Tag: the writing life

Small victories in writing a novel

Cat Tax first! Firefly decided to sleep in this morning.

Lunchtime report: I do believe I’ll finish my business with the words that are already written today. Which means that my next 6-day writing sprint, starting Wednesday will be all about writing new words!

Guess I’d better in a box or two, so I don’t run out.

End of Day report: And that? Is the correx entered. I still may need to trim the front, but for now, I think I have all my avians in a row, and can go, more or less confidently, forward.

So! The week coming.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll finish up the Quick ‘n Dirty chapter-by-chapter, just to be certain that the assertion made above is true.

Tomorrow afternoon, I have a Zoom interview with the Baen Free Radio Hour, in which we’ll chat about I Dare. I’ll let y’all know when that will air.

Monday morning, I need to go to the cancer center to get a blood draw and talk with the Survivalist. I may or may not do some other errands while I’m out. Tuesday evening is needlework. Thursday, I’ll make myself a nice meal and Friday morning Sarah will be by to clean for me. This means I’ll have a large portion of six days (not six entire days) to write new words, which is Extremely Cool because I have reached the stage of being So. Sick. Of. This Book.

Right on schedule.

I guess I should wash the pots ‘n pans before it’s time for Happy Hour.

The cats and I may watch another episode of Maigret this evening. Firefly quite liked last night’s episodes.

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

In which Happy Hour is Unreasonably Delayed

Didn’t get as much done today as I had wanted, mostly because my hands hurt. I actually stopped working at one point, heated up the ol’ therapy mittens and watched a bread episode of the Great British Baking Show while they therapeutically warmed my hands.

I’m knocking off for the day, and will be watching Maigret on Masterpiece Theater. It’s been decades since I’ve read Georges Simeon, and while Maigret wasn’t a favorite, he’ll do in a pinch.

Hopefully, my hands will be less ouchy tomorrow.

On the plus side of the day, I thought I remembered that Jermone Joyita had come from “Wick’s World,” but I looked it up anyway, and it turns out I was wrong. He came from The Wikesworlds or “The Wickes,” but since this was a passing detail in Dragon Ship, I think I can be a little proud of myself.

Rook is marching back and forth in my office, shouting “Yowr!” and Utterly Rejects the notion that he has to wait A! Whole! Hour! for Happy Hour. I gather the idea is that we ought to have TWO Happy Hours on Friday.

. . . and Saturday . . . and Sunday . . . and Monday . . . and —

Yeah. Nice try, kid.

Anyhoot.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe. Tomorrow is also a writing day — glares at universe — so check-ins may be anywhere from odd-houred to absent.

YOWR! says Rook.

What if I’d been the one to say goodbye?

What went before Tuesday:

Went down a couple of rabbit holes.

First, someone is actually trying to schedule an MRI for me, and we’ve been playing phone and portal tag.

Second, I went looking for The Other File full of teaching stuff — I did find it — but while I was looking, I opened a file drawer Full of Lee-and-Miller interviews, reviews, articles, pr — bunches and Bunches and BUNCHES of Stuff. A whole file drawer and, yanno?

We have never been famous, or even particularly —

And that? Was Midcoast Hospital in Brunswick calling. I have an MRI scheduled for Saturday December 6, so someone’s taking this seriously. Is there a word that means “simultaneously freaked out and relieved”?

Anyhoot. As I said, I did find the Other File, but I still need to get with the cat fountains, so that’s next — glares at universe.

Right?
#
So, below (far, far below) is what I think will be my next glass attempt, to work on my cutting and also to use some of the scraps. Also, if I decide to get Really Crazy, I can just keep going up.

In other news, today was the Magic Medical Day. I have the MRI scheduled and an audiology appointment. This of course means that December is filling up with medical appointments, but here we are.

I am relieved to report that the cat fountains have been changed out, though I still need to wash the fiddly bits, my other duty to the cats has been performed, and I ate lunch, too!

It has gotten later sooner than I had expected, so my next thing will be to thread my needles for tonight’s meeting.

I have downloaded the book club book (The Thursday Murder Club, for those who missed the big announcement yesterday), but I have Ghost Army of WWII queued up on the tablet for my next read.

Also! It’s November which means I need to decide if I’m doing a Yule Letter this year.

And I still need to do the form for Adult Ed. That may have to happen tomorrow evening.

Whee!

Is everybody having fun?


#
So, when I went over to my instructor’s house to finish my project, and I saw how many places I had missed covering the copper, I realized that it’s a little too dim in Foosball Studio. I have thus purchased (yet another) Verilux task lamp (this one is a twofer: Task light and Happy Light) — it will go in Steve’s office and the repaired so-called smart light that’s currently in Steve’s office will go into the studio. I also bought a “beginner” happy light for my office, because I cannot afford — that’s literally “afford” — to get depressed, and the way I’m feeling about the encroaching winter — it seemed like a reasonable precaution.
#
WEDNESDAY
So, I’m home, having had small-a adventures, which made for a pleasantish time. I had the first appointment for the car’s annual inspection, and the putting on of the new plates. A couple of filters needed to be replaced “next time for sure,” but I told them to do it now, since I was all settled in, and! had a coupon, so that happened.

After, I went down to Water Street in downtown Augusta and had breakfast at Dave’s, which I’ve never been to. Perfectly fine diner food, quick cheerful service, lots of customers, nailed a window seat. Will return. It’s one of my challenges, as I go forward, finding places Steve and I did not go to regularly, so Dave’s was a good discovery.

After breakfast, I backtracked to Manchester and Stained Glass Express, where I took on glass, tools, oil, but NOT a grinder, which are — ow. It turns out that I can rent a studio at Glass Express when a studio is empty, and use all the tools there, so the Plan is to cut out my pieces, then gather them together and grind them all at once.

After my /s/p/e/n/d/i/n/g /s/p/r/e/e needful art shopping, I went over to Longfellow’s Greenhouse and Gift Emporium, where I found a vacuum bottle (which I’ve been looking for). Now I can make a bottle of tea and take it back to Steve’s office with me, so I don’t have to interrupt myself to walk to the front of the house to make another mugful (YES, this is a First World Problem, and I’m glad I solved it), and some lavender soap, because — lavender soap — and a cardinal to hang in Steve’s office. They are ALL Christmased up at Longfellow’s.

After frivolous shopping, I went to Lowe’s to get my long-delayed ceiling/art tile, now that a kind friend helped me to understand what, exactly, I wanted. Then I hit the Cony Street Hannaford, and home again, where?

It’s dern near lunch time.

I’ll get with that in a minute, but first I want to tell you about a Strange Thing that happened on my way home from needlework last night.

It was of course Dark at 6:30 and I was on my way home, no cars ahead of me (of this, I am certain, and so is the Subaru nanny), when suddenly, with no one turning into the road, there was an SUV in front of me. “Wow,” I thought, “I am really tired not to have noticed there was somebody in front of me. This could have gone badly.”

And about the time I finished chastising myself, a cop car came up behind me, lights flashing. I pulled over. The car in front of me pulled over, and cop pulled in right behind them.

I pulled out and continued home, arriving at the corner where the CVS is, where there were several more cop cars in the parking lot, lights flashing and several SUVs that had apparently been pulled in.

. . . which is when I began to entertain the theory that the car which had suddenly appeared ahead of me had been running without its lights in order to Not Be Noticed.

That now off my chest, I’m gonna go see what’s for lunch. I defrosted a couple pieces of pork and I have some frozen skillet veggies, so that may be the way to go.

How’s everybody doing today?
#
A call was made for a picture of Steve’s new cardinal, which is below. The new cardinal is hanging up; it’s made of tin.  I gave the reindeer to Steve for Christmas manymany years ago.  The black cat was a gift from someone else, and the ornament in the foreground is made out of paper and lights up. Once Sharon finds a battery for it.

I’m feeling kinda tired, so the Plan for the rest of the day is to go down to the studio to make room on the workbench for the new project before I crash, then come upstairs and do paperwork.

Tomorrow will be a writing day.
#
Ready for action. First step is to cut out my pattern pieces, but I can do that upstairs. After I finish my course description and return a contact.

#
I?
Am a Tired Woman. However! I am a Tired Woman who has managed to get all the paperwork out of here, and may therefore write tomorrow and Friday and Saturday with impunity.

After I sleep for nine hours.

I did start to handwrite the holiday letter while I was waiting for the car, but that doesn’t really have a drop-deadline on it. My feeling is that the holiday letter can arrive as late as January 2 and still be legitimate.

So! Writing Rules are now in force. I may peek in Occasionally and at Odd Hours over the next three days — or I may not. Default assumption ought to be that I’m working. Which is a good thing.

Everybody take care. Stay comfy. Hug the people you love.

Today’s blog post title brought to you by 38 Special, “If I’d been the one“

See me ride outta that sunset. . .

. . . on your color TV . . .  Am I the only one who ever wants to filk things like TNT for, oh, accountants?  or retail workers?  or well.  Sorry AC/DC

Onward.

Um. Tuesday. Jeez, yesterday was a long day.

Tuesday. Sunny and cool. Trash and recycling languish yet in the garage, but I’ve got time to get it out to the curb.

Today’s to-do includes filling out a form for adult ed, scheduling an interview for … Sunday afternoon, is what I’m thinking … changing out the cat fountains, and getting my needles ready for this evening’s meeting of the embroidery club. Might be time for a little entering of corrections. That would be nice.

But first! Breakfast! I’m going with hummus and naan and grapes again. I must have been in hummus deprivation.

What’s for breakfast at your house?
#
And apparently I’m on short-thought today. I just last night finished reading The Bookshop of Dust and Dreams, by Mindy Thompson, which was a fine time-travel tale riffing off of the Change-one-Thing theory, and never in your face. Very well done. It is, for those who object to such things, YA, and the narrator is a young girl.

Link to today’s cat census and state of an art

Today’s blog post title brought to you by AC/DC, “TNT”

 

Not a negative word was heard

Saturday. Sunny and blue and my goodness what a pretty day.

I? slept late. I mean, I woke up at six, but couldn’t quite get ucouldp the gumption to throw back the covers, so I turned over for “fifteen minutes.” Three coon cats immediately and unanimously voted Aye, and I had Rookie against my back — that is one solid kitten we’re growing here — Firefly in the crook of my knees, and Tali under my chin . . . and the next time I opened my eyes it was 8:30.

So, hummus, naan, and grapes for breakfast, who knows for lunch. Writing is on the schedule. And also laundry. Evidence seems to indicate that I missed laundry last week. Well.

I watched two segments of “Blown Away.” There was a little too much with the people and too little with the glasswork, IMHO. I do realize that this is the standard format for reality shows, but — you’re looking at a woman who saw every hot glass demo at Corning for two solid days and was Sad that she couldn’t wrangle a third day.

The cats were mildly interested in the goings-ons. At one point, Firefly looked at me and you could see her thinking, “You did this? Are you nuts, Mom?” Guilty as charged, but I did have people who really knew what they were doing standing by to assist “the gaffer.”

So, that’s all the news from the Confusion Factory at the moment.

How’s everybody doing this fine November Saturday?

Today’s blog post title brought to you by Rhymin’ Paul Simon, “Was a Sunny Day“

Snow cats and book drop

Business first:  Tomorrow! CIVILIZED BEHAVIOR: Adventures in the Liaden Universe(R) #36, featuring three short stories set on Colemeno of recent memory, a speech, and an author’s forward will be released tomorrow in ebook from All of the Usual Suspects, and! in trade paper from Amazon.

Wednesday. Trash Day (holiday schedule). Cold and still. It snowed! overnight.

sigh

Breakfast was naan and hummus and grapes. I haven’t had naan or hummus, either, since Forever, but I went to the Other Grocery yesterday (where I got carded*, all 73 years and every silver white hair of me), because I was so tired of the Usual Grocery’s mediocre veggies and fruits, and also because I thought the Other Grocery would be a surer source for turkey fillets.

I was wrong about the turkey fillets, but I may have gone overboard on fresh stuff, and the problematic bottle of wine, and the hummus was right at my eye level as I turned a corner, and they had helpfully staged the naan right with it and — I was doomed. And it made a lovely breakfast, and I regret Nothing.

Today is another Real Life Day — Physical Therapy in a little over an hour, then a visit to the Usual Grocery to get the stuff the Other Grocery doesn’t carry (or, to be fair, that I forgot about yesterday). Then I have some phone calls to make — Fidium again! All three of the — repeaters? — are out, what fun — and then I need to adjust my Anthropic claim on account I have to Prove that Steve is dead.

I hate having to prove this particular equation, though to be fair, I’m not having to do it nearly so often as I had to, last year this time.

Tomorrow is also my last stained glass class, so I hope I’m discovered to be a soldering wizard.

Friday, Sarah will be by in the morning to help the cats clean up, and it looks like after that I’ll have Friday afternoon through Monday morning cleared to write new words.

If I was a smart writer — a point often in dispute — I’d not only work on doing the correx from the six-day sprint, but also sketch in the scenes that need to be written going forward.

I tried to watch TV last night, but had no brain (this is pretty bad, when you don’t even have enough brain left to sit passively and be spoon-fed a story), so I cuddled on the couch with the cats and listened to music until they jumped down for a snack and I went to bed.

So! All that said — how’re y’all doing this morning? Any snow at your place?

Wednesday morning cat census.
_______
*Busted:

End run

6:30 am: The workday begins

Later that same day: Taking a break to make myself a pot of lentil soup for today and For! The! Future!

The cats are still all back in Steve’s office, having, as the barbarians they are, not the least little bit of interest in lentil soup. Barbarism aside, I have done my duty to themselves, taken a short walk, and also accomplished a few diddly little things while I’m in this side of the house.

USPS allows me to know that I can expect delivery of my tea order today, so that’ll be interesting, going forward.

Last night’s movie was “Vengeance Most Fowl” which is as far as I know the “new” Wallace and Gromit. Those who had been wanting to know about this new??? Wallace and Gromit will do well to remember that I don’t get out much, and in acknowledgement of that I did quotate “new”.

Tonight, I may (re)watch “Enola Holmes,” which I enjoyed the first time I saw it, and which will be pleasant to see again over a glass of wine.

Tomorrow — is Veteran’s Day. There is therefore, no trash pickup, no needlework (the library being closed), and, I think?, no mail. There is, however, a dental appointment. In case anyone was looking for evidence of Life Not Being Fair.

And! My lunch appears to be done. I’ve just added some red wine, and will let that perk a bit while I cut bread and pour ice tea and such like.

How’s Monday treating y’all?
#
The end of the six-day run, and what a run it was.

The manuscript has shrunk, but that was expected, and some of the shrinkage was only due to a particular exchange being in the wrong place, so those words aren’t gone, they’re only on-hold for awhile.

I still have about 200 pages of corrections to input, which will now have to take a back seat to Real Life, but! it’s much easier to sit down for a half-hour between Stuff and input a couple pages of corrections than it is to try to work out a whole scene in spits and spots.

On the topic of Adjusting Mine Environment — I was being sufficiently oppressed by the darkness — especially in Steve’s Wing — that I thought to add to tomorrow’s errands a trip to Home Despot or wherever to buy some twinkle lights to install in the laundry room.

Then, as I was wandering the house earlier, I snapped on one of the many “neon” tube lights we have around here, leaning in corners for quick-lights, and I said to myself, I said, “Self? We don’ need no farkin’ twinkle lights.”

I installed a blue tube and a … pink, I guess it is. And boy! don’t they light up the space! I did hang them up with the brackets that came with; fingers crossed they’ll stay where I put them.

Harney’s came through with the tea, and I have 50 sachets each of Scottish Morn and Hiberian Irish to test drive, starting — tomorrow morning, because now?

It’s wine o’clock.

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

Sunday Wrap-up

All righty, then!

I have finished reading and marking up the WIP, and tomorrow I can start on entering All Of That. It will not be finished tomorrow, but I can make a good start. I feel much better about the whole project now, even though there are still Miles To Go. At least, I’m marching in the right direction.

My pens continue to behave themselves, even after I refilled them this afternoon. Yay and also? YAY!

Coon cats have had Happy Hour. I have a vague notion that I’ll watch the “new” Wallace and Gromit this evening. After reading all day, it’s kind of hard to get excited about reading before going to bed. Wallace and Gromit, however, are always in order.

Hopefully, there will are no Early Morning — or any — crises on the schedule for the next Very. Long. While.

And that? is All The News.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe.

Writing and the art of fountain pen maintenance

Discursions first:  There are some great titles out there in the word. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds are two of my favorites.  What are some of your favorite titles?

Onward.

I’ve got about 100 more pages of WIP to read, which I’ll do tomorrow, and then get with actually making the changes I’ve notated.

The last three days have been awesome; being able to concentrate on the story, and not have to interrupt my thought processes to cope with RL is priceless. It’s what Steve and I were able to give to each other — whoever was lead got as much relief from RL as it was possible for the other to give them. Living the Life of the Mind, Baby.

Next week is RL’s Revenge, but I still have tomorrow and Monday to work.

I can also report other accomplishments on the day. Three of my four TWSBI ECO demonstrator pens, that I love beyond all reason, have lately become very … drippy. I couldn’t write a page without blots, and it was getting worse. I really was at the point of thinking I was going to have to go back to roller pens, which are — OK, but they’re not fountain pens. So — long story short — I looked on the internet and found out that pens that are dropped a lot (those would be my pens), sometimes the nib gets loose, and the ink can’t flow properly, and blots happen. If my pens were blotting, maybe try pushing in the nibs.

Figuring that at this point, I had nothing to lose, I pushed the nib in on the first (leaking the most) pen.

SNAP! the nib reseated itself. My heart rose, and I did the same thing with the second and third pens — SNAPSNAP!

And the pen that hadn’t been giving me any trouble? No snap.

I’ve been writing with the former worst offender all afternoon, and nary a blot.

Y’know? When the internet works, it’s a good tool.

So, a satisfying and productive day here at the Confusion Factory. The cats have been Extremely Good and even now, with Happy Hour on the horizon, they’re only making the verymost quietest suggestions that Saturday Happy Hour could happen a little earlier?

Hope everybody had a good day, which is segueing into a good evening. Stay safe; I’ll see you tomorrow.

Supervisors on duty. Yes, I am a pawful.