Discuss.

Please note that the word "spirit" here is lower-cased; the Lord* wasn't discussing the Holy Spirit.

Is there irony in the word "spirits" for booze?

* Oh, how I hate it when my relatives throw that phrase around. But it's different when I do it.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 01:22 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 Obviously, the part of man that responds to God is willing to do much for God, but the part that does not respond to God is not willing to do much. As for the capitalization: The original languages of the Bible (Hebrew, Greek and a tidbit of Aramaic and Chaldean) did not have our present-day system of capital vs. lower-case letters, although Greek did gain them since that time. The oldest manuscripts have everything in all caps (which did not indicate shouting to them). In fact, Greek, at that time, was often written without spaces between the words. Consequently, the word "spirit" is capitalized in modern English bibles depending on the translators' choices in the matter. Some translators render all instances with a lower-case "s," and let the reader figure out whether the spirit is human or divine. Other translators try to infer it from the context and apply a capital "S" in those cases where they believe the spirit in question is the Holy Spirit. In this particular passage, it simply makes no discernable sense if the spirit here is divine.

Posted by: John at October 27, 2006 03:40 PM (GjZK7)

2 Right. But what is meant when we talk about the human spirit? What do we mean? What did Christ mean? In a scriptural context, how is the spirit distinct from the soul?

Posted by: Attila Girl at October 27, 2006 07:30 PM (LEEsJ)

3 Wouldn't you and St. Thomas Aquinas like to know? In Suma Theologica, et.al., there is little practical difference between the human spirit and soul. The spirit is the soul as given, merged with our sapience-- our consciousness, apperception and experience, etc. I wrote out my own personal theory of God and what it all means, but your system ate it. I took that as a sign! Maybe some other time.

Posted by: Darrell at October 28, 2006 01:19 AM (/ztjB)

4 I'm crushed. As soon as I have my life back, I'll try to get that fixed.

Posted by: Attila Girl at October 28, 2006 08:10 AM (LEEsJ)

5 The spirit would be the part that participates in the afterlife. The term that is translated 'soul' is the Greek word psyche, from which we get words like psychology, etc, although the Greeks had a different word for 'mind'. Whether the soul and the spirit are the same thing or different things really doesn't matter in the long run. If they are the same, pleasing God requires me to give up drunkeness, surfing porn, etc. If they are different, pleasing God requires me to give up drunkeness, surfing porn, etc. So I don't worrty about it.

Posted by: John at October 28, 2006 12:21 PM (VOKJa)

6 I always copy my text, knowing what can happen. Last night that didn't work either. Only two words copied, but the whole text was highlighted properly. Time to call it a night, then. Don't forget to set your clock back tonight(10-2 ....Although you would be early for Mass this time....

Posted by: Darrell at October 28, 2006 08:13 PM (YR+ky)

7 Translation: stop procrastinating and DO IT.

Posted by: eclectic infidel at October 29, 2006 11:45 AM (pPEXX)

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But whenever they leave one of these interviews, the protagonist decides the killer couldn't possibly have been him, "because he's so cute." I think her horniness is messing with her objectivity: I'll have to speak to her about this.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:18 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The usual spirited discussion about whether I should have a character use the word "cunt." I thought it worked, but a lot of people find that word offensive beyond anything else. So, there's that.

And, of course, there was the usual praise for my dialogue, with the standard cautions about how I have too much of it. And the expected admonition that at certain points my characters' voices sound indistinguishible from one another, "as if they'd been written by the same person."

"Yes," I replied. "There's a reason for that."

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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If I could just crank out several pages a day consistently, I'd be fine. But I have no attention span. I flit around from chapter to chapter. I rearrange the order of things.

And I forgot to introduce that important whatchamacallit into the first chapter.

I'm a freaking mess right now.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 02:45 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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I just want to work on the book. I'm supposed to have it finished on Tuesday, but that seems hopeless.

I'd like to at least print out some of the earlier chapters, but they keep changing: as I tweak the solution to the puzzle, I have to insert correlating clues in the first few chapters.

Meanwhile, as usual, I'm neglecting the middle of the book. And that stupid mob connection thingie; WTF was I thinking with that?

Posted by: Attila Girl at 09:16 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Figure out how I'm going to wrap up that subplot about the potential mobsters. Chop chop!

Posted by: Attila Girl at 10:58 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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I'm at 172 pages right now. The battery in my Mac is threatening to overheat. (What do I do if that happens? Add water?)

It's looking like the first draft will weigh in at close to 200 pages. Hard to predict how long the finished product will be. I figure shorter is always better; it isn't like I can't buff out the areas that need it. I could see it going to 250 pages, but who knows? Certainly no longer than 300. It's just a little mystery.

The idea is that I "park" the manuscript during November. I can still do research, but I can't mess with the text; I need to see it with fresh eyes.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 03:03 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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And then this rough beast will be ready to be printed out for review by my husband.

I'm exhausted, though: we spent all afternoon/evening at a wedding, and I'm making omelets tomorrow for my mother and for Attila the Hub. (Or am I making omelettes? Editorial types may want to weigh in, here.)

Does someone else want to add that stupid interview with the guy who killed the model? Or that stupid clue about the bookmark? This whole thing isn't going to work: I should just admit it. What was I thinking?

Posted by: Attila Girl at 09:58 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Let's take a vote: double-edged, or single-edged? I was going to go double, but I may stick with single. I wish the different types of wounds weren't so distinct from one another.

Fucking forensic scientists. They've ruined everything.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 08:51 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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I need to research knives: kitchen knives, daggers, and the use of knives in magic tricks.

I also need to disconnect the phone system in an office building—preferably only on one floor.

This is my first big crime, and I need it to be . . . well, perfect.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 07:53 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 If you have questions on edged weapons, I can help you. I have experience with many different types. What can I do for you?

Posted by: Lictor at October 20, 2006 07:23 AM (jDWYv)

2 Phone system--find the utility closet on each floor. Or--work at the local phone central office(local exchange site where the PBX-switching equipment resides). Remember people carry cell phone these days--hard to keep anyone incommunicado.

Posted by: Darrell at October 20, 2006 09:01 AM (V4KWO)

3 Make that "harder" to keep... You can jam their cell service locally--like some theatres are doing.

Posted by: Darrell at October 20, 2006 09:04 AM (V4KWO)

4 D: I just need to buy a few minutes; I'm putting her Motorola in her purse, which is in her own office. She's working in a colleague's office. All I need is to keep her from using his office phone--or the computer. I may simply put the computer behind her, and place the perp between her and the phone. It's so quick for a person to dial 911; I need to explain why she isn't doing that, instead of leaving the dying clues that mystery writers want victims to leave.

Posted by: Attila Girl at October 20, 2006 11:29 AM (LEEsJ)

5 Assuming you don't have prior access to that office, a simple way of tying up a phone is to place a call to that number. He can taunt her by pressing the dial button on his cell when she spots the phone. The computer won't be any use to her...especially if it's a PC. Ever try to summon quick help via emal? Have the co-worker sign out before leaving the office(he must have porn on his computer).

Posted by: Darrell at October 20, 2006 08:19 PM (tsGz/)

6 His cell? An untraceable throw-away, of course... If the killer is a "she"...change all those pronouns to "her"...

Posted by: Darrell at October 20, 2006 09:31 PM (tsGz/)

7 You aren't hoping for a good catfight--are you?

Posted by: Attila Girl at October 21, 2006 09:42 PM (LEEsJ)

8 Always! Either naked or in Catholic school uniforms...

Posted by: Darrell at October 22, 2006 06:10 AM (z5oXf)

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he asks, "why don't you spend that same amount of time reading the classics in your genre?"

Because I don't want to read the classics. I want to be a classic. And the only way to do that is to face the truth about my shortcomings; the sooner, the better. Emulating the "greats" works slowly, and I have a finite amount of time.

Sure, some of what gets said is silly, and I disregard that. I only listen to what works for me.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I had a few duplicate chapters in the "Draft One" folder. But I still have 160 pages in there, which isn't too bad. I'm probably 60-80 pages away from the finish line. First mysteries tend to be slender, after all. Twenty-two days left until I pronounce the first draft complete and set this puppy aside for a month or so while my "beta-testers" mark it up. That's 2.7 pages a day, if my calculations are correct about the finished length of Draft One. And I'm writing every day.

The rule is: some of it should suck—hard. Or I'm overediting as I go. That would really suck.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 10:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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. . . we have speakers in to talk about how they got their businesses to grow (I'm in the money fellowship, so it's not as crazy as it sounds). Afterward, there's a question-and-answer session for ten minutes. During this time someone invariably asks the speaker "what are your daily spiritual practices?"

Standard answers: prayer, meditation, spiritual readings.

Next time I speak at that meeting I'm going to answer, "every day I read the Bible, and Ellery Queen."

Posted by: Attila Girl at 04:14 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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In our household, the catchphrase is in honor of my 11-year-old fan, who heard me read at a party once and now wants to see all my work. Fortunately, she doesn't yet know about this blog, so I don't have to clean up my act here. But her taste for my autobiographical writing leaves me with a continual question as to how intense things can get—not so much with respect to sex, but in matters of violence and emotional sturm und drang.

If her name is Carol, the household conversation goes something like this: "don't worry, Honey; you'll find your Carol." We say that to each other over and over again.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 02:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Then I went back in and embedded some more allusions in the text—including a luscious quote from W.B. Yeats. At some point some asshole editor is going to take it out, but not for a while yet.

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, ya know.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 10:56 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I at least need to create a backup backup of my murder mystery files (say, 250 pages in 30 different documents [including character studies, outlines and the like]).

If I add my other fiction/essays/fiddle faddle to it, that could well be another 250 pages, in a similar number of files.

So how small can the jump drive be? Can someone convert that amount of text into a ballpark number of megs for me? You know how I hate dealing with figures . . .

Posted by: Attila Girl at 09:36 AM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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. . . until my Vomit Draft is finished. I want an unbroken narrative of the mystery done by Halloween. If I need to expand things after that, or change them around in the second draft, that's just freaking fine.

Some of this stuff does strike me as awfully vomity. Of course, there are those passages that I want to embroider on my clothing, and wear around town.

Would people look at me funny if I did that?

Posted by: Attila Girl at 05:58 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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