All posts by Niamh

Cleveland-born, Purdue-trained, Detroit-toughened trans woman, engineer, and author. I like football and when Detroit wins stuff. I swear a lot, I write a lot, and I drink coffee a lot.

Mid-Day Thoughts

Maidin mhaith!

Word count is climbing, I’ve been writing since 7:30, so plenty of time. Plus I still have the rest of the day ahead of me. But now is as good as a time as any to stop and write down some thoughts that I’ve been ignoring lately.

First, writing is much, much easier when you have already written it before. I find myself much more willing to rewrite than I had first expected. When I first deleted my entire first book (in a separate, new file mind you) I suspected that I’d be about 30% “new” stuff and 70% “old” stuff. I find myself much closer to 50/50 if not actually favoring to write completely new material.

And I haven’t even hit any of the “bad” chapters yet. When that happens I might run the counter all the way to 100% new! Who knows, but I feel good about the Mark III (as I’ve been found of calling it).

Unfortunately the changes might force my already paid-for cover to essentially become unusable. I’ll mull that around a bit.

 

Meanwhile, in sports, Newcastle continues to sail down the rails like an out-of-control rollercoaster headed toward disaster. All three of our keepers have been injured in the last week, the big derby is tomorrow, a keeper finally got off the bench and it is our triple fall-back. Completely blew our chance at the cup by losing to a team we had already sank this year.

Manager Pardew continues to prove that only he can be awarded “Manager of the Month” while in a four-game losing streak (for the previous month after five wins seemed to completely turn our chances around). For fuck’s sake I hate him. His inconsistent leaning toward losing. But apparently five wins and is enough to completely overlook months of constant failure and dismay, despite a return to his normal form.

I don’t know what he’s doing at training but all the fucking injuries that are coming out of that pitch makes me think he is walking around beating everyone with a cane.

 

On the Detroit side of things, perennial pain in our ass and complete failure of an owner Dan Duggan is once again promising a USL Pro team in 2016 and he’s even building a stadium in Detroit. By which I’m assuming Pontiac because he can actually afford that. I really wish he’d just fall of a financial cliff and disappear forever.

The good guys however are rapidly expanding. Season ticket sales are rumored to be coming up to a sales cap in order to ensure that tickets can still be sold at the gate. It might actually hurt our financials because season tickets are so much cheaper for us and them.

However, to help compensate, DCFC gear is going retail. A local sports chain here has started carrying gear and tickets, which is absolutely awesome. Brigid and I have talked a few times about how you know that the team is really getting acceptance and having your stuff in retail was a huge part of that.

I will admit being worried that our grass-roots movement might take a battering from corporate asshats like Duggan, but I think if we can persevere we’ll make it through the storm in the end. But sitting in the past looking forward is much scarier than sitting in the future looking back.

Word count will be posted at the end of the day. Spoiler alert, I’ll likely break into five digits.

Slán!

Word Count: 7,539

Brigid and I had some shopping to do today so we could completely avoid going within five miles of a grocery store as Christmas approaches. Currently the planned holiday meal at the Kendall residence is “frozen pizza” but that might change depending on several variables.

Got to make this quick, Brigid is sleepy from a long day at work. Most of tonight’s work from from scratch as I tried to clean up some rough spots and get it to flow. Chapter One is complete though, so my main goal has been accomplished.

Tomorrow I really hope to get through all of Chapter Two, but I have a feeling that it’ll take two days or more.

Chapter One really was a beast, though. I hadn’t noticed before. I tried splitting it into two chapters, but it still read as one chapter to me so I removed the header and so you all are stuck with one hell of a first chapter.

Hope it doesn’t suck.

Sláinte.

Word Count: 6,413

The climb upwards and onwards continues.

Again, today’s work was a mix of re-purposing old text and creating some new text all together. So don’t think I actually wrote over 3,500 words between getting home from work and now.

Luckily tomorrow is my last day of work for quite a while. It means a lot of time to write and catch back up to where I was. I am hoping to get about a chapter a day. I’m still in Chapter One right now, but it is a rather long chapter. It doesn’t have much left, but it does have a lot.

I am considering splitting it up. Not terribly fond of that idea, but it isn’t something I’d say “no” to if pushed or given a strong reason to do it, but right now it is remaining one chapter.

So far I am very pleased with progress. I think my character has been given a much more recognizable voice and a much stronger definition as a character.

Oíche mhaith!

Word Count: 2,791

A good chunk is brand new, but a good chunk is recycled. Prologue is done and I’ve made decent headway into chapter one, which is one of the longest chapters if I am remembering correctly. Hope is to wrap that up tomorrow at the latest.

Slán, bitches.

Tomorrow

So I went through all of my third first reader’s notes yesterday.

It took about eight hours give or take. I ate dinner at my desk to save time and had a couple cups of coffee to power through it.

Tonight I am going to drink Guinness, play minecraft, and have one more day above the roses before tomorrow I do something drastic.

Tomorrow I roll the counter back from 109,000 to 0. And I start again.

Well, perhaps I am being a bit dramatic. I am not starting from scratch or anything. But the changes have to be drastic. 13 chapters require complete rewrites, 3 of those require such drastic changes that there is literally nothing of value in the words I have on the page other than a reminder to myself on how not to do it. Nearly all the rest require pretty heavy modification but can at least pull from the existing text.

So tomorrow, book 1 goes back to “0” and we try again. Lessons learned. But by the end of tomorrow, expect that number to be high. And expect it to grow pretty quick.

I’ll be back around 110,000 before you know it.

Actually, this is a great opportunity for some drastic changes. At least one whole character is being axed completely. I’m rather glad to see him go, to be honest. Character voices and dialogue can be overhauled for both consistency but also dialect, something I’ve wanted to add for quite a while.

I’m excited. This break is going to be busy. This month is going to be busy. But it’ll get done. And it’ll be better for the effort.

Tonight, though, tonight I enjoy a little bit of stupid fun before I go back to the hard work.

Because apparently I am a soccer blag

So this went live on Crain’s of Detroit recently so I thought it was about time that I selfishly post my desires for Detroit City FC in the coming season and the coming years. Especially with word that the NCAA’s move to a year-round system could potentially kill the NPSL and that might spell the end for Detroit City.

If that happens expect this blog to go quiet for a while as I pick up the shattered pieces of my life.

But first some of the good from the Crain’s article:

  • Games will be live-streamed – Huzzah, this is awesome and means it can be easier to share the love with friends and family.
  • We’re back to the plastic cards for season tickets – there are actually negatives to this, like it is harder to hand out extras and unused tickets which are great for getting noobs to show, but damn if they don’t look sweet.
  • We sold more tickets in the first 24 hours than we did in the first month last year – that means growth and that is awesome.
  • The servers didn’t burn like last year – this is purely a professionalism thing, but great work!
  • DCFC has begun an ad campaign between English soccer games on Saturdays – perfect.
  • Keyworth stadium is under serious consideration for 2016 – I’m not a fan of Keyworth, I think it is too small. But anything to move upwards.
  • They are looking to diversify investments – this is a big deal with the uphill battle ahead.
  • Andy Appleby, Detroit local and owner of the English side Derby County FC gave us a good word – this will be controversial to some reading, but this is good; it means there is good will there and it can only help or at least keep our FO confident of their progress.

One more thing before the wishlist: NCAA year going round? Well, I can imagine two likely scenarios:

1 – It doesn’t happen. This is completely possible still. It might fall through. The NCAA might be too picky and stuck up to make for a good bedmate with anyone. The USSF might eventually grow sick of trying to deal with it and prefer the tiered system already under their feet. There are also a lot of owners in the NPSL and PDL who have stakes in its continued existence. They might fight back. Might. But probably not.

2 – The NCAA system is chosen and is implemented in the 2016-2017 school year. This gives the NPSL the 2015 and 2016 seasons as a swan song. I’m sorry, but if the NCAA goes year-round the NPSL will collapse. Since most teams are based entirely on unpaid college students, losing them all will doom the system to being nothing more than an adult rec league with stiff travel requirements. This means teams with higher aims better work fast otherwise 2016 will be the second date on their grave stone.

I’m more or less assuming in my head that #2 is the one that will win, so consider that as you go through my wishlist.

KITS

  • Two words: Hooped Kits.
  • Okay serious, concerning kits: start developing a style. That means home kits should be easily recognizable and only differ a little bit from year to year. Experiment with the seconds but try to keep it under control. Have fun with the thirds. Here are all of Newcastle’s home kits from 1893 to now. I can already hear the snoring, but that is what you want.
  • Still on kits (I’m a huge kit nerd, one day I’ll post my Newcastle collection): okay, okay! We are young, we should experiment. Hoops. Moving on.
  • An aside (after a bit of a twitter exchange,): Celtic has been using their white and green hoops since 1889 with the only major change in being to switch from vertical stripes to horizontal hoops in ~1903. Newcastle has been in magpie colors since 1894, switching from blue to black shorts in 1920. Consistency, bitches.

STADIUM

  • The stadium. I looked into the price of aluminum bleachers and my reaction is: “Holy fuck-balls.” The cost for renovating Keyworth Stadium would be $1,000,000 and it is likely not coming from our FO’s pocket. I have ideas on who might be coughing it up (I’ll resist rumor mongering) but regardless of who it is I’d really rather spend the money on something we’d own that is still in Detroit proper. Hamtramck Public Schools will still own Keyworth and that makes the deal iffy to me. However; the railroad tracks and Keyworth’s general ragged look is amazing.
  • If I had to choose anywhere, I’d love a stadium in Cork Town. There is a large Gaelic streak through many of the North Guard and the area has a great number of bars that would help feed and lubricate fans before a match. Plus we’ve already marched through Cork Town so no more cherry-popping homeowners. Eh… maybe that is a bad thing. Bwuhahaha.
  • I’d want 10k minimum with space to expand to 20k or 25k easily. Serving alcohol is a must.

LEAGUE

  • The NPSL is part of our blood. DCFC wouldn’t be half as crazy if it wasn’t for the fact that we come out every week for a tier four team that is cheaper to run over three seasons than Messi’s left testicle. When the Galaxy’s supporters are once again caught only singing when in the lead, they are half-heartily supporting a team with a huge budget, once hosted Footy-Spice, and at the time was sporting “Legend” Donovan. Yet when the Revs tied it all up you were dead silent. Do better. Fucking casuals.
  • I really want to aim for the NASL while keeping the NPSL team alive as a feeder. It let us remain connected to our roots and let the hard-corey of the hard core NGS faithful to have “easy” days. Right now that usually means the often downplayed friendlies against local clubs. When it is just 100 of us we can try new chants, have a bit more fun, and of course attempt to eat nachos.
  • The NASL, I think (and I could be wrong) offers a lot of what the MLS does without the fucking MLS. I fucking hate the MLS. I hope that our FO stays FO and continues to allow the NGS to do what we do best – fuck shit up. And when we are done fucking shit up, building a stronger community through charity games and Hooligans for Heroes.
  • We need a time table for this and it is going to be one hell of a climb out of this fucking hell-hole. I am not a fan of the USL Pro, partially because it is affiliated with the MLS which could potentially make the switch NASL difficult. But also don’t see a reason to go to USL Pro – it seems like an overly expensive NPSL. None of the benefits of the big leagues or the small. Just the negatives.

THE FRONT OFFICE (FO)

  • I actually have a very few “wishes” from the front office. So far in three years they’ve proven to be pretty hands off with the supporters and encouraging of our shenanigans. Now, some people might say “Of course Nick, that is what pays the bills” and to those people I say “I know, seriously.” A lot of owners and even whole leagues in the USA get this so, so wrong. So very, very wrong. It is crazy. But we, the fans of DCFC, have some great owners and a great FO. So “thank you” to all of you. Even Donovan who learned to love/fear me at try-outs. I love you, man.
  • However! However. I would like that they communicate more in the sense of not doing this one week heads up for friendlies and charity events. It doesn’t give us a ton of time. I know they are probably waiting on hearing back, but even a cryptic “save the date” sort of post would work wonders.
  • This goes for the DCFL too.
  • I wanted to play in the fall league, but couldn’t get a team together in the week we had.
  • I’d also like a fan/FO gathering, so that we have a public fora to ask these sorts of things. But I can understand that the FO cannot answer everything, no matter how much I beg.
  • You didn’t do Noël Night, fine. Some of us were looking forward to it but whatever. Fuck up Paddy’s Day and I swear from Cork Town to Cork City I’ll be rather upset.
  • Speaking of Paddy’s, Green kits. Just saying.
  • And an official tartan. I can make that if you want to commission it.

Anyway, I need to wrap up and work on my Gaelic. I’ll end with a fun little anecdote about Mr. Powell. I think it was the first game against Cinnci, a pal and I were wandering around behind the bleachers looking for trouble. Donovan asks how we got back there (because the gates had been locked behind us) and we just laughed and said “Used the gate.”

So to finally answer your question: we walked in before they closed the gate. Hope it doesn’t ruin the illusion.

Where I am in Publishing

I don’t talk much about writing here event though the initial purpose of this site was to showcase my writing. I have another DCFC post planned, but I just got my biweekly soccer-related boost in views so I should save it for a little bit.

Bin a bit of a hit-n-miss few days. Windshield is cracked from a rock strike. Of course it isn’t covered by the warranty so it is up to me to fix it. It won’t cost more than $200 but still. For fuck’s sake.

So right now I have two books in various states of completion. Sun-King, book 1 in my still-unnamed series, is in the hands of its last first reader. My hope is to get it back during the Holiday Break and do all editing then. Originally it was supposed to publish in time for ConFusion in Detroit. I was going to try to get on a few panels and do what I do best – talk until people either hate or love me. With no book, that is not happening.

But the time-line is pretty much solidified. By January have editing complete. Get it to a copy editor. By March have those edits and formatting completed. Internal formatting includes having the map completed. In March I’ll order my proofs and ensure everything looks good.

I actually have cover art. We’ll see how the printing handles that. I can always work with my wife to whip something else up if all else fails.

That means I hope to be published before DCFC hits the field in May and my attentions are moved elsewhere.

Meanwhile, book two (Yew-Throne) is sitting and resting while I try to recharge my batteries. I was consistently hitting about 2-3k words per week for a while but half-way through November I tripped up and have since put it to the side. I am hoping for a late 2015/early 2016 publishing time frame.

I’m hoping to get some wind in my sails and get going with that again. I am at about 45k words aim to finish around 110-120k. I have the next chapter or two in my head, but the transition is keeping up at night. I am one of those people who writes very linearly. I write things in order: 1-2-3. It doesn’t matter if later the order is 1-3-2, but especially with chronological things I write in order. It helps me keep facts, characters, and settings straight since my notes are rather sparse if they exist beyond an email memo at all.

So I have a plan of sorts. But as of writing it is waiting for people to get back or waiting for the creative juices to start flowing again.

Waiting waiting waiting…