I still love you, I just haven't had time to write things to the proper thingeyness that LJ requires. I read you sporadically when I have time but things have been pretty crazy what with moving to a new country, having a paying gig with a tough deadline, judging 24 hours comic challenge (it would feel wrong not to) and trying to position myself and build my freelanceryness when I'm generally just a nice odd chick who does STUFF with passion and that's a slightly incoherant brand.

I have just put a new post on my website, final one for the Emerging Writers Festival http://lizargall.com/ and there are snippets on my twitter http://twitter.com/lizargall

Love

L

Read more here http://lizargall.com/2009/06/comicaze-this-weekend-24-hour-comics-challenge/

Hello to melbournians,

I'm here! Feels so strange. Here are my plans thus far I'd love to go to them with some folks (then there can be coffee and cake afterwards). During the day is free most days for lunches etc, I will be public transporting and based in unctuous Albert Park.

• Tuesday 26 May - I write whatever I want, whenever I want  The Empress Hotel, Fitzroy North. Open at 7.30 8pm start. Cost $15 or $10 Concession
• Wednesday 27 May - The Serious Business of Being Funny, The Empress Hotel, Fitzroy North. Open at 7.30 8pm start. Cost $15 or $10 Concession
• Thursday 28 - So you want to be a YA writer, Storey Hall, RMIT to book phone 03 8664 7555
• Friday....I think I'm going to some artist/writer party thingey... not sure on the details.
• Sat and Sunday - Town Hall Program all day Saturday and Sunday 30/31. Though I might slip away for bits if Mike(y) organises farewelly stuff that is close enough for whimsy (and if the fates smile on him kindly enough that he is in town and isn't stuck packing boxes in Canberra).

My Panel on collaboration is called "I can say yes now but in the end it will be no" will be Sunday 1:45pm - 3pm.

More Emerging Writers Festival stuff can be found here http://www.emergingwritersfestival.org.au/

The following week Mike(y) will be in town and we can do stuff together, though given constrainst we might have to catch up with some people separately.

Sooo..... lunch, after work drinkies, dinner and a panelling or post paneling? Who's up for what and the how? Rescue a poor incoherent maiden eager to minmax her hangin out with people. I also want to go factory outlet bra shopping if anyone has the urge to come along for that.

Has happened http://lizargall.com/2009/05/numbers-ankles-and-visas/

and hooray we have visas and we had a weekend this weekend, for all of it. It was so nice. Now back to packing.

Mike(y) and Liz Canberra Farewell, plus the glorious Sandra's Birthday party rolled into one.

The Date: Saturday May 23

The Place: Our Place

The Time:
4 or 5pmish for enjoyments of the garden
6 or 7ish for sharing food together (some catering provided and dishes to share very welcome)
9 til lateish for dancing and boogie.

The Theme:
Adventure, fame and fortune costuming optional.

The great and glorious Sandra Neeeeds a dance party so bring your dancing shoes.


Mike(y) and Liz are moving to Portland, OR! Liz leaving for a two week stint in Melbourne on the 25th and Mike(y) driving down to Melbourne later before they both fly out on the 8th of June. Most things in our house are up for sale, no reasonable offer refused!

I have written it here http://lizargall.com/2009/05/little-liz-the-accident-prone-years/

Hugs to LJ land :)

I have updated my listing of blog posts about Clarion http://lizargall.com/2009/03/clarion-blogs/

... and I have sooooo much to do. Fear is the mid killer and I keep procrastinating when it comes to my own creative work. I have to just build a bridge and get over it. On the plus side hacking cough is slowly diminishing.

Clarion has just given me some scholarshipness. Hoooray!

I have blogged about it and a touch on the life of a freelancer here http://lizargall.com/2009/04/wonderful-scholarship-news/

Yay, thanks to Marissa, it's all working out nicely.

Travel plans are now like one great big snowball, it's getting faster and faster. I'm kinda glad the School of Art is on a break for two weeks, especially with this comic script writing gig, enviroprops happening and hopefully more enviroprops. Cashes are important. Eeek

In Fabulous news we have a potential home for Alex. Only thing is it's down the coast... so we must now hunt for a bunny sitter as we shall be leaving here tomorrow morning for Melbourne... hmmm. Volunteers? Worst case scenario we might have to hire someone to come in (any students needing cashes?). Bunny could stay with people temporarily or come here and feed.

Hooray.

Just a quick headsup for bunny lovers out there. Given finding someone to feed the bunny over the Easter Long Weekend is tricky and might cause disruption for Alex we've decided given the lack of homes for a bunny in our social circle we shall give our much loved pet to the RSPCA on Wednesday.

The time has to come sometime and I'd like to hold out for as long as possible. But as .wibble  has pointed out we have to bite the bullet sometime. I don't think holding out will increase our chances of homing her and the RSPCA are good people. We may even donate our cages and feed to them unless someone wants them.

So last drinks, last shout out for a home for Alex, a lovely grey bunny, 2 years old. Today I have discovered just how much she loves to eat lemon peel!!! So extremely cute seeing a bunny chow down on a whole lemon at speed. I'd picked a washingbasket full of lemons and one dropped on the floor. I didn't expect her to chase it around on the floor with her nose - the lemon kept moving away from her teeth so I picked it up so she could find a good angle to munch on it

Soooo cute. Sooooo sad. I want to say just a little longer, but easter is probably a good time to look for a home for a bunny.

I has updated mah website with travel plans, dates times etc, tis repeated here beneath the cut

( Read more... )

I realise in my arrogance that I just decided I could get this script done in a week. I don't know why, I just decided. Looking back on data from previous commissioned comic. Without looking at previous stuff I decided it would be easy to double my output, 'cause really what's the difference between 12000 words/60 pages in 5 days and 12000/60 words in 10 ... plus I'm tired this time, packing to move to USA, selling my car and this script looks like it will be bigger as there are some complex concepts to explain... plus I like this story more, it's much easier in some ways to slog through something you don't like as much (in some ways it sucks more)

Net result? I'm writing less than last time and further behind. If I'd been following my old quota I'd be at panel 80 by the end of today. With the bigger target, more procrastination, I'm on panel 52 and would like a break. Still, I've ploughed through some of the trickier bits to visualise, although condensing the massive action scene at the end is still giving me the heeby jeebies.

On the plus side the ceilings of both bathrooms have been scrubbed free of mould, the study is tidier, the car is booked in to be detailed on Friday and then off to the Canberra Car Fair on the weekend (depending on when I get it back from the detailers on Saturday) and once I get to panel 55 I shall reward myself with vacuuming (sad state of affairs eh? but it needs to be done and then I get that little seretonin rush of ticking a box on one of this week's to do list).

Clarion and Monies
In other good news I am breaking even! woohoo, even with the cost of surgery my credit card is (mostly) paid off, my share of the morgage and household stuff is in the black, if it wasn't for the looming horrible cost of Clarion I'd even be able to relax... but car shall be sold, I'll stumble about awkwardly on public transport for a while and I plan to earn enough that proceeds of the car shall only be spent on awesome things. Am tempted to do a help Liz go to Clarion fundraiser... but there are folks who can't eat who need the money more if folks are feeling generous.


Mikey suggested I could pre-sell things, banking on my hopes for the future and who knows when they shall be.

For example: 1 signed, doodled in and personalised copy of my first published book or graphic novel.

I can't sell the dedication as that is already promised to my mum :-)

The cool thing about that is it would place even more pressure on me to get published and I think it would be a good kind of stress.


Or simple services products in the now:
One poem, doggeral and doodles included

I should try to sell more of my existing published thingeys, lighten the load for America as well. I shall put up a leaving Australia special price list... procrastination for tomorrow.


Oh a crazy world with money innit.

I am collecting Clarion stories on my website blog as there is too much coolness not to group together and collect. I would love to include more linkage love so please drop me a line here or at mah website to add to the collection. When I rework my website there will be a direct link to this bit so it will not get lost amongst other posts.

I need to do a bit of techo work and a bit of pretty work on my website, but alas my brain just does not want to go there. Does anyone want to volunteer for a prettification and a touch of techo?

I've done a more detailed write up on this Clarion thingey on my website:

http://lizargall.com/2009/03/clarion-call-the-workshop-that-will-eat-liz-in-june-and-july/

I am going to Clarion http://clarion.ucsd.edu/contact.html An amazing way to introduce myself to the world of American SF. I am very excited.

So excited I can't think of what to say. Someone else who's going to Clarion is excited and he's written this http://truthoffiction.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/clarion-the-blanks-are-clarion/

eeeeee, Clarion.

Now I must pack, book my car in to have brakes replaced and detailed in prep for sale (silly toyota manufactured my car with brakes that only occasionally make the car catch on fire if there's an accident)... must sell car ASAP. So much to do and have been distracted by spreading the good news.

Note to reader: The writer is prone to melodramatic expression and there may be some hyperbole. Tips on and examples of not crap proposals most welcome. As are cupcakes and naptimes.

Arrrrrgggggghhhh. Oh the fear, oh the crap, turgid, boring writing. Trying to write an outline of a story sucks so much life out of it. The process has been handy, I've discovered the reason why I was struggling with the ending was the ending I was aiming for was 20 years before where the beginning really should be and I had the wrong protagonist. It's a much more interesting story now, but is getting harder to write about all the time.

Right now I don't want to write, I want to nap, I want to nap real bad.

I've hammered out 300 reluctant words into the proposal. Editing and reworking my SF Life Model Story (no fracking idea what to call it) now sounds heavenly, so I might seize that procrastination vibe for a little and see if I can scribble on that story so it is ready to be scribbled on by others. The tricky part of the Life Model story is I know the world so well I might not build the sense of space enough as it's as obvious as breathing.

Mustn't procrastinate too much, am Life modeling for 5 hours tomorrow, 7 hours on Thursday and 4 hours on Friday. Lots to squeeze in and must rest enough too as I do have a healing chest wound.

Did send the Merry Minnnow off to Asimov's today. Would be nifty to be published by them, Asimov being... well Asimov and things associated with his name are instantly cool.

I have an itinerary. It hurts of travel, but I'm new enough to this kind of travel that the idea of bumping around remote Australia in a tiny plane sounds exciting and full of promise (the many hours in airports and 1:15am flight from Darwin not so exciting).

Broome 18-20 March (via Sydney and Perth), then home after a weekend in Darwin.

Carnarvon 1-3 April in (via a night in Adelaide, Perth, Geraldton). I'll be in Perth for my Birthday and then spend most of Saturday 4 April getting home (via Adelaide)

Many days full of naught but travel & comics.

Any suggestions for what to do? Darwin I'll have a few days of exploration, everything else will be sandwiched at the end or the start of the day. I am excited, I've never been to Darwin and on the West Coast I've never been further north than Perth... heck I've never been to WA as an adult.

Hopefully I can get a lot of writing done during the massive days of travel. It wasn't long ago I was worried about cash flow. Now I'm worried about getting everything done!

Must dash :-)

Hugs all.