Tag: blog

Onward

Sunday. Snowing.

First cup of tea has brewed. Breakfast will be skyr and toast because it’s easy and I can eat it while I read.

Today! is copy edits, and trying to make some sense of the additions to the glossary.

Last night, I watched the first episode of the Marlow Murder Club. I’m interested enough to watch the second.

After — yeah, eyes wouldn’t focus sufficiently to read, and I’d already been reading all day. I listened to The Goblin Emperor for a bit (which was comforting), and so to bed.

Firefly is in the window, watching the snow. Trooper wants to know what I’m doing at the damn’ computer AGAIN, and Rook just came in from the other room to find out what Trooper’s yelling about.

Whatcha doin’ today?

Why Writers Drink, Part — are to we ten million, yet?

Saturday. Cold and grey.

We here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory are under Rush Orders from the publisher and so will be scarce until the copy edits have been reviewed/accepted/rejected.

<complaint>I had A Plan. My Plan was to write a nice, comfortable short story, to get back into the mindset of writing-not-editing, interspersed with making chili, breads, and other Stuff for the freezer so as to be prepared to slip into writing the next book. Forget that Plan.</complaint>

Kettle’s on. Breakfast will be PBnJ onna whole wheat English muffin. Lunch — oh, who knows.

I did set the alarm for O’Ghod O’Clock, and I did get up to turn up the thermostats. But then I went back to bed for another hour, because I’d rather work late in a warm house than early in a freezing one.

And that? Is the news that’s fit to print.

Everybody stay warm, or cool, or whatever may be appropriate.

Attack of the blanket pirates

Friday. Sunny and cold. 23F/-5C right now, said to be heading all the way up to 26F/-3C.

Breakfast was a blueberry muffin. Kettle on for second cup of tea, while I wait for the sun to clear the trees. Lunch will be turkey cutlet, since I bought a pack on sale. One for today, three more to freeze for later.

So! It snowed yesterday. The plowguy came and took care of most of it. The little bit that came down after his visit really is a little bit. I threw ice melt on the steps before I filled the kettle for the first cup of tea.

Today, I go to gym, even though it’s cold and what I really want to do is curl up under a blanket and nap. Adulting sucks. While I’m out, I’ll hit the post office, and the grocery, then I’ll be in until Monday, when the gym once more will require my presence.

I had a good day of writing yesterday — 1,958 new words, bringing the short story to +/-2,575. That was hand-drafted while sitting in the comfy chair in my office, then transcribed/edited/typed into the computer. Absent the option of napping under a blanket, the comfy chair, pad and pen to hand, is looking like where I’ll be this afternoon.

I started to read Alliance Unbound, realized within the first three pages that I had no idea who these people were, and am now re-reading Alliance Rising. I remembered that Steve and I had read it out loud to each other, but — 2018? Yeah. A lot has happened since 2018, not forgetting that we wrote seven books and a buncha short stories of our own, since.

In Actual News: The preorders for Sea Wrack and Changewind have suddenly taken off — thanks to everyone who took the time! We’re now at 264 Amazon preorders; 10 Apple; 2 BN; 9 Kobo. Amazon also lets me know that the ebook edition is the Number One New Release in Fantasy Anthologies and Short Stories.

The trade paper edition of Sea Wrack… will go on sale on Friday, December 13. The ebook will publish on December 17. The hardcover — I’m waiting for a proof of the hardcover, which will not arrive yet for *weeks*, so any hardcover edition will be well down the road.

And that’s the news from the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory.

What’s new with you?

Oh, I may or not have reported here that I bought a new blanket during my trip to the local salvage place a couple days ago.  Yesterday, it came under inspection from the Quality Control Team.  I think it passed…

In which the writer declares for no drama

Thursday. Grey and … well, it has snowed, somewhat …

sticks head out door

… I guess it might be said to be mizzling.

Breakfast was scrambled egg with onion and a spoonful of potato salad, because (1) I never did make hardboiled eggs and (2) the potato salad needs to be used. Lunch is prolly a tuna sandwich on homemade wheat toast, with could be a side of tomato soup. It’s kind of a tomato soup day.

Gym is hereby put off til tomorrow.

Before I forget! Land’s End is having a half-price sale, ending today. In case you, like me, need mock tnecks.

Last night, I said that I was going to be declaring today drama-free, and I’m standing by that decision. I’ll be over in the comfy chair, writing.

I hope everyone has a similarly quiet, productive, and peaceful day.

Here, have some pictures of cats being quiet and peaceful.

In which practice makes perfect, eventually

Wednesday. Sunny and cold. The Weatherbeans are calling a rain/snow event, starting this evening and continuing through tomorrow morning.

Breakfast was an apple fritter (what? They came in a box of three; I should waste them?) and cottage cheese. Second cup of tea brewing. Lunch — oh, what do I know?

Today, I am at home to work persons of various skill, and I have one additional phone call to make.

There’s a load of laundry in the washer, though I’m not sure how far I’ll be going down that path today.

Ingredients for a loaf of whole wheat bread are out on the counter, ahem, coming to room temperature.

Firefly and Rook are playing tag. This in the aftermath of Rook leaping into my lap while I was finishing breakfast, and putting his paw in the last spoonful of cottage cheese. Surprisingly, he did not receive the rest of the spoonful as a reward for his cleverness.

As reported elsewhere, I wrote 750 words last night in service of the short story I want to write. Morning light discovers them to be the wrong 750 words, but the fortunate part is that I now know how to get to The Point in a much more economical and, um, surprising, way. So, I’ll be thinking about that some more as I get the bread ready for its first rise.

I finished reading The Masquerades of Spring last evening, and liked it a great deal. I believe I’ll start Alliance Unbound this evening. Unless of course my eyes don’t want to focus, in which case my Plan B is to start listening to The Goblin Emperor.

So, those are the Big Wednesday Plans hereabouts.

Who else has Big Plans?

Below you see the coon cats, already at work.

Books read in 2024

54 The Masquerades of Spring, Ben Aaronovitch (e)
(53 Salvage Right, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (e))
52 Black Dogs Part Two: The Mountain of Iron, Ursula Vernon (e)
51 Black Dogs Part One: House of Diamond, Ursula Vernon (e)
50 The Wind’s Twelve Quarters, Ursula K. Le Guin (book club)
49 Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels(Dangerous Damsels #1)India Holton (e)
48 Two Old Women, Velma Wallis (book club)
47 First Lie Wins, Ashley Elston (e)
46  Mystic Tea, Rea Nolan Martin (book club)
45  Fated Blades, Ilona Andrews (e)
44  Grace, Beverly Watts (Shackleford Sisters #1) (e)
43  The Fortunate Fall, Cameron Reed (e)
42  A Sorceress Comes to Call, T. Kingfisher (e)
41  Secrets at Midnight, Nalini Singh (e)
40  Born a Crime, Trevor Noah (book club)
39  Rocky Start, Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
38  Librarian Bear, Murphy Lawless (Virtue Shifters #2) (e)
37  Primal Mirror, Nalini Singh (Psy-Changeling Trinity #8)
36  The Duke at Hazard, KJ Charles (The Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune #2) (e)
35  Timber Wolf, Murphy Lawless/Zoe Chant (Virtue Shifters) (e)
34  Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus (book club)
33  Whammo Ranch, Jerry Boyd (Bob and Nikki Book 2)(e)
32  Bob’s Saucer Repair, Jerry Boyd (Bob and Nikki Book 1) (e)
31  Finders, Melissa Scott (Firstborn, Last born Book 1), (e)
30  When the Dandelions Sing: A Novel, James J. Hill III (book club)
29  Winter Lost, Patricia Briggs, (Mercy Thompson #14) (e)
28  Koalafied for Love, Murphy Lawless (Virtue Shifters) (e)
27  The Time Traders, Andre Norton (re-read) (e)
26  War for the Oaks, Emma Bull (re-re-&c-read) (book club)
25  Earthly Delights, Kerry Greenwood (Corinda Chapman #1) (re-read) (e)
24  Wednesday’s Child, Rhea Côté Robbins
23  Hate Mail, Donna Marchetti (e)
22  Comfort is an Old Barn, Amy Calder  (book club)
21  Arabella, Georgette Heyer (e) (re-read)
20  The Foundling, Georgette Heyer (e) (possibly I read this once before)
19  Death in the Spires, KJ Charles (e)
18  What Cannot be Said, C.S. Harris (Sebastian St. Cyr #19) (e)
17  The Grief of Stones, Katherine Addison (e) (re-read)
16  Witness for the Dead, Katherine Addison  (e) (re-read)
15  The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (e) (re-re-re-read)*
14  Hen Fever, Olivia Waite (e)
13  Unmasked by the Marquis, Cat Sebastian (e) ( re-read)
12  A Duke in Disguise, Cat Sebastian (e) (reread)
11  Heart of Stone, Johannes T. Evans (e)
10  West with the Night, Beryl Markham (e)
9   A Song to Drown Rivers, Ann Liang (e) (netgalley)
8   Bookstores and Bonedust, Travis Baldree (prequel) (e) (library)
7   We Could Be So Good, Cat Sebastian (e) (library)
6   Thorn Hedge, T. Kingfisher (e) (library)
5   Wild Seed, Octavia M. Butler (e) (library)
4   In Our Stars, Jack Campbell (Doomed Earth #1) (pre-pub) (e)
3   Legends and Lattes, Travis Baldree (e) (library)
2   Heart of the Sun Warrior, Sue Lynn Tan, (Celestial Kingdom #2) (e) (library)
1   This is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (e) (library)

_____
*… I think I may have lost track.  I do know I started several books, and put them aside, because I Just Couldn’t. I stress that it wasn’t Them, it was Me.  I don’t think I actually finished anything before I finally did manage to settle into a re-re-re-&C-read of The Goblin Emperor, so that’s where we’ll pick up the tally.

And the key that was lost

And now? I’m gonna tell y’all a ghost story.

Gather ’round.

Long-time readers will perhaps recall that I have Thing about my suitcase lock. Inevitably, when we were packing, I would at the very last minute realize that I had lost the key to the lock, and I would panic, because packing is right up there among my Least Favorite Things To Do Ever. I would look in All the Places, getting ever more frantic, and finally at A Point, Steve would step in and walk me through the Places One More Time, narrating the whole journey in a perfectly calm and reasonable voice, and assuring me that I was very orderly, that the key was discoverable, and worlds were not about to burn.

And damn if he wasn’t — always — right. The key was right there on my keyring, or in the jewelry box, or in whatever other safe and reasonable place that I had already looked; relief reigned, and worlds did not, in fact, burn.

Fast forward to my trip to Norwich at the beginning of November. Yes, I lost the key to the suitcase lock; I looked everywhere and didn’t find it, sat down and cried. Then I toured the house, talking in as calm and reasonable voice as I could manage, telling myself that I was very orderly, that the key was discoverable, and worlds were not about to burn.

Well.

Worlds did not burn, but I didn’t find the key, either, and I finally just left the damn lock dangling from the zipper pull, threw the suitcase in the car and got on the road.

One more fast forward, to this morning.

I have been the sole driver of our car since last November. Remember this plot point.

I drove to gym; I drove to Marden’s. I opened the driver’s side door after I had successfully hunted rugs and blanket, and there, on the seat — was the key to my suitcase lock.

It hadn’t been there when I got into the car to go to gym. It hadn’t been there when I got out of the car at Marden’s.

Yes, I tested it — it’s the right key.

So, yanno, not much as ghost stories go. But there it is — for your consideration.

Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clements

Tuesday. Cloudy and cold. Trash and recycling at the curb.

Breakfast was rice crackers, cream cheese, and one of those tiny mandarin oranges. Finishing up the first cup of tea. Lunch — is hours from now.

I really need to go to gym and get back in the habit of going to gym. I used to go to gym so I could do stuff for us that Steve could no longer do, and that logic remains. I hate running without backup, but that’s the road, so — gym. No, really. Even though it’s cold and I don’t wanna.

After gym, I may or may not swing by Marden’s to see if I can find a runner — winter is here and snow will be tracked into the house. Better it melts on a rug than on the wood floors. I keep trying to remember what we did, yanno, last winter, and the five winters before, but — apparently it’s one of those minor details the brain scuttled to make room for Larger Things. I suppose it’s possible we just brought one of the runners from downstairs, upstairs, but they’re being used and useful where they are, so I’d rather just leave them where they’re doing good.

I got the proof trade paper of Sea Wrack and Changewind yesterday in the mail. My! That is a *handsome* book.

Preorders for Sea Wrack and Changewind ebook stand at 177 at Amazon; 10 at Apple; 2 BN; 9 Kobo.

. . . and that’s the news.

Off to gym with me.

Who else is going to gym today?

Saturday into Sunday

So, yesterday was all about transferring files from Moose to the new-as-yet-nameless desktop.

There were a few heartstopping moments, such as when I thought the new hire was DOA, but the ritual flapping of hands while speaking the relevant incantations produced the revelation that the new screen was the problem, and that problem was? A badly seated HDMI-1 cable.  This particular screen, whose makers apparently harbor Lofty Ideas of one’s ambition, came with two HDMI cables. Installing the second fixed the problem.

At the moment, Moose is hooked up in the living room, with the new screen, and the new hire is here at my desk with the old but still completely functional old screen.

While all those adventures were taking place, my next door neighbors came by with their snowblower and got the driveway sorted, for which I am very grateful.

Also, catching up yesterday’s events — a kind friend sent me not only a baking stone, but a pizza stone.  These join the kneading board which had been given by another friend a few weeks ago.  I am now reading to open my own bakery.  As soon as I get these cats out of here.

Yeah, right.

We’re now caught up on Saturday, and move on to —

Sunday. Cold and grey.

Breakfast was buttermilk biscuits with sausage and cheese. Lunch will be lentil soup.  Drinking my second cup of tea, and there’s a third in my near future.

I cannot tell you how much I’m hoping that the person who agreed to come and install programmable thermostats in this house actually comes and does that. It will be a marvelous thing to arise from my rosy bower to a house that’s warm and not have to shiver for an hour while temps achieve life-sustaining levels.

Last nigh, I realized that, of all the Stuff I did remember to back up for the new computer, I failed to download my Libreoffice user dictionaries, which, at this point in one’s writing career are extensive. So, that’s today’s Big Goal.

Other than that, I have a scene, and what’s probably a short story knocking around in my head, so I may try to sit quietly at a keyboard and see if one, or both, might like to have a chat.

I am reading Magpie Murders and I must say, if Alan was supposed to be a riveting writer with Christie-esque charm, it hasn’t shown up in what I’ve read so far.

Amazon pre-orders for Sea Wrack and Changewind stand at 158; Apple 10; BN 2; Kobo 9.

Here, have a picture of Firefly completing her Solo Hall Blocking Exam.

 

Six for Gold

Saturday. Sunny and cold.

Breakfast was rice cakes and cream cheese with the last of the grapes. Kettle on for second cup of tea. Lunch with be Leftover Feast. Except for the apple pie. The apple pie is long gone.

Stayed up late last night to watch the last three episodes of Magpie Murders. For some reason, I had thought that there were only five episodes, and I had made a commitment to the cats that we would learn whodunit before we went to bed.

In the end — well done, all! I liked Mr. Horowitz’ commentary, and his description of, having written what must be a very tight book, needing to unravel and re-knit it into another sort of sweater entirely.

I did sort of blink at Mr. Horowitz’ comment, which I may have read, not heard, that when he started writing books, there was no Amazon, no internet, no computers.

Well . . . yeah. I wrote my first (second, third, fourth …) short story on a manual typewriter; we wrote Agent of Change on an electric typewriter. There were, of course, computers in existence at that time, but they were behemoths that were housed in their own substantial wing and bathed in freezing cold air. There was also an internet — Steve used to do card creation on the proto-internet, back in his curation days (note the juxtaposition: he was creating cards to go into a physical card catalog on the internet).

Anyhow, I’ve had Magpie Murders in my TBR pile for a while, so that’s queued up for next read, now that I’ve finished Salvage Right. I don’t usually see the movie first and then read the book, so this will be interesting.

My next door neighbor dropped me a note this morning, offering snow removal assistance, which I’ve accepted. I s’pose I’ll call the guy I thought I hired on Monday and ask if he’s still on.

I really don’t understand the people who say, “Yes! I will do this thing, for which you will pay me!” who then never show up, never phone, just — poof! Why on earth would you say yes if you have no intention of doing the thing? Surely, it’s much less hassle to just say, “Nope, sorry. Can’t do it.” Then everybody’s on the same square, no one’s aggrieved, and your karmic load isn’t disbalanced.

So! Today, is Change Out Computers Day! Always an exciting event. This also means that I may be scarce for a bit. Please talk among yourselves.

What’re you doing that’s exciting today?