New Website

So after months of me promising a new website, it's done... kind of.

http://www.tinahunter.ca/ is live on the net. You can check it out whenever you'd like. I warn you though, there are still some glitches that need to be worked out and some pages that aren't finished yet.

For example, I'm having trouble right now when people want to join my forum. Because the page on my website that you see the forum on isn't the source site, you have to open any of the links in a new page in order to post or log in. However, you can see the forum, and read any of the pages without leaving my site.

I also don't have the contact me page finished yet, nor has the blogging feature been uploaded onto my site yet (not my fault, that's the hosting companies problem). Once the feature is there, I'll be transferring this blog over to my website.

So, take a look and tell me what you think. I am flexible, and would love to know what your thoughts are.

Cheers,

Tina

Sick, But On Track

I think I've been keeping to my new schedule pretty good. I cheated a bit on Wednesday and Thursday, and I didn't write over the weekend (don't I get a break on my Birthday?), but I still think I'm doing good.

Word Count:

Wednesday - 25 words, then worked on layout and content for my writing website revamp
Thursday - More layout and content work
Monday - 851 words

At least I did something writing related on those days.

I'm home sick today, so I'll keep this short and sweet. Besides, my stomach hurts... stupid stomach flu.

I'll be trying to write this afternoon, but no guarantees. It's not a scheduled writing day and I'm sick, so we'll see.

Cheers,

Tina

PS: No time line yet on when the website revamp will be done, but I'll keep you posted.

New Year, New Way of Thinking

I haven't written since October 2nd. Sorry to leave you all hanging.

The PureSpec conference was fun. Got to meet up with a publisher friend from Calgary again, and got to see a whole new side of the writing world. Comic books have made an impression on me.

I've basically stopped writing since the conference.... so that means I'm still only halfway through chapter two of my novel. I have still been meeting up with my friend Rox at the library to write, but I haven't been producing very much. Mostly, the reason has been stress at work. I had a break down in November and had to go home that day because I was so upset. The stress and political pressure got to me.

I never did contact my tutor about the change in direction. I will have to call and thank them all for helping me out for the last year. I bought the course three years ago and my 3 year extension runs out at the end of this month. I don't think getting my novel done in less than 30 days is going to work, and I'm done trying to force myself to do something. It has to come naturally.

December my support group held our 3rd annual Christmas dinner and didn't stop talking about books and writing until 1:30am. Our Publisher friend from Calgary came up to celebrate with us, and seemed to enjoy himself. It was a great night, but I don't know many people who could handle talking about writing all night long.

The Christmas season was busy, and now that it's the new year it's time to clean up the apartment and re-assess my life.

My job has gotten better since the break down. Some of the pressure has been taking off. I do like being able to say that I make a difference doing my job, but the stress level is something I will be monitoring closely. Also, my course is over. Even though I have a month left, there is no way I will be able to get anything done in time. I think it's time to say thank you and goodbye.

And what of my writing? Well, like I mentioned before comic books have made an impression on me, and I've had a couple people tell me that my writing would translate well into the form. I already have a completed story that I am converting into a graphic novel (non-serial comic book) script and I'm looking for an artist to help me make it real. I still don't know a lot about the industry but I've got my fingers crossed.

I also have to figure out how I write best. Thus far I've always planned out my stories in such detail that it should take nothing to finish them. Yet, I'm finding that the more the story is planned out, the more I get bored with it and it ends up getting pushed aside. My latest assignment for myself is to try and write something I only have a general idea of and see what happens. I don't know if this little project is a short story, novella, or a novel but I guess that's part of it, right?

I just really want to write again. I'm tired of having life get in the way of what I want to do. I told D last night that I was planning on writing on Saturday (something I haven't done in months) and he almost started clapping saying "Good, it's about time".

And it is about time. Time that I start believing in myself. Not that I'll get published or get famous because, while it would be great, that's not success for me. Success is have a story finished so that other people can read it, whatever the form. I just want to tell my stories. To get them out of my head, and maybe make people think about things a little different. Success is me being happy.

One last thing. It has been discussed, thought about and finally decided that C. M. Hunt is an old pen name that needs to be retired. So, I will be writing under my real name from now on. No more hiding behind a pen name. I write dark stories. I'm ok with that. It just means that I have a really interesting imagination, and I'm not ashamed to write under my own name anymore. I'll be changing my website soon to reflect the name change to Tina Hunter.

So.... Here's to 2008! Hopefully a year of Success!

Tina

An Update...

Well I certainly let this slip a bit didn't I? Thanks Capt'n for the nudge.

A month has gone by. WOW. Well, what have I done...

I moved, that one should be obvious. We haven't finished unpacking yet but it's starting to feel like home.

I finished 2 short stories. The 1st one, a fantasy, was sent out to a magazine. I should hear back from them in a week or two (they are in New Jersey). The second one is out to my readers, and once I have it back I'll send this one out too. Time to get my name out there.

I've been working on my novel edits as well, but not enough to send chapter 2 to my tutor. Sigh, I'll get on that.

I've also been working on my novella. I'm going to rework the angle a bit and send it to the Writers of the Future contest. Should be interesting. The first place winners (and some times 2nd and 3rd place depending on size) get published in an anthology and all finalists win money. Can't go wrong.

Last, I became a board member for the newly formed Edmonton Writers Centre. I won't write too much about this on here since this is supposed to be about my writing, but I'll direct you the Centre's website once it's up and running.

I think that's all I've done over the last month, writing related. I did go to two weddings, and enjoyed a pig roast weekend with the small community at my step-dad's cabin on the lake, but that's about it.

This month I'm going to the Calgary science fiction and fantasy convention "Con-Version 23". My first Con. I'm very excited. It's only a little over a week away. I'm going to be surrounded by science fiction geeks, H. Potter lovers, fantasy obsessors, and costumed fans. It's going to be great.

I'm also taking part in the 3 day novel contest. It's a crazy event that starts at midnight on August 31st (September 1st really) and lasts until midnight on Monday. The whole labor day long weekend is spent writing a novel. Granted it's a short novel (novella), but it's should be a really neat experience. I already have an idea in place.

Things are really heating up. I get my "Author" picture taken soon, and I'll post it on my website as soon as I have it. I just can't believe how productive I was this past while, even with the stresses of moving. Things are looking up.

I hope you are having a fantastic day.

C

I'm Back!

I'm back, safe and sound, and I'm slowly getting back into the groove of things.

It was a wonderful week away from it all. It almost seems like a dream thinking back on it. Was I really there? (yes, and I have the pictures and tan lines to prove it)

I kept a travel log that will need some polishing (what with writing some of it very sleep deprived in an airport at who knows what hour of the day) but I plan on putting in online somewhere with a bunch of my pictures. Maybe in the fun section on my website, I'm not sure yet, but I'll let you know soon.

And thanks "Woman of Words" for the comment on my blog. I knew I had to update it, I just hadn't gotten around to it yet. It's funny because I changed my answering machine on my cell phone to let people know that I was away for the week. Well, a bunch of family members called me yesterday and left messages telling me to update my voicemail, because they also knew I was home.

Sigh, I guess it takes a few days to get everything back in order. I haven't even uploaded the pictures from my camera to the computer (its a digital). So as of yet, I have nothing to show for all this disorientation.

I was very jet lagged on Sunday, when I got home. So tired, in fact, that I cried that morning when we had to do laundry (yes, I'm a bit of a cry baby). All I wanted to do was go to bed. To be fair, I HAD been up for well over 24 hours. I took a nap that afternoon for a couple of hours and it seemed to help, but by 7:30pm I was done for the day and off to bed.

It was back to work on Monday. Back to the same old, same old. It's good though. I feel like I've had a good rest and can go for a while. I can tell you right now, I spent most of the trip on the beach, with the ocean lapping not 5 feet from my toes. Sleeping, reading, relaxing. It was awesome.

This whole trip helped a lot in terms of my novel too. While I was down there, I couldn't actually write. My brain wasn't there, but it almost was. It was like I was comparing everything around me to the world I created around Mikayla. How would Mikayla handle this heat? Would Mikayla's people have hats made of palm tree leaves? Would they take naps during the mid-day heat? Would her food taste like this or that? It was just really good to know what it feels like to be in that kind of heat, to swim in the ocean with heavy undertow and feel fish rubbing into your legs. Mostly just what it feels like to live on an island. I couldn't have asked for more, and I had a whole week of it. I'm going to take a few days to get back into real life mode and then it's dive, dive, dive into my writing. I'm looking forward to it. Like a friend you haven't seen in a while and can't wait to go for coffee to catch up.

The very scary thing is I need to really look at my plot. The story is supposed to be about Mikayla. Her journey. Her challenges. It's all about her. I think I've finally separated me from her enough (well as much as one can) so that I can look at her and say "OK, what is YOUR story?" I think she's missing something. She's not doing something she should on this journey of hers. Now I just need to know if it's major or minor. I think it'll be minor, but I want to be sure.

I'm starting this weekend. It's time to take that novel off the shelf and take a good hard look at it. My short story is easy (easier) and so I'll leave it for when I hit a wall, or need a break. Right now, I need to finish my novel. It's funny how something can turn from a want into a need.

I'm glad to be back, as much as it was fun to be away. It's good to be home.

C

Aw, boff me with a flaming stick 'o dynomite!

I love fun stuff. I just added two more sites in my Fun Stuff section. Random generators are great ways to waste time... I mean, get inspired.

Actually, I found the name generators really help when your in a pinch and you need a name for that character who will be dead in 4 pages. You really don't want to spend a whole lot of time coming up with a really good name only to kill the guy. So, name generators. I don't always use them exactly as them come up. Some of them are odd.

Like Annoi (hehehe Annoy), I would use this as Annie or something. It helps just to get the brain moving.

I also like the cuss-o-matic. That's where I found the title for this post. Others would be; "Flaming mother of a salivating centipede-headed rat!" or "Well, spork me with a broken curtain rod!". Traditional swearing is just so boring, these are much better.

What a great way to spend the day... Ok, so back to reality.

What have I done lately on my writing? I've been writing. Yesterday I wrote about 1,200 words and half an outline for a new short story. Today, I wrote about 400 words and I'm going to the library after work for a couple hours to write some more.

I think my attention span for writing is about a 2 hour block of time. After 2 hours nothings happening. So I wrote for two hours yesterday, cooked and cleaned a bit then went back to writing for another two. It Worked So Well. Today, I only put in one hour at lunch, but then I'll put in another 2 this afternoon. This could really work (knock on cyber-wood).

"White Cats and Suicide" - my short story- is really coming along. It's creepy dark, but soooo much fun. I think I'm getting the hang of this.

Let me ask a question of you readers out there...
- Do you really hate it if you don't know the main characters name for the first 6 pages of a story?
- Or is it OK when on page 3 you realize it's because she doesn't want anyone to know her real name and the name you learn on page 6 is fake?

Let me know. Remember this is a short story I'm talking about. Maybe a 60 pages, 1.5 spaced. It would be interesting to hear your feedback.

Well, I think that's good enough for the moment. I'll try and keep you posted a little more often.

C

Website

You'll notice there are a few changes on here, inculding making this my official blog. Here's why...

I've created a website of my very own, and this blog is a part of it.

You can expect some changes to take place in the next couple of months, once I purchase a domain to host my website on, but for now it's same old, same old, with a few added extras.

Click on the links in the top left hand corner of the page and it will take you to the pages in my website. I've got a section just for Fun Stuff, check it out when you're bored or in my case trying to not write.

Check out the site and tell me what you think. I'm open to any advise you have for me... I'm no expert when it comes to websites, but I gave it my best shot. I hope you enjoy.

Cheers.