Tag: life after the apocalypse

Could be Sunday

I believe it may be Sunday but don’t hold me to it. Sunny and said to be warm today.

First load of laundry is in. After my few moments here with the happy light and Firefly deciding whether or not she’ll be on my lap, I shall eat a carton of skyr, fill my thermos with tea and go back to Steve’s office to enter corrections into Kin Right. I hope to have that part done today.

I attach photographs to this letter. It’s been kind of a chaosy zoomy day here at the cat farm so far.

Hope everyone’s doing well.

Dictated to my phone
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So. That was a long day, but! Kin Right, the book, is done. Says me. It weighs just about 138,000 words and 632 manuscript pages.

I. Am. Fried.

But in a good way.

Tomorrow, I’ll take a whack at straightening out the Working Weird Word list so it can be comprehensible to people who Aren’t Me. Tonight, I’m up for emptying the dishwasher, making some rice so I have something to eat this evening, and putting away the laundry that’s on my bed so I have someplace to sleep.

Tomorrow, according to the weatherbeans, it will be SIXTY DEGREES F here in Central Maine, crashing to, oh, 34F on Tuesday.

Ahem.

Weather gods? A word, if you please. Make up your minds, ‘k? Thx.

How’s everybody holding up?

So you want to be a writer…

So, where are we? Ah. Friday. Cloudy and colder than the last couple days. Haircut scheduled for this afternoon; before that, more reading of Kin Right.

Drafted “Melant’i Refresher for Terrans” to go into the front of Kin Right, pointing to the Cast of Characters in the back. Was reminded in so doing about the dog who was our outfielder back when I was eight or so and playing pick-up baseball at the local rec center. We couldn’t keep the dog off the field, so we made him The Outfielder. He fielded for both sides instead of batting. Helluva outfielder, that dog.

What else?

Rookie got locked in the bedroom closet, and missed breakfast. He’s making up for that now.

I think that’s all I’ve got, really. The Exciting Life of a Writer, ayuh.

What’re you doing that’s exciting today?
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Tali helping me edit in the Command Chair

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So, Kathy talked me out of a buzz cut. After the new ‘do, I walked over to Holy Cannoli and bought two lemon-blueberry ricotta cheese cookies — one just eaten with a mug of tea, and one for tomorrow. I really ought to learn how to make ricotta cheese cookies. Or, yanno, maybe safer not to.

Rook is sleeping in the copilot’s chair at my desk (as different from Steve’s desk), while I take my first stab at a list of characters for Kin Right. This? Is going to be An Undertaking.

Next book, I swear — one character and nothing happens to them.

I have about 100 pages to read in Kin Right, then 200 pages to enter correx into, then finishing up with the cast of characters and so on. The end, as the saying goes, is in sight.

I’m a little less than half-way through Theo of Golden, and the next meeting of the book club is April 20. I did finish reading Balance of Trade, and I’m going to have to take a step back and given some thought to my reading strategy here. If I’m going to be re-issuing the fey books, I’m going to need to read them, so I may have to break off the Liaden read-through for that. In the meantime, books I preordered last year when I foresaw oodles of time to read — are starting to download.

Whee…

Well. It’s good to have things to do, amirite?

New haircut:

She’s all that I have left, and Music is her name…

Thursday morning, quickly. Warm and looking for precipitation of an Undecided Configuration.

Firefly and I had a Very Serious Talk while we enjoyed the Happy Lite, and find ourselves as one on every topic of importance.

Breakfast was oatmeal with semi-sweet chips and almond butter. Lunch will be a garnet yam. In-between will be entering corrections to Kin Right. I’m about half-done with the narrative, after, I need to write a Thing and also the cast of characters. Then? It will be free to leave the building.

One of the things I intend to do, once Kin Right has gone on to its next stop on the publication trail is to reissue the Fey Duology as an electronic omnibus. At the moment, I am leaning toward making it available through Baen only, for completeists. It can’t go up on Amazon, because I can’t cope with the grief they will give me regarding my ownership of the content. Such discussion always made more enjoyable by the off-stage threat that Amazon will delete all of my content if its AI or whoever’s answering the phone today decides that I’m lying.

Sigh. Thus, the Brave New World.

And a phone call! The computer repair shop reports that my printer is fixed and ready to come home. Two hours on the bench; $100. Bargain.

But now? I need to get another cup of tea, Tali having just inspected the mug on my desk and pronouncing the beverage icky — and go make corrections in a manuscript.

What’s happening with you today?
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And! Correx entered. Printer home, where it immediately found and log itself into the home network and printed me a lovely copy of the printer for LUC6.

Well worth $100.

Now to chop up onions and get lunch cooking.
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I used to adore the internet, back in the day before it became a hellhole.

That is all.
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Brought to the top because apparently I needed to say this. In re the internet, and Miller and Lee.

The green-screens were Da Pits, but the connectivity was mind-blowing. We were part of the early BBS networks in the mid-1980s, before we moved to Maine, which was about people connecting with people. Then when we came to Maine, in 1988, and found out there were nothing like it in our part of Maine, Steve got so offended he built Circular Logic, which became one of the biggest and most sophisticated bulletin board systems in the state, (this is still prior to the W(orld) W(ide) W(eb)), which is how we got hooked up with I-want-to-say-Usenet — EDITED TO ADD: FIDOnet — the listserv that went ’round the world, and arrived at Circular Logic at about 2 am every day, and had to be uploaded to the conversation section of the BBS, so people who were talking to their friends in Australia would get their answer in a timely manner, which is how we eventually got connected to Pardoz, who set up the very first Liaden Interest thread that went ’round the world, and so the Friends of Liad were born.

Steve had actually been on … bah. ARPANET? when he was doing online cataloging at University of Maryland, before I met him, in the late 1970s.

Well. Sorry about that. Guess my fingers needed exercise.

 

Today’s blog post title brought to you by Crosby, Stills, and Nash, “Southern Cross“

One foot in front of the other

What went before: Tuesday: So, that was no fun. Woke up sobbing sometime around midnight, apparently so I could buckle down and get the thing done properly. The cats piled on and did their best; Rook left at one point and came back with one of the floppy foxes he uses as wrasslin trainers when Tali don’t wanna, and tucked it under my chin.

Long story short, I finally went back to bed around 7, woke up around 10, with a headache naturally, and all things taken up and tallied, I do believe that today I’m taking one of my banked Sick Days.

Do feel free to talk among yourselves.
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Wednesday. Sunny and going to be warmer.

Slept long and hard, assisted by coon cats. Woke up hungry, but haven’t done anything about that yet. I’m thinking scrambled eggs and sausage are on the menu, as soon as I’m finished here.

Today, I need to go out and run errands. Notably, I need to take the Epson ink jet to the repair shop. The proposition that I do so was not met with Wild Enthusiasm, but an agreement that they could “look at it” and see if it was something simple. If not, printers being so twitchy and hard to fix and all, the advice is that I would be “better off” buying a new one. So, we’ll see, I guess.

Also need to go to the grocery store and probably the post office. Then back home for some more reading of the WIP. Oh, and figuring out how to cancel Cook Unity, instead of just stalling it, which is what I did for this week.

I still have the lingering rags of a headache, and I’m inclined to call Foul, but, hey, maybe breakfast will help. EDITED TO ADD: Breakfast has been et. Feeling much more The Thing.

How’s everybody doing?
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Ink Jet Printers: A Teaching Fable.

Once upon a time, printers were rated as to the number of pages per week they could be expected to handle without having a screaming breakdown. Those printers that could handle a heavy workload, week in and out, were called “office printers.”

We here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory legitimately ran offices: we printed letters, and manuscripts, and flyers, and all sorts of things, and because we subscribed to the Asimov Theory of Typewriters (paraphrased): “Always have a spare, and a spare for the spare, because you don’t ever want to be in a position where broken technology means you can’t write” — we each had our own printer and (usually) a printer that still kinda sorta worked, which had been semi-retired, and could be pressed back into service in case Catastrophe Struck.

We bought, in a word, for the Ages. At the moment there are two high-capacity printers in this house, both inkjets, both work horses, neither cheap. Both are, yes, more than 8 years old, because I remember Steve carrying them into this house like they were infants.

In comparison, back in 2012, I went to live for a month at the ocean, where I was going to be finishing the second Carousel book and making a good start on the third. Obviously, I needed a printer, but! I didn’t want to schlepp my good printer to the ocean and risk getting sand in the workings.

So, I went to Staples and I bought, I kid you not, a sixty dollar inkjet printer, which came with two ink cartridges, guaranteeing, I think, 600 pages between them. Subsequent cartridges cost Approximately The Earth. Important Plot Point.

Off to the ocean I went. The Sixty Clam Printer worked flawlessly for the entire time I was away, and I did not stint it. When the month ended, I brought it home, and put it online as a “spare,” mostly to use up what was left of the ink.

Two weeks after I got home, the Sixty Clam Printer died the true-death, without even finishing the ink in the second cartridge. I took it to the local computer recycling joint, and waved good-bye. Sixty Clams owed me nothing, and it certainly wasn’t worth getting it fixed, not with what the home office was charging for ink, and I had a Good Printer at home.

Moral! Not all ink jet printers are cheap pieces of crap that ought to just be thrown away when they develop a glitch. Analysis is worth your time.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Snowy Sunday

It started to snow right around 8 am, and it’s still snowing as I type, at 7:15 pm.

Split the day between reading Kin Right, which — I’m about 100 pages in and it’s holding my interest — and locating the top of my desk again.  Order has been restored, and lists have been made.  I have a lot of phone calls to make, because the reason I write is so I don’t have to talk on the phone.  However, tomorrow, I really need to make those calls.  And read Kin Right.

I really don’t have much else to report, except that my editorial team was topnotch.  Here you can see them, editing:

On concluding projects

What went before:

Also, this happened:

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Saturday. Sunny and warm. I think. I haven’t been out. In fact, I not only slept late, I lay in bed, snuggled with cats, and read my email, so I’m just now getting up and around.

Today’s big plan is to make focaccia and maybe read or maybe… No, I don’t think I’ll write anything today. I do need to do some research but that can maybe wait. Maybe I’ll finish my embroidery project and see how that turns out.

As you can see my plans are firm.

How’s everybody doing today?
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Focaccia happened.  Yes, it tastes every bit as good as it looks.

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Had a very strange experience — I can’t get into either Bank of America or Discover to get my statements for monies due in early April, which is only a problem because neither one of those entities sent me a reminder that I had a new bill, and I happened to notice that now that my head isn’t filled up with BOOK.

Discover says that it’s really terribly sorry but it can’t complete “that operation” (which would be logging in) right now. Bank of America, ever charming, says that I phucked up my ID or my password or maybe both? And it might let me in if I give it my social security number, which, err. No.

So! I have two phone calls to make on Monday, lucky me.

In other news, I’m on what ought to be my last four meals from Cook Unity, delivered yesterday. Today, I had the shrimp grain bowl, which was…OK, I guess. I had six shrimp and got bored with them, so I chopped up the leftover ones, and I’ll be having a shrimp salad sandwich for the evening meal.

Also we here in Central Maine are under an Active Weather Advisory and warned to look out for between 3 and 6 inches of snow on the overnight. Honestly, March.

And now? I’m going to go embroider.
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So, I finished my first! ever! concept-to-finished-piece embroidery project and!

I learned some stuff.

The first thing I learned is that I made this too small, in terms of the current states of my eyesight and the steadiness of my hand. Next time, I WILL go bigger, even if it means I can’t get the whole design inside the hoop at once.

I also learned — actually, I knew this — white-on-white is hard to read. Duh.

But! and most importantly!

I learned that it Can Be Done.

Which means I can Do It Again.

I should report that Tali and Rook joined me in the living room while I finished this up. Rook sat on my lap and didn’t even try to mess the thread. He just kinda curled up and went to sleep.


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So, that was a nice day off-ish. Tomorrow, I will start to read Kin Right, and will also plan on clearing off the top of my desk — yes, again.

My next embroidery project is a pre-printed sampler — that’s it, just the design. So, my next step, now that’s in the hoop, is to make a yarn/floss card. Which means I need to dig out the Big Bag of Floss. Later.

For right now, I’m going to pour myself a glass of wine and see about making that shrimp salad sandwich.

Everybody have a good evening. I’ll check in tomorrow.

Wrapping up a Thursday

And! The caution tape trick worked for the second day in a row.

Unlooked-for side effect: my next door neighbor saw the tape and got in touch to ask if my door was acting up again, because — caution tape. I explained. I think Chewy owes the cats one more box, so we’ll be doing this again tomorrow, though with different caution tape, because I unfortunately did not hide today’s tape, Rookie managed to tape himself up with (thankfully) the painter’s tape and by the time I caught and untangled him, the caution tape was a loss.

For those following along at home — it looks like the book I’m finishing up now will be scheduled for Spring 2027, month of release to be determined.

Back to work I go.
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Well. I did finish the WIP. I did not print it out, because I still have some housekeeping to do — notably trying to tidy up the section headers. So, that’s for tomorrow, and then print out and read.

In other news, Google tells me it’s going to snow tomorrow. Wunderground begs to differ, predicting rain tomorrow and snow on Sunday-into-Monday. So, I guess we’ll see.

I had been kinda lookin’ for a day when I could scooch down to an oceanside somewhere, being as I will be shortly be a Free Woman, but it’s looking like the first day without any shenanigans planned is next Friday. Well. I can always finish my poor, neglected glass project.

Or, yanno, bake bread? I could bake bread, people! And — cookies, and muffins, and — Good Ghod — the sky’s the limit, here.

*deep breath*

…a brief break to feed the tiny, starved, and abused kittens I rescued from a Mean Writer Lady who never fed them or brushed them or fed them or played with them or fed them…

I really don’t know how people can be so cruel.

So! Tomorrow Sarah will arrive in the morning, and I will retire to Steve’s office to straighten out the header problem, and then I will make the lunch I had planned to make today, but I was writing, so I ate a TV dinner outta the freezer instead, and print out a book.

And on that note — g’night. Everybody stay safe. I’ll check in tomorrow.

With fingernails that shine like justice

Thursday. Cloudy and cold. Another Chewy box incoming today (Thank you, Chewy, for breaking the Mega Order up into multiple deliveries). Caution tape with affixed message in place across the front steps.

Slept well. Tali was on bed duty last night, and Tali makes for a definite Presence, pressed up against one’s side. She also has a nice, deep purr. Breakfast will be the second half of the Farmer’s Market Asagio Cheese bagel (Note To Self: STOP buying Maine bagels*. You know they will break your heart. Buy bread. Buy cookies, cake, pie. But not bagels. And if you buy rolls, stop expecting them to be hard, even if they look like hard rolls.), with cheddar cheese melted on top, with a side of grapes. Lunch will be black beans, and leftover pork, and, oh, I dunno? canned tomatoes? and whatever spices seem good. I should have leftovers from whatever that turns out to be, so yay.

Today, she said, boldly. Today! I will finish the WIP. I need to buff, polish, and shine the last two scenes, then I will Print Out the Whole Book, and tomorrow, or maybe Saturday, I’ll do a complete read-through. Barring the discovery of any Catastrophic Holes, which this is why we do the read-through, it will be ready to file a flight plan with the tower.

Once it’s gone, I can fall on my face (REMINDER: place pillow before falling).

What’s happening with you today?
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*Exception to the Rule: Sunrise Bagels, which requires me to get up early and go out to buy them, but that’s a Me Problem, not a Them Problem.

Today’s blog post title brought to you by Cake, “Short Skirt, Long Jacket.”  Yes, again.

The line’s not cut, and the whale’s not gone…

The cats’ Chewy order, which is large and heavy is due today, delivery by FedEx. I have made what preparations I can.

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Wednesday. Sunny, windy and cold. As previously mentioned, I have taped caution tape across the front steps with a sign on it for FedEx, so maybe they’ll put the delivery in the garage this time. Fingers crossed.

Another night full of bad dreams and sleeplessness. This is getting to be a habit. Cats are doing what they can but… Firefly is putting in for backup and I don’t think we can get backup, really.   No, especially not a dog.  I think we’re full up. I also think it would be better if the world weren’t, in some places literally, on fire.

Today’s days plan is to occupy the comfy chair in my office and sketch out the scenes that need to still be written to finish the book.

Granting, it’s not much of a plan, but it is my own.

How’s everybody doing?

Dictated to my phone

Today’s blog post brought to you by “The Wellerman,” which I had forgotten I knew, until it came up on a mix, and I started to sing along…  Here’s Nathan Evans singing it for you.