Life | Amy C. Shaw

November Reflections

December 1, 2013 • 15 Comments

November was a unique month for me, so though this is not something I would normally do on the blog, I wanted to take a post to reflect on the month.

What happened in terms of…

Reading: I didn’t read, at all. It wasn’t weird at first, since I used to not read all the time, but probably about halfway through the month it started to feel weird. Especially when I realized how much everyone in the blogsphere had read in those two weeks that I hadn’t.

TV watching: I haven’t watched as much Fringe thanks to live TV shows and basketball season. So my husband and I are still very slowly making our way through the final season of Fringe, which is short, and have also been keeping up with Castle and Agents of SHIELD. And then I watched Almost Human last week and I think I want to start watching it too. Still need to catch up on the first two episodes of that.

Movie watching: I saw three movies in the theater, which is also unusual: Ender’s Game, Thor 2, and Catching Fire. I reviewed them all on here. I was hoping to watch The Book Thief but it just now came into theaters in my area, so I hope I can catch it before it leaves (especially since next weekend for me is SLAMMED).

Writing: Well, I exceeded my NaNoWriMo goal of 50,000 words! Yay! *Confetti!* I might have technically written some of those words in late October, but they were edited and typed/pasted into a new word document starting November 1. And come on, writing even close to that many words in one month was a super major accomplishment for me. Writing a story from beginning to end (well, mostly, I did skip around just a little) was also quite a feat for me. Is most of it crap? You bet. But I’ll worry about that later. The point is, the words are written down at all, and that’s better than where they were a month ago.

Blogging: It was hard to keep up with blogging as well this month because of my focus on writing, but I did better than I thought I would. I loved doing Sci-Fi Month and am so glad I participated, even if some of my posts didn’t turn out as grandiose as I had originally planned because I didn’t write them far enough ahead of time. I wish I could have read more posts from the event from bloggers I don’t normally follow. As it is, I’m still trying to catch up on posts from bloggers I do follow posted a few days ago…

My personal life: I got some news that was hard to receive. It’s not about an illness or anything like that, it’s just a change in my life that is going to be hard for me to get used to, but I am extremely thankful for God and for people in my life (particularly my husband) who will help me through the change.

My thoughts on the NaNoWriMo experience…

Would I do it again? Maybe, if it felt right. It is stressful, and it is hard. For some reason, I wanted to give up on the SECOND TO LAST DAY OF THE MONTH. You would think it’s so close at that point, and that I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but for some reason, I was about to crack. Thankfully, my husband encouraged me to push on when I didn’t want to! In addition to his encouragement, I also feel I was able to meet this goal thanks to some holiday time off, my strong intrinsic motivation to meet goals, and all the sweet Internet people who encouraged me along the way! THANK YOU!

It was a good exercise for me to do this year. I needed it as a kick in the pants. I am very glad I did it this time.

What did I learn? Just write something. Don’t worry about perfection. Things can be cleaned up later. It can’t be cleaned up if there’s nothing there at all. And I learned that I am capable of pushing through Act 2, where my story always struggles and I always give up. And of course, it’s way easier said than done! I kept reading and hearing, Push through it. It’s OK to write crap, just write. But sometimes it’s hard to just write when you have no idea what your character wants or needs or what should happen next or you don’t know what day of the week it is (either in the fiction world or the real world) and your brain’s gone to mush. I’m going to let my story sit and cool for the month of December, focus back on reading and get through the holidays, and then in January I’ll come back to it and see if I think it can be redeemed. I think I had some good ideas but I ended up with more cheese and less dynamic scenes than all the feels I was hoping for. I feel like I have written a lot better, more dynamic scenes before, but I suppose when you’re just trying to grind out content it’s hard to get as good emotional writing as I expect myself to write. Hopefully when I go back, I’ll find I can totally refresh these scenes and make them much, much better.

Will this novel become more than a NaNoWriMo project? I hope so. When I started, I really wanted this to the book that I would use to query agents, possibly as soon as next year (probably later in the year though). But as I mentioned in the previous paragraph, it’s pretty craptastic right now, so we’ll have to see. I did lose a lot of interest in the story too, but I’m going to attribute that again to the force-able churning out of content I was doing for it. I hope I love it again next year when I read over it with new eyes. And I do think I have good characters.

And it feels good to be a NaNo winner!

Honestly, for anyone who tried NaNoWriMo this year, even if you didn’t hit the 50,000 word goal, if you kept chugging at it you’re still a winner because you wrote your heart out and attempted something most people never will: novel writing! So congratulations to us all!

Why I’m Doing NaNoWriMo This Year

October 19, 2013 • 31 Comments

In November 2011, I decided to use National Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) to focus on writing a short story. Which turned into a novella. Which turned into a novel. Which turned into a part of a series. But not all in one month, but over many months, and after changing my ideas so many times for that story itself and for the series, I’ve decided instead of overwhelming myself with big ideas, I was going to go back to focusing on something small again.

And by small I mean a full-fledged novel to be written in November (as much as I can, anyway). But just one story, and a stand-alone at that. Hopefully. The other started as a stand-alone short story after all…

However, I have a plan and a plot this time. In 2011, I was going in completely unplanned, discovery writing if you will. Which was kind of fun, and it led to a lot of changes. But this time, I know that to write approximately 50,000 words in one month, I’ll have to be focused. I’ve plotted what I can and written bits and pieces, and the rest will have to find me as I go. I already have the end in mind and I feel the two main characters are well established.

And I have to remember the first draft won’t be a masterpiece. And that’s OK.

I’m reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott right now, which has already been so encouraging for me when it comes to writing. I decided I wanted this to be the last book I read before launching onto this novel writing project, and that in November I might not even read anything. I have spent from February to the present so focused on reading and blogging that writing has taken more of a backseat than I have wanted it to. This is to help re-orient myself back to it. I’ve exceeded my reading goal for the year so it feels easier to move on to writing now. So now I just have to take it sentence by sentence, or as Anne Lamott puts it, bird by bird.

Anyone else participating in NaNoWriMo next month? If you’re a writer, tell me how you stay focused to plug away at your story!

Star Trek Convention 2013: Part Two

September 29, 2013 • 9 Comments

Read Part One if you haven’t already!

So just days before the convention, we learned that Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway from Voyager), who was supposed to be the headliner for the weekend, would not be making it to the convention. A few weeks before that, we learned that Robert Picardo (The Doctor on Voyager) would not be attending either. Luckily Chase Masterson stepped in with a couple weeks left to spare, and then with just days left until the convention, fortunately they were able to get Tim Russ (Tuvok from Voyager) to fill in!

Tim Russ isn’t quite Vulcan himself, but he is pretty straight-laced and calm in his manner. He did go into “Tuvok mode” at one point, and it was like he flipped a switch in his mind. It was amazing how he could turn it on and off as he did. It also sounded like he knew how to have a good time with his fellow cast-mates. I was grateful that he came to fill in a void in the lineup and enjoyed hearing him.

Next were Max Grodenchik and Aron Eisenberg, appearing in full makeup as their characters Rom and Nog from Deep Space Nine. Pictured here with them is Armin Shimmerman, who played Quark but did not appear in his makeup, and spoke later on his own. Max and Aron were doing a skit, which quite frankly, wasn’t that great on its own (especially since they were reading from their scripts!) but the derailing of it was quite hilarious! They just let it go and started cracking their own jokes, and my face literally hurt from all the laughter.

Here “Nog” taught a convention audience member the “Ferengi Love Dance,” which you can see Nog do in the season six Deep Space Nine episode “You Are Cordially Invited.”

Next was Denise Crosby, who briefly played the role of Tasha Yar on The Next Generation (by briefly I mean, less than a season. Spoiler for anyone who hasn’t watched The Next Generation: she gets killed). I’d be lying if I said I was a Tasha fan, because I’m not. But it was interesting to hear Denise talk, especially about what she was able to do later on with The Next Generation.

Then we got to see Armin Shimmerman again, though this time it was him taking questions instead of crashing Max and Aron’s skit. He was extremely gracious to the fans, which again, I just really appreciate. Even though the Ferengi on Deep Space Nine (or in general) drive me crazy, and even though Quark is included in that, Armin shared something about his character that I thought was neat. He talked to one of the writers of the show about the finale episode, and about how so many characters got to hook up with someone else and/or get to go on to a new chapter of their lives, and he was like, “So what happens with Quark?” The writer shared with him, “Quark is the heart of Deep Space Nine.” And when I thought about it, it was true. It’s quirky and not very Star Fleet like, like Quark, and also, he really helped the morale of the station through hard times just with his bar. It was a neat perspective.

Terry Ferrell was scheduled to come out again, but we also got treated to Garrett Wang again, and the two of them together were so funny! Here, Garrett is teaching Terry how to do a George Takei “Oh my!” impersonation.

There were hugs…

High fives…

And general silliness. Somewhere in all this, Terry also admitted she has never watched Voyager (the show Garrett was on). Whoops.

And last we had Rene Auberjonois and Nana Visitor, who played Odo and Kira Nerys on Deep Space Nine, respectively. It was fun to see them together; you can tell that they enjoyed working together. And Kira is so hot-headed and high-strung on the show, but Nana seemed much more sweet and mellow, so that was nice to see the difference between her and her character.

Beyond the convention…

I have had such a busy September! In addition to this convention I also attended a writing conference, went on a mini-vacation, and celebrated my birthday! At the writing conference the keynote speaker was Jay Asher, author of the YA bestseller Thirteen Reasons Why, which I am reading now, thanks to the co-worker who told me about the conference buying the book while we were there and then loaning it to me. It took Jay many years to sell his first book, and even now as a published author he still has not released much, as he is a self-proclaimed slow writer, and I found it oddly encouraging. This in conjunction with what he said about, “Just because you enjoy reading it, it doesn’t mean that is what you should be writing,” made me realize I don’t have to try to break into the writing industry with an epic six book YA dystopia series like I think I need to.

I’ve been highly considering participating in NaNoWriMo this year for the first time, and so it’s making me consider which story idea (out of the many that I have) I want to focus on for that, because I’m thinking I might want to push aside this huge dystopia series idea I have right now. (Also, this is only representative of one agent in the YA market, but he’s getting tired of dystopia and is not looking for that at all when he reads queries from new authors, so I wonder if the tide will be changing in that genre soon.) I’ve got a month to figure it out.

Other pictures from this month…

My husband and I went to Asheville, NC, and visited the Biltmore, and it was really neat. I’d definitely recommend it if you have the chance to go. Then the day after my birthday, my friend took me to the zoo where we checked out the new…

kangaroo exhibit! And if they came to the path, you could pet them, so we got to pet this guy right here! All the others were lazily lounging in the grass. I was sad I didn’t get to see them to hop around, but was so happy this guy let us pet him. His fur was soft! I definitely want to go back and do it again! And I also got a lot of books for my birthday…

It’ll be a while before I get all these read. I also seriously need a new bookcase. Maybe for Christmas…

Phew! That was a lot! What have you guys been up to? I’m still trying to catch up on blog posts!

Birthday Reflection

September 27, 2013 • 23 Comments

I like to self-reflect each year on my birthday, to think about where I have been and where I might be going. And I have to say, just in the past few months even I feel I have learned a lot.

I’ve learned that those things in life that you think won’t affect you, very much can – and some of them will.

I have learned of the amazing power of perspective – how everything looks different to everyone depending on where life has taken them.

I’ve learned how to take criticism and not internalize it in a personal way.

I’ve learned that I will never cease to be a work-in-progress in my marriage, my friendships/relationships, my job, my spiritual life, etc.

I’ve learned that talent helps, but hard work, persistence, and being personable help more.

I’ve learned that I can connect with people through writing.

I’ve learned to filter out the things in social media that drag me down (well, mostly at least).

I’ve learned that there are a lot of people out there who do really love the same things I do, and yet there’s still a unique combination of interests and desires that I have that make me who I am.

I’ve learned that everyone is “faking it until they make it.” Some people are just really good at it. Or I perceive them to be.

And I’ve become more increasingly aware of my faults as I grow older… And though this could be discouraging, I guess it’s good that I notice them. I just need to work on them instead of making excuses.

Ah, the late twenties. I have to admit that there are times I wish I would have accomplished more at this point in my life, but at the same time, I feel pretty content and at peace with exactly where I am at.

Thanks for sticking with my self-absorbed, reflective birthday post! You deserve a slice of chocolate cake if you made it this far! The book/movie/TV posts are coming back soon, I promise. 🙂

Star Trek Convention 2013: Part One

September 20, 2013 • 9 Comments

I recently had the chance to attend the Star Trek convention held in Nashville. I went with my husband and two of our friends and we had so much fun! Even though I was more excited about the line-up last year, I ended up enjoying the people who came this year more!

The conventions are run by a group called Creation Entertainment, and they have Star Trek and other conventions all over the country throughout the year. This was our third experience with them, though our first year we only attended on Sunday, so we missed the Saturday morning rush. Last year, we experienced it. We got to there at a time we thought was early, only to find ourselves at the back of a really long line, and we ended up missing most of the first guest of the convention, John deLancie, who played Q in The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. I was determined we not miss the first guest this year, Dominic Keating, so we showed up even earlier.

And just like last year, there was no clear signage as to what was going on. There were two lines to the ticket counter, one which was actually going to the ticket counter, and the other we soon realized was at a complete standstill and actually started several yards away from the ticket counter. We were trying to figure out why people were in a line like this, and what line we were in, but didn’t learn much.

You see, there were a couple of different packages available for the weekend, as well as general admission tickets. We don’t live too far away, so we went home on Saturday night instead of staying in the hotel, and one of our friends found a good deal for the general admission tickets through Deal Chicken, so needless to say, we just bought general admission. We heard mumblings that we might be in the gold package line, but no real confirmation. Ultimately, my husband stood in the non-moving line, just in case, and the two other guys and I stayed in the moving line. SO GLAD WE DID.

I let my guy friends go ahead of me to make sure we were clear to get our tickets, and they were got their tickets processed no problem. So I called my husband to come over STAT, right before I handed the lady both of our tickets for the weekend, and he showed up just in time to get our wristbands for the weekend. We were done before the doors to the big room where all the action happens were opened, so we all congratulated ourselves on working the system. We would find out later that several people did miss Dominic, just like we had missed John last year.

Meanwhile, we were first in line to wait to get inside. Others who had gotten their tickets situated were milling about the vendor room or elsewhere, but since we did not have reserved seats, we wanted to make sure we could get in the room ASAP. We had plenty of time so I walked across the hallway to go to the restroom when I suddenly stopped at the sight of Dominic Keating! I was so excited and scurried back over to my husband and friends. “I’m glad I wore the t-shirt, that was quite a hike,” he looked back said to us. TO US! The four of us were just standing there geeking out. Then he disappeared into a room and I flailed my arms as I went back to the restroom (not really, but I might as well have).

Later, after I had gotten back to the guys, we saw Chase Masterson, another one of the guests, walking by. She stopped to talked to someone who worked for Creation, looked over to us, and gave us a little wave! One of my friends and I, somewhat belatedly, returned weak oh-my-gosh-did-Chase-Masterson-just-wave-at-us? waves back.

Finally we got to go in the room and scouted out the best seats you can get when you don’t have reserved seats, and again, were happy with our success. Then after a while it finally began and out on the stage came Dominic Keating!

Dominic Keating played Malcom Reed on Enterprise, and he’s British, so he’s fun to listen to! He was also so funny, spending his time telling us the story of how he got the role of Malcom and answering questions from people in the audience. Something else I also noticed about him right away was how gracious he was to the fans. There are some Star Trek actors who are rarely come to conventions because they seem bitter about their Star Trek past, which is so disappointing. But Dominic was very grateful and recognized the importance of fan support, which we all appreciated.

shuttlepod1 — From the episode Shuttlepod One, which might be my favorite season one Enterprise episode. It’s about Malcolm and Tripp getting stuck together, thinking they’re going to die, and annoying each other, ha ha.

Next was Suzie Plakson, who played a couple of small roles in Star Trek: K’Ehleyr (AKA Worf’s girlfriend) on The Next Generation and the female Q on Voyager. She was mostly there for a makeup artist to do a demonstration of Klingon makeup on her. But first, she told us she wanted to sing us a few songs.

This is something I have noticed is common among Star Trek actors… they want to sing for us. This year I couldn’t help but wonder if it’s because we’re in Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry was literally right next door. But regardless, she started singing, and we decided to leave after a couple of songs, because it was the best time for lunch (the scheduled lunch break wasn’t until about 2) and we weren’t interested in more singing or the make-up.

As we were leaving for lunch, we saw Dominic in the hallway again. One of my friends told him, “That was brilliant, thanks for that.” And he said something kind in return and went about his way. We geeked out again and my husband mentioned we should have asked him if he wanted to eat with us, but ah well, he was long gone by then. I imagine he had arrangements and a schedule he had to stick with anyways,

So after our lunch, we were thankfully able to still to sit in the same area as before and waited for Chase Masterson. Chase played Leeta on Deep Space Nine, and my husband and I had seen her last year. We were happy to see her again this year because she is super sweet. She also clearly loves her fans, and people in general really. She works with several charity organizations and her congenial disposition shines through.

Chase sang for us too, which was expected after last year.

Then next was Garrett Wang, who played (the forever Ensign) Harry Kim on Star Trek Voyager. I think we were all surprised by how cool and funny and awesome he was in real life! He, like all of us, wondered why Harry was always getting picked on and never promoted. Poor Harry! But seriously, he was funny, down-to-earth, and so enjoyable to listen to. We didn’t know it on Saturday, but we were going to get to see him again on Sunday…

Next was the scheduled lunch break, during which one of the guys stood in line for Walter Koeing’s autograph, while my husband and our other friend decided they needed some coffee. Since I don’t drink coffee, I got some frozen yogurt, just for fun. We walked around and chatted, hit up the vendor room, and then it was time for Terry Ferrell, who played Jadzia Dax on Deep Space Nine. I was super excited to see her as she was one of my favorites on the show.

She is pretty much like her character was on the show: energetic and spontaneous! We also got to see her again on Sunday, but more on that later…

dax_kira_quark — We got to see Quark and Kira too; more about that next time!

There was a little bit of down time with trivia games and such, and then it was time for Walter Koeing, who played Checkov from The Original Series!

I have to admit that when I heard Walter Koeing was coming, I was more excited about it because of his role as Bester on Babylon 5 than that of Star Trek. I know it may sound blasphemous coming from a Trekkie, but seriously, BESTER ON BABYLON 5!!! He was awesome at being evil. And Walter actually flat out said that he was his favorite TV character he played. Anyhow, it was neat to see him.

And then that was it for the day, at least for us! Sadly, we had to miss the karaoke party hosted by Dominic and Garrett. That was probably some seriously fun times. But unfortunately, it was going to be too late of a night for us, so we went out for dinner, went home, and then hit the sack so that we could be ready for Day #2!

Have you ever been to a Star Trek convention? Who of these Star Trek actors would you be most excited to see?

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