in no unceartain terms when my text were lacking and pampered me with praise when I'd done well. I'm no speeeschul snowflake so I can take it and they know it.

Now I've done the sweep and tomorrow I'll correct what I can.

I heard that deadline was the line one walked up too and told one's boss that one needed more time. Heh. I'm lucky I get another round of revisions later in december so I don't feel the preassure of 'OMG if I don't fix every little snag now everybody in the whole (Swedish speaking, fantasy interested) world will see and laugh at me'. That's a relief.

Besides, I'm sure my betas will find whatever snag I've missed. They're the best.

Deadline: 25 hours and 36 minutes.
Soundtrack: The Curse by Diary of Dreams
Most heartfelt whish: to go to bed.
Mood: cautiously optimistic and greatful

27 hours 43 minutes. And now I start to doubt all kinds of things.

I hope that's normal.

 

So, I'm in the middle of what Elizabeth Bear calls a death march. I have a punishing deadline and no chance of postponing. The hardest part of my revisions is the continued re-write of the characters. Everything I write or remove change the way that character is percieved by the reader and it get's increasingly hard to separate the old character from the new for me. Luckily I have to good beta-readers that check the new text to see if the characters behave as a person or if they behave as two persons (the old and the new). Some of the changes are scenes that neither me nor my publisher were fond of. There it's important to try to keep the continuum even if some things are cut away and others are added. If you're thinking about writing as a craft there's plenty of blogs and posts about it. Some of them are generous with their advice and insight in the methods behind the finished product. One of them is Jennifer Crusie and she's doing NaNoWriMo. She's posted what her text looks like when written and then what it'll take to whip it to shape.

 An unfortunate effect of my cut-and-paste approach to this revision showed up just now - the timeline got messed up. I just found the snag. And so far I've not been able to solve it. 

*headdesk*

Oh well, Back at it.