Ingrid Díaz — Official Site of Author Ingrid Díaz

More TBSOL news and some bananas

Today was such a crazy writing day. I started chapter 50 and I wrote half of it. Three scenes out of six. I was averaging half a scene per day and then today it was like swoosh. And even now I’m a bit like, Oooh I want to keep writing. But at the same time I feel emotionally exhausted. So I shall let the chapter marinate over night and see how it tastes tomorrow. Did I say tastes? I meant reads. This is why I’m stepping away from the fiction writing for today.

Excuse me while I interrupt myself to post this picture:

via @theellenshow

HAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh God.

(Everything is funnier when you’re crazy).

Okay, before I lose what remains of my mind, I wanted to say a something of medium-rare importance:

Open membership to the TBSOL beta journal is closing on May 1, 2010. What that means is that I will not accept more applicants past Saturday. If you’re already a member then relax, this does not affect you.

If you have questions or concerns about what that means, feel free to comment/email me/facebook me/twitter me or send me the question/concern via Morse code. I won’t understand it but I will think that you’re awesome.

That concludes this very important message.

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Written by Ingrid Díaz on April 29, 2010

Writing

TBSOL Progress Report #2

Today I finished chapter 49. I didn’t expect to finish it today because I had outlined an extra scene that I intended to write tomorrow. But I think it doesn’t need that extra scene. So I’ve decided to move on to chapter 50.

I made myself some coffee, sat on the couch, and stared at the wall for a long time, trying to figure out how, exactly, I wanted to finish this book. And then I scrawled the answers down. The final scene has always been the big question mark in my mind. I think that I found the final scene. And so, I do firmly believe that I have fully outlined chapter 50.

Here’s a sneak peek of the outline:

P1060015

At first glance, you’d think, “Well, Ingrid, that tells us nothing.” Au contraire mes amies! You learn a lot. For example, if you’re wondering how long chapter 50 is going to be, well the answer is right there: It’s going to be as long as the width of an iPhone 3GS. You also learn that I have a really pretty cellphone wallpaper. And that it was 4:22pm when I took that picture.

Wow, I feel like I’ve shared too much.

But I’ll share a bit more because I feel like we’re friends:

I outlined about four scenes for the chapter. But it may be one or two more depending on how the content breaks down.
It takes place back in New York

And that’s really all I can say because I haven’t written it yet.

One more chapter to go. After which I will sit back, realize that I wrote a 200,000 word novel, and proceed to pass out.

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Written by Ingrid Díaz on April 28, 2010

Las Aparicio

Las Aparicio Recap: Episodes 3, 4, and 5

Alma (eldest daughter; lots of jobs)

You remember me talking about that “sweet” stalker of hers? No? Well, good, because he’s not sweet at all. Alma, who is normally a hardass when it comes to men and relationships, begins to cave in to Leonardo’s advances. He just can’t quit her. And she finds that disarming. And at first you’re kind of, “Aww, he likes her like a lot.” And then you see that he’s actually quite creepy and keeps replaying videos of Alma being escorted by the police after her husband’s murder. And he caresses the screen where she sits looking all gloomy at the back of a police car. And you start to think, “That’s weird.” And Alma starts to trust him a little bit more, which makes you nervous for her. Then she starts sleeping with him and spending the night. And then you find out (gasp!) that Leonardo knew her ex-husband and seems to have some sort of weird vengeance demon complex. And then you see him cackling evilly into the night, “I’m going to get you Alma! And your little dog too! MUAHAHAHA!” Only in Spanish and with different words.

In other news, she’s got a daughter, who’s kind of creepy, actually. Or maybe I just don’t know her very well yet. I won’t judge til she kicks a puppy or something. She showed up in episode 5. She’s also got a purity ring that everyone mistook for a wedding ring. Anyway, she seems to be like an older version of Isadora (Mercedes’ daughter): bitter about her father’s death, and effed up psychologically. Oh wait, I’m judging. Nevermind. She seems perfectly lovely ~~for a future serial killer~~.

Oh and there’s more: one of her Alma’s escorts is in love with her. Secretly-like. He seems sweet. Of course, I’ve been wrong about that before.

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Written by Ingrid Díaz on April 26, 2010

Lists

5 Lessons I Learned From Moving to France

From time to time, people ask me what I’m doing all the way in France. The short answer is: My girlfriend is French and I moved to be with her.

It was not a decision that I made immediately after we met. In fact, at first, I honestly believed there was no way I would ever move to France. It was a terrifying thought. I didn’t speak a word of French. I told K that I didn’t think I could deal with living in a country where I didn’t speak the language. I had all these flashbacks to being 10 and trying to learn English properly and kids making fun of me at school because I pronounced things funny and because I didn’t understand half the things that were said to me. I hated that feeling of not knowing what was going on and I couldn’t see how I could ever put myself through that again. So, I put the option to move to France in a little box and locked it away.

K and I spent two years flying back and forth to see each other. And a few things became clear to me during that time: continue reading…

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Written by Ingrid Díaz on April 24, 2010

Video

This just made me extremely happy…

Thanks, Lyan. :)

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Written by Ingrid Díaz on April 22, 2010

Las Aparicio

Las Aparicio Episodes 1 & 2 Recap

Las Aparicio is sort of like … if you take Desperate Housewives and you kill off all the men and call it something entirely different, like: Lots of Widows and a Confused Lesbisexual. I’m sure that was one of the titles they threw around before settling on Las Aparicio. Aparicio is the family name. And it’s all about the women. Let’s meet the Fab Four: continue reading…

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Written by Ingrid Díaz on April 22, 2010

Video

Chuck 3.14 Chuck vs. the Honeymooners Sneak Peek

Chuck and Sarah warm my heart. Especially after the craptastic season we had so far.

(What’s their couple name? Probably something like Charah. My first thought was … Suck.)

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Written by Ingrid Díaz on April 22, 2010

Writing

TBSOL Progress Report

I haven’t been talking about how TBSOL is going, which maybe has people thinking that I’m stuck again. I’m actually not stuck! I’ve made tremendous progress on chapter 49, which is now two and a half scenes away from completion.

So far, chapter 49 is 6,332 words. And has a total of 10 scenes (well, 9 and a half). I’ve outlined 12 scenes total. So we’re very nearly there.

Chapter 50 should be significantly shorter.

I’ve not let anyone read any part of chapter 49 yet which is rare for me and feels really strange because I usually have a general, scene-by-scene idea of how it’s coming along for at least one other person. Having no input whatsoever is weird. But it’s kind of cool, too, in an omg-does-this-suck-or-not-what-am-I-doing-oh-god sort of way.

When I first started the chapter after many months of not being able to start the chapter, I thought the whole thing was going to be a big, convoluted mess of words. In a lot of ways, I feel like the entire novel is a big, convoluted mess of words that will have to beaten into shape with a stick before it’s ready for public consumption.

But in writing chapter 49 I’ve come to see that the end approaches with every sentence and that’s a very different feeling than I had when I finished the original version.

Chapter 49 is about realizations and about family and about the past and–most importantly–the future and about solidifying Julianne and Kris as a couple. ~~And Mexican robots named Buttercup~~.

~~Chapter 50 is where the aliens land and kidnap Kris and take her away to their home planet to marry their king, Z9972skjfloj the Third~~ .

The details on chapter 50 are still a little fuzzy…

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Written by Ingrid Díaz on April 21, 2010

Of Life & Randomness

Perhaps I Overshare…

…but I think that’s okay.

It’s not like I go around horrifying people with stories best filed under Too Much Information. But I’m not a private person. I am happy to tell people whatever they want to know about me. If you email me and say, “Hi, you don’t know me, but tell me about the first time you had sex.” I’d probably write back and ask, “Well, how do you define sex?” And then I’d pull them into a long, back-and-forth exchange about what constitutes sex, until they grow to regret ever having emailed me, but eventually I’d answer the question.

I’ve always been this way. Growing up I had “private” journals, which I wrote with the full intention of letting other people read them. I guess I didn’t see the point of writing to myself. There was always the thought in my head that if I wrote something down there was always the risk that someone would read it anyway and so I only wrote things I was okay with other people reading and so, if I was okay with other people reading them, why not just let them read it?

I do keep a “private” journal these days. I write in it, mostly, because the journal itself is so pretty and I’m fond of the concept. You’re welcome to come over and sift through it. ~~It’s not that interesting~~. It’s riveting stuff.

I used to think the only real purpose to keeping a private journal was to give the police or the FBI insight on victimology. If I went missing I would’ve hated for them to waste time thinking I’d run away. So I’d write stuff like, “I would never run away. If you’re a police officer and you’re reading this SOME HORRIBLE PERSON TOOK ME.”

Thankfully, I was never kidnapped. But it made me feel better to know that I had my bases covered.

By contrast, my girlfriend is very private. I think she’d remove herself from the Internet entirely if she didn’t need it to communicate with some people. She’s often horrified by how easy I am to follow online. I always remind her that if I weren’t easy to stalk she would’ve never found me. And if she hadn’t found me, she would not now be blessed with the pleasure of my company.

I think mostly I’m grateful that I’m the sort of person that doesn’t mind talking about herself in public forums because otherwise I wouldn’t have half the friends I have (or the girlfriend I have) and I’m rather fond of these people.

There was probably a point to this entry but I think I lost it in between K coming home from work and me taking down the recycling.

Points are overrated, anyway. Unless you’re playing sports. Or a board game.

Which reminds me, I think it’s my turn on Words with Friends.

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Written by Ingrid Díaz on April 20, 2010

Of Life & Randomness

The Day My Pants Fell Down In Class (A True Story)

There seems to be a thick blanket of blah today. My facebook friends are blah. My twitter friends are blah. I, myself, am blah. Maybe I’m just projecting.

Anyway, I considered just passing along this cute video of a cat playing with an iPad in the hopes that it would cheer people up, but everyone has probably seen it and passed it on already. So, instead, I will sacrifice what remains of my pride (ha!) and tell you a really embarrassing thing that happened to me in college. Some of you know it by now.

I used to wear really baggy clothes. I mean, really baggy.

Towards the end of the first semester of my sophomore year in college, I had a Child Development final that I spent all night cramming for. I went to bed late, but I set the alarm for 7:30am, thinking I’d have enough time to get some extra studying before the test.

The alarm didn’t ring. Or maybe it rang and I turned it off and went back to sleep. Or maybe I only think I set it. The point is that when I opened my eyes it was 8:49am and my exam was at 9:00am. I stared at the time until it registered that I was not only late, but really late. I only briefly considered giving up and going back to sleep. But worries like failing out of college propelled me out of bed.

I didn’t have time for luxuries like brushing my teeth or peeing or even putting on a bra. I slid into some pants, slipped into some shoes and out the door I went. Running.

The professor had warned us that the doors would be locked at 8:59 and that no one would be allowed in after that point, so I was fully expecting to arrive too late. I was amazed when I pulled the handle and the door opened. continue reading…

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Written by Ingrid Díaz on April 19, 2010