Writing

0 comments on "Aquaponics – growing vegetables and fish together"

Okay, so I spent a ridiculous amount of time watching videos on aquaponics and I am simply amazed by the whole concept.

WIKIPEDIA: Aquaponics, or pisciponics, is a sustainable food production system that combines conventional aquaculture, (raising aquatic animals such as snails, fish, crayfish or prawns in tanks), with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment. In aquaculture, effluents accumulate in the water, increasing toxicity for the fish. This water is led to a hydroponic system where the by-products from the aquaculture are broken down by nitrogen-fixing bacteria, then filtered out by the plants as nutrients, after which the cleaned water is recirculated back to the Fish.

Basically, you can have tower gardens or trays with gravel or chunks of granite in them. You set up some seed trays, then once they’re sprouted into tiny plants, you move some of the rock away and pop the plants in there. Then you flood the whole thing with water, which drains out into an overflow tub that then drains into a tub containing edible fish like tilapia or trout (depending on water temperature. Some people do tilapia in warm months and trout in cold.)

People are growing all kinds of vegetables – lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, zucchini, broccoli – and there seems to be a fondness for beautiful strawberries grown in tower gardens (50 plants in less than five feet of space depending on tower height.)

Here’s some of my fave YouTube videos:





The Way of the Househusband 01 at Amazon
0 comments on "Franz Caulder: PWP"

No one’s said anything about Franz Caulder: PWP. I’m kind of worried that they hate it D:

He has a very distinctive “voice” and some of the things he thinks aren’t very nice. Like he realizes he’s mentally ill, but that doesn’t mean he truly accepts it as part of his amalgamation. He still separates things into him and into Other-Franz. He takes his medication and follows the rules as they’re given, but at the end of the day mental illness is not a part of him. It’s something he has to deal with, like acne or the scar across his face, but it’s not him.

I guess someone could say his big ol’ scar could be the physical manifestation of the mental illness affecting him. Or it could be the Kid Nitro/Franz Caulder persona overlaid atop the remnants of Other-Franz, in which case it’s hard to tell which is the scar — the ruined flesh of his face, or the body it’s carved out of? He’s this guy dealing with a life he doesn’t remember while his delusion is so strong he’s literally become someone else. Delusion Franz has taken him over, and he doesn’t want to go back.

Other-Franz had immense issues stemming from torture he experienced in childhood. He’d practiced self-harm and had shut himself off from enjoying his life. He’d been suicidal, which led to his institutionalization. Meanwhile, Franz is strong, capable, and has been a superhero for years. Finding himself in the body of his AU-self doesn’t even phase him. It’s perfectly natural that he take over and replace Other-Franz. It’s just unfortunate that he has no memories of Other-Franz. He’s winging it.

So right in the middle of Franz’s psychodrama, I threw in Franz Caulder: PWP. Which is exactly as advertised — he takes a trip into the city to visit a club and have his first sex since he found himself in a new world.

Yes, this is basically a chance for him to have a one-night stand. It’s also a sign that he’s becoming acclimated to life outside of the mental hospital. He’s accepted that he won’t be going back to his old self. He needs to keep moving forward.

Timeline B –
Franz Caulder: Slipping through the Cracks
Franz Caulder: PWP

Timeline A –
Franz Caulder: Behemoth
Franz Caulder: Crimson Blade

Allies & Enemies at Amazon
0 comments on "Forgot a basic truth until I remembered"

So while I was quietly freaking out, it took me until last night to remember these are self-imposed deadlines with only one of the three really, no contest having to happen.

That’s part of my problem. I put too much stress on myself instead of holding to the old adage of “Slow and steady wins the race.”

I’ve never liked the idea of being slow, but steady is the perfect pace. As long as something is happening each day, a story will build itself up, the words will add up, and suddenly a novel will appear.

It’s like magic beans. Something worthless becomes something invaluable. It just needs a chance to grow.

500 words a day x 5 days = 2500 words a week.
2500 words x 4 weeks = 10,000 words a month.
10,000 words x 12 months = 120,000 words.

Sometimes there’s this urge to do everything at once and force a story to submit, but that just doesn’t work. The words come at a slow trickle and refuse to be rushed. Work with that. Gather up what’s willing to be said and build up what you can. Don’t waste the productivity just because a story hasn’t possessed your fingers like Stephen King and decided to be written all in a day.

Seriously, I’ve had that happen before. A story took over and seemed to write itself, 20,000 words in less than five hours. It was like flying. But that kind of thing is rare.

Writing is work. Fun work a lot of the time, but still work.

It’s like building a house. You assemble the pieces, follow a plan, then get down to putting it all together. It’s just that with writing, you have to make the bricks first.

And I’ve been pressuring myself so much to have a finished product that I haven’t been able to focus on putting it together. So what does that mean?

I’m going back to basics. I’m working on this story until it’s done, not until a specified date. I’m finishing up my proofing. I’m editing my story. I’m letting my creativity have some freedom instead of stifling it.

And from the look of things, there should be three written novels in the next month, two edited novels, and that fanfic thing we don’t talk about (even though I’m quietly squeeing at the awesome.)

Stop stressing about writing as much or more than anyone else. Write like yourself at your own pace. All the agonizing is supposed to happen with the editing, not with your first draft.

The first draft is supposed to be fun times with characters you love, or love to hate.

* * *

Read slashy plotty mm stories free at Kimichee

All Systems Red at Amazon
0 comments on "Red Bull"

I can’t explain the logic of it, but I flip my Red Bulls upside down for a few seconds before opening them. Not really a shake — as I don’t want to make a mess — but enough to stir up the flavor. Yes, even I am baffled by my own thinking, but I do it anyway.

It’s part and parcel with the whole thing that has me obsessively checking my email two minutes after I post a story. As though anyone would have even read it yet, much less had a chance to post feedback. (That’s the best thing about TTH. There’s always someone there to comment like practically immediately. FFnet gets me some weird comments, while AO3 is beautiful, but people don’t comment as much. The kudos are nice though.)

Basically I’m a praise monkey. Say something nice enough and I churn out more updates. It’s like a switch goes off in my head and I enter Eager To Please Mode and I have all this fresh interest for whatever story.

I am the Red Bull. And sometimes I just need to be flipped.

* * *

Read stories free at Kimichee Feedback can get you awesome rewards, and not just karmically. Acknowledgments, dedications, exclusive first reads. Disqus lines are open.

* * *

Currently on the lookout for a beta reader. As you can tell I have a pretty all right grasp of the English language. My problems are repetition, double wording (“the the” seems to be a fave), and a tendency to either not describe anything or be too flowery. It will most likely be a chapter at a time and we can set up a schedule around your availability.

Stories in need:
Altredes [LB, YA, genhet, State Rule] – novel length, broken into 10,000 word chunks to be serialized, rating teen. Exclusive.

From Diamond to Coal [SC, mm super science] – series of arcs, about 50,000 words each, chapters (aiming for 8 per arc), rating teen+. Kimichee.

Idlewile [HK, pop idol, slashy asexual sci-fi, State Rule] – novel length, chapters, rating teen+. Kimichee.

The Brand [HK, mm fantasy romance, m/m/m] – novel length, difficult prose, rating mature for sex. Exclusive.

Dude, There’s a Body In Your Bathtub [subtextually slashy, humor, gangsters] – rating mature for violence. Exclusive.

Paradigm Shift [HK, mm sci-fi, State Rule] – novel length, chapters, fascist society, non-descriptive birth mpreg, rating mature just for the possibility. Exclusive Park POV, LJ.

Doggy Style [SC, mm contemporary with crazy magical event] – novella length, chapters, rating mature for language and sex. Exclusive.

Bad ass beta perks: dedication, acknowledgment, short prompts filled, eternal love and gratitude (which does not expire), ebook copy of the project when it’s all done.

Explainy*:
Exclusive = coming out as an ebook first. Either self-published or submitted. ff = female/female. Femslash.
genhet = general fiction stories.
HK = Harper Kingsley. Mix of mm, ff, genhet, plot over porn, perspective pieces. Kimichee = site where I serialize stories. Then self-published for ease of reading.
LB = Lisa Bailey. YA, genhet.
LJ = LiveJournal.
mm = male/male. Slash.
Novel length = 60,000+ words.
Novella length = 20,001-59,999 words.
SC = Sol Crafter. Largely straightforward mm stories. Usually HEA/HFN. Short story = 0-20,000 words.
slashy = hints of slash, but no hard proof. Relationship more than romance.

* this is a personal explanation for how I’m using terms. YMMV elsewhere.