Tag: writing

Won’t you come out and play?

What went before ONE: Wrote 1170-ish new words, sketching in that scene. Needs work.

Spent an hour…maybe two hours with my glass project. Needs work.

Back in my office for right now. I may or may not go back to the The! Studio! today, though even if I don’t I need to remember to turn off the heaters and the humidifier.

The cats were before me when I got to Steve’s Office this morning, Rookie giving me a Look that pretty clearly stated that there would be A Note In My File for coming in late. So far as I know, they’re still in Steve’s Office. If I wanna go sit in the basement, it’s nothing to do with them.

Project to date:


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What went before TWO: Sat down in the comfy chair in my office to look out over the Long Back Yard and have a snack, and this happened:

What went before THREE: OK. As reported earlier, did some writing, did some glasswork. I also made the paper edition of Civilized Behavior, but it will not be released until November 6. I also sent the ebook files to Baen, with a request that they publish on November 13, which is the date that the ebook edition will publish at All The Other Vendors.

Everybody confused now?

Yeah, me, too.

The cats all came out to my office to sit with me and I was wranglin’ files. Pretty soon, they’ll start reminding me that it will Soon! Be! Happy! Hour, but I think I have time to get the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and put away before that Auspicious Hour strikes.

How’d everybody do today?
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Sunday. Chilly, cloudy — no, wait! Here’s the sun trying to break through.

Slept a little late this morning, but that’s OK, given the exciting week I’ve got lined up.

Rice and asparagus stir fry for breakfast. Because I Could. Leftovers for lunch.

The two bill-like pieces of mail that came in yesterday, were not in fact bills, so yay.

Yesterday also saw the delivery of another light tube/string. Once I get that up, I’ll have three rooms outfitted with LED strings — the living room, Steve’s Office, and my office. This is perhaps excessive. OTOH, the Dark is Rising.

Today’s plan is writing, glassworking, one’s duty to the cats, reading. Yeah, slacking off again. I’m thinking that I’m way overwriting this book, but — onward to (an) end, then rest, then Sumo Editing. The Writing Life.

And that? Is all I’ve got.

Who else is slacking off today?

Today’s blog post title brought to you by Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Dear Prudence.”  (Yes, yes, written by Paul McCartney, thank you.)

Where women glow and men plunder

PR first:  Open for Business!

What went before ONE: And I’ve just figured out the best part of having a studio with a door — I can leave everything as it is, where it is, so next time I go down to do some work, I can just — work.

I’m feeling somewhat better after an hour of working at my own pace and figuring stuff out by myself. Not that I’ve made Strides — no, I have made at least one stride. I successfully cut a strip of “sand” out of that awful glass and it broke along the scores! Even the blasted point. So, yay. Progress.

I also cut four or five pieces out of clear colored glass, which behaved like rational silicone dioxide, broke where it was scored and didn’t give me no lip. I do, however, foresee days at the grinder in my future…

Work so far:

What went before TWO: So, today I pulled a scene, completely rewrote it, and! The WIP wordcount is exactly the same as it was before I did all that. So! 98,770. ish.

Spent an hour in My! Studio! playing with glass.

It was such a nice day that I think I’ll try to do it again tomorrow.

Next week is looking a little complex — book club on Monday (Oh. I need to get a copy of our next book, The Women), driving to and from the hospital in Rockport with a nerve conduction test in-between on Tuesday, and! needlework (I really don’t want to miss two weeks in a row); glasswork on Thursday; and Aztec Two Step on Saturday. So, that will be a good week to use the cut-up time for the Sekrit Project (remember that?) and putting together the paper edition of Civilized Behavior (ebook at all the bookstores for preorder!), and finishing my glass homework, too.

Yeah, I’ve got a little too much on my plate, still, but I’m working through it. By the end of November, I should be past the worst of it.

Question for my glassworking folks! Must you have a grinder to go forward in the hobby?

The cats wish me to know that it is Happy Hour and technically, they’re not wrong. And yanno? I could use a glass of wine my own self.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe. I’ll check in tomorrow.
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Saturday. Sunny and going to be slightly warmer than the last couple days.

Breakfast was an enormous scramble — two eggs, leftover veggies, half a said-to-be apple fritter which was, frankly, disappointing. The Caterteria has been replenished. The cats are in various sunspots throughout the house. I will very shortly be going back to Steve’s Office to write the scene the Boys Belowstairs so kindly provided upon waking.

The plan for the day is, yes, writing, and glassworking; one’s duty to the cats, and a walk. That’s enough for one day.

I’m remembering a story about Steve’s grandmother, who traveled by bus and by subway, but had never, and by design, learned how to drive. Her reasoning being: “But what if I was driving and I thought of a poem? I wouldn’t be able to stop and write it down!”

I know a bunch of you are going/have gone to No Kings assemblies in your little pieces of America. Strength to your sign-carrying arms.

And thank you.

Today’s blog post title comes from Men at Work, “Down Under,” which actually got me to sing yesterday.  Well done, Men at Work.

Story glass

Good morning:

 

What went before ONE: The lost has been found.

I looked in the closet in Steve’s office that the cats like to bat springs under, and there were four springs — one each of red, yellow, green, and blue — and one somewhat furry wrist brace.

So! I now have a dedicated glassworking brace. Go, me.
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What went before TWO: So that’s 1,140ish new words, bringing the WIP to 98,770ish. Now, I need to do some picking up for Sara, who arrives V. Early tomorrow, eat a lateish lunch, and do as many picky little tasks as I can before it’s time to leave for glassworking class.
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What went before THREE: Always a shock, when years later you reread a story you had written that you had thought was . . . not up to standard — and realize that it’s a good story, after all, despite it wasn’t the story you had, perhaps, intended to write.

“Our Lady of Benevolence,” by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.
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What went before FOUR: Wow, am I bad at cutting glass. Though, in my own defense, even the teacher thought there was a reason the glass I’d bought for sand was on sale. I am significantly better at cutting clear and pebbled glass, so — though it’s a poor workman and all like that — I’m blaming the glass.

Onward…
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Friday. Up earlier than I’d like, but the payoff is that Sara will be here in and in a couple hours I’ll have a clean house.

It is currently chilly down here in the shadowland, though sunny at treetop level.

Sigh.

The tea is really good this morning. Barkeep! Set me up another!

So, homework is to finish cutting out my glass, so the pieces are ready to be ground and — I dunno — next week. I’m having a lot of I Dunno moments, and while I recognize that this is in fact what learning a new thing is, it’s still … disconcerting. It probably doesn’t help that our teacher, who is very skilled and has been doing and teaching glass for A Long Time, occasionally forgets to articulate a step.

It was, for instance, only last night that I was finally able to understand why I needed “half a ceiling tile” and in fact, caught a glimmer of What Kind of ceiling tile. ANSWER: It’s to build the pattern on, after you’ve cut your glass. So! That would be a hard, as opposed to a fluffy asbestos, ceiling tile. Or perhaps a thin piece of board of the appropriate size. I’ll poke around downstairs and see what I have.

As I said last night, I have several kinds of glass to work with, and the … opaque glass is murder to cut. The several pieces of colored glass cut like a dream, and I suppose it’s a good thing that I started with the sky — which is clear orange glass — and cut my pieces with no problem.

Trouble started with the ocean — also opaque, swirls of blue and white that I had thought myself very fortunate to have found on sale — when I did a credible job of cutting several small pieces, but managed to break a bigger piece. Still, I have glass left over, so that can probably be salvaged.

Then I got to the swirly yellow, beige, tan part that was to be the sand. There are six? smallish pieces, and no matter how I leaned on my cutter, I couldn’t get a score deep enough to break properly. The instructor finally came by, looked at the carnage on my table and asked what my plan was. I said that I still did have several large pieces of the same glass leftover and that my plan was to start over. She took my cutter and a scrap, tried a score, shook her head and said, “Do you have the pattern pieces for all of this?” I handed them over. She fished the bigger pieces out of my scrap box and said, “I’ll do these. This glass isn’t easy.”

She didn’t have time to cut them before class let out, but she told me to bring them back next time and she’d cut them for me. So there’s that. And — lesson learned. I shall be working with clear glasses until I have something approaching a skill level there.

I suspect that my work was not made easier by having a cutter that leaks oil all over.

So! Not exactly a success, my first attempts. I thought I had prepared for screwing up, but, honestly? Largely due to ignorance regarding how many ways there were to screw up, I surprised myself.

Sara just texted to say that she’ll be a half-hour late, which gives me time to drink this cup and tea and make another before I retire to Steve’s office and open the WIP.

How’re y’all doing this morning?

Celebrating cats and poetry

Business first:  Today is Feral Cat Day and also Book Day for two charity anthologies to benefit Feral Cats.  Lots of good reading here, and!  You can donate to a worthy cause.  Read all about it
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I did sit with the WIP a bit this afternoon after lunch; wrote +/-560 new words, bringing total wordage to somewhere around 97,600.

Today’s deliveries included Calling: Selected Poems by Dorothea Neale.

Some of you may have heard Steve speak of his grandmother, the poet — and this would be her. She was the founder and director of the New York Poetry Forum for 30 years; taught drama and music, and wrote, directed, and produced the Children’s Play Shop, which aired on Saturday mornings on WBAL TV in Baltimore, for years. And she was also a prolific poet.

Steve was immensely proud of her, and often cited her example and support as the reason he became a writer.

After she died, Steve and his cousin Leith ter Meulen had talked about ways to make sure their grandmother’s work and legacy did not fade away, and Leith went on to see Calling published, featuring nearly 200 poems by Dorothea Neale.

Here’s a picture of Steve with his grandmother. The stamp on the back of the photo says MAR 78.

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Sigh. Files under Life With Cats.

So my right wrist has been painful and I’ve been wearing a wrist brace. I leave the braces, as a pair on the dining room table when I’m not wearing them, and did so last night. This morning, one is missing — the right one is missing. Of course. And if I have any hope of being able to cut glass tonight, it lies in having my right wrist braced.

I’ve looked in all the Cat Stash Places, and … nope. So I’ll be going to CVS after breakfast, which is only a couple blocks away, but not what I had planned to be doing this morning.
First cup of tea is brewed, and I’m thinking toast and cream cheese, with a side of grapes for breakfast.

How’s Thursday treating you?
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Back from CVS and heating milk for cocoa. What a terrible day outside. Grey and damp and cold. Ick.

The Good News is that I got two braces — a stretchy one to sleep in, which may help Current Conditions, and a working brace — and the “wellness wallet” paid for both, so — small victories. And somebody finally got a Clue and put a soft layer between skin and itchy velcro fasteners — upgrade!

In Cute Cat News, This is like the third time I’ve come home and seen Tali in the front window, Watching, and her eyes widen when she sees the car pull in. Apparently, she does miss me.

Speaking of Watching…a policeman?! Who could have been so careless? Or was it A Plan?

So! Off to drink my cocoa and then belatedly get to work.

Wednesday’s cat is full of woe

Didn’t take long to look lived in.

New project, for those who may be interested

Wednesday. Cloudy and damp.

Cleaning up my office before it’s time to go out for my haircut, and running a couple more errands while I’m out and about.

I have some more RL catchup to do after I get back home — or maybe I can push them onto tomorrow, and get some writing done. That would be nice.

I’m riding the edge of a lot of nervous energy and writing does help. Also, I really want to get a Compleat Draft by the end of November, so I can let it sit and cool before I have to go back in and Make Decisions. Yes, the book isn’t due until April. Yes, I have no co-author to do the cold read for me.

I think that’s all I’ve got this morning, with the exception of Rook being grumpy because I wouldn’t give him my cottage cheese this morning.

Hoping your cats aren’t grumpy this morning.

Woeful Rookie:

The Studio and other nonsense

So that’s 1,387 “new” words, that aren’t actually “new” but a scene that I’d pulled for Not Fitting In. What I did was rewrite it slightly and now? It fits. WIP now weighs in at 97,060. More or less.

I’m stopping for the moment, because — gotta think now. And also I need to find the Winter Runner, which — the old woman who lives with me put it somewhere, I’m sure, logical and safe. And damned if I can find it. None of the cats remember where it went, either. (SPOILER: Found it!)

Well. While I’m up, I should do my duty to those same cats and warm up the last of the soup (with cornbread!) for lunch.
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Went out just before it started to rain. Bought a cheap non-skid rug for the studio* (oh, how swanky is that? “THE STUDIO.” buffs nails on shirt), then stopped at Shaw’s for milk, butter, bread, wine, cheese. You know — the basics.

I should prolly get a dehumidifier for The Studio, too, but I’m running out of the ready for this project — ref “the basics” above.

The guys in the basement inform me that they’re still thinking, and also out of beer, so I’m guessing that’s my cue to take myself and my book over to the couch until it’s time to serve up Happy Hour.

Hope everybody had a goodish-to-good day.

Take care; I’ll check in tomorrow.
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*Yes, I did hear all the arguments against a rug. Thank you.

You can only see the stars after a setting sun

What went before ONE: A smol break to eat lunch (in fact, a ham sandwich, the ham heated up), make a pot of rice, and do my duty to the cats.

The writing’s going really well, After I finish up in the front of the house, I’ll go back and see if there’s anything else cooking.

The cats of course, have all joined me in my office, so I can feel guilty about my eventual desertion to the writing room.

Which reminds me that some folks had wanted to see where I had put the bats. Here they are:

By reader request, the “story” of the poster: Steve used to work in a video store, and when a new batch of posters came in, he adopted this one.

It is worth noting that Steve also had a Close Personal Relationship with Disney’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice. When I met him, one of his favorite shirts was a silky dark blue with a Sorcerer’s Apprentice print.

What went before TWO: So, that was +/-1,530 new words today, which brings the WIP Entire right around 95,600, as the end of the book keeps getting further away. I also updated the Chapter-by-Chapter.

Tomorrow, I have some phone calls to make, and I’ll need to do them early. Also, I need to clear off my “business desk,” because even though I’m hardly here, it’s a wreck. Well. Because writing at the moment is far more entertaining than Real Life, I do just tend to toss stuff onto a “I’ll deal with it later,” pile.

Happy Hour has been served. I need to put away my socks, now that they’re clean and dry and all, and update the to-do list.

So, that was my day, and hoping yours was as peaceful.

Everybody have a good evening; stay safe. I’ll see you tomorrow.

Monday. Dim and cool. Rain predicted.

I had forgotten that today is a holiday. Files under The Perils of Freelancing. Crossfiles under The Perils of Living Alone. No mail today. Gummint offices closed. Oh. Wait.

One of the offices I needed to call this morning was closed. However! The hospital at Rockport was on the case, and able to reschedule my Dark O’Clock Appointment for 11am two days earlier in the same week.

I’m calling this a success on the day.

Today, I am still giving my hands a break, for values of “a break” that does not include fine work such as cutting out teensy pattern pieces, or embroidery, so I guess I’m writing. After breakfast and girding mine loins and all like that.

Who else has had an early success?

Today’s blog post title brought to you by The Other Steve Miller, “Wild Mountain Honey“

I met her in a club down in old Soho

Oh, dear, dearie me…

For those who have not read it, Be Warned. We are told by a Concerned Reader that Diviner’s Bow is the second Liaden book that was “written for LBGYQ” instead of “staying true to the storyline and characters.”

Well. That’s me told.

In other news — and what I actually stopped by to say — between cutting out teensy pieces of paper, followed by driving for sevenish hours, followed by chores, I have managed to scrod my hands, which means I need to change the shape of the next few days, to wit!

Today and Monday I shall write; Tuesday, I shall finish cutting out my glass pattern and taping said teensy pieces to the appropriate pieces of glass (which means I’ll be missing needlework, but there are only so many hours in the day — and what’s with that exactly?). Wednesday, I have a haircut scheduled, and also some writing to do; Thursday evening is glasswork, I may need to hit the grocery during the day; Sarah comes by on Friday morning.

Also, I need to get a tattoo across my forehead that says, YOU ARE NOT 40.

So! Breakfast was oatmeal with cranberries and walnuts. Lunch will be a ham sandwich, or something else including ham, because leftovers, and!

Time to go to work.

What’s your upcoming week looking like?

Today’s blog post title brought to you by The Kinks, “Lola” because — obviously.  Released in 1970.

Here, have a picture of Tali:

She walks looks and drives like an ace now

What went before ONE:  Oh. Here’s something amusing.

Someone had suggested yesterday that I go to Aldi for grapes.

I typed “Aldi near me” into the search bar, and I am offered!

Newington NH (250 miles RT)
Dover NH (250 miles RT)
And! My favorite: Port Orange, FL (3,000 miles RT)

So, that’s why I’m not going to Aldi for grapes.
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What went before TWO:  Two thousand eight hundred and eighty-ish new words written, bringing the WIP entire into the vicinity of 94,050.

“Frogging” is a knitting term that I believe Brenda Clough introduced into my vocabulary. It comes from “rip it, rip it” which is what one does when one makes a mistake.

Tomorrow will not be a writing day. I have some layout to complete and a couple phone calls to make before I hit the road to Glass Express, where the class is to meet our instructor “directly after work.” I wonder what that means. Class officially starts at 6. I guess if I arrive at 5, the time won’t be wasted. I mean, really, I’m going to be in a glass shop. It’s not like there won’t be stuff to look at.

Checking the weather, I see that we are now under a Freeze Watch tonight. Looks like I’d better go out and cover up the rose bush.

Aaand, back. Rook saw me heading for the front door and threw himself at my knees, yelling. It is almost Happy Hour, but jeez, kid.

In addition to the freeze warning, the weatherbeans tell me that it will be sunny and 60ishF/16ishC on Friday. Rain starting Sunday evening and that’s most of next week, right there. So! Friday Will Be a Writer’s Day Off.

I do believe that’s all the news &c.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe. I’ll check in tomorrow.
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Thursday, sunny and cold. Ish.

I did turn on the oil heat to warm us up at floor level, while the heat pumps do their thing overhead.

I did cover the rosebush last night, but something disagreed with my design decision, be it wind or be it beast, and the blanket was off the rose this morning.

Today! I really hope to get the November echapbook up for preorder. Fingers crossed. I also have some phone calls to make. Including a call to make an appointment to have my hair cut. I’m still liking it longer, except for the part where my bangs fall in my eyes — see haircut, above.

I find a note from Adult Ed in my mail this morning informing me that our instructor expects to meet us at Glass Express at 5 pm, so that’s one question answered.

I also see in my inbox that! my bats will arrive today. That’s awesome. The last best guess for delivery that I saw was October 15 or something. Early delivery FTW.

Yes, I bought bats. I like bats.

What else? Oh. Just got a “Hello, this is a cold call for Steve Miller. Is he –” Sigh. I really miss being able to slam down a receiver.

I had the house phone forwarding to my cell, so that the cellular robot could stop that stuff before it even got recorded. It was doing a good job, too. Then, a couple days ago, the house phone started ringing again — one call from the hospital and four calls for Steve. I need to look up again how to forward the landline.

So! That’s my day pretty well laid out.

Who’s doing something that’s fun?

Today’s blog post title is from The Beach Boys, “Fun, fun, fun” — which is also a formative song.  First, there’s the Interesting Truth of:
Well the girls can’t stand her
‘Cause she walks, looks, and drives like an ace now

And also — granting that I’m probably the only one who ever put this spin on it, welcome to my brain — that Our Narrator is a hero because he’s going to let her drive his car.  Because, I mean, yeah, what else would he want to do?

Rosebush, uncovered:

For those who are still with me, here’s the link to this morning’s cat census.

Gloomy ol’ day with writing and soup

What went before: I think I may have wrassled a working book outta The System. I’ll check again when I get home after needlework.

In the meantime, the hospital decided it had been coy enough and decided to Reveal that it had the orders for the xray of my spine, which — three weeks in the making! — took 15 minutes.

It is, however, done, and I now have tomorrow, most of Thursday, all of Friday to do writing and other needed tasks here at the Confusion Factory. That is, of course, unless I decide that I really have to go to the ocean on Friday. Because a drive to the ocean is always in order.

It is very warm outside in the world. While I was out, I filled up the car and bought nine! dollars! worth of California grapes. I gotta start watching prices closer.

So, I’m checking out for the day.

Y’all stay safe. I’ll see you tomorrow.
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And the work day commences.  The goal is 1,000 words.  My supervisor is skeptical:

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Wednesday. Rainy, cool, and gloomy.

Had to frog a scene and rewrite. New material is up for this afternoon. Did a load of wash, because I could.

Taking a break now to make ham and bean soup for lunch — ref rainy, cool, gloomy — and glare at my email.

Got the results of my spine xray and my bloodwork back. I would like to talk to my doctor about what these things mean — remember when you could talk to your doctor on the phone? — but I guess I’ll wait until December.

In slightly better news, I do have a PT appointment in mid-November — in Oakland! (aka 3 miles from my house; 6 mile RT). I was pretty sure I was going to have to drive to Augusta (aka 40 miles RT) for PT, so that was a nice medical surprise. I’m hoping that the therapist and I can put her heads together and get a long-term fix that doesn’t require surgery, because we’re avoiding surgery, we are. With bells on.

The cats have each checked in with me this morning, and Rookie did an hour of supervision at the beginning of the shift, but apparently rewriting is boring.

It looks like, if I’m going to the ocean, Friday is my bet, before next week’s nor’easter. Friday drive to the ocean is therefore inked in for Friday.

So! For those reading along: How ’bout that Bubo? Pretty dern bold, I thought him. Or perhaps I mean foolhardy.

What’s the weather where you are?