Monthly Archives: September 2020

September 4, 2020 · 6:09 pm

9-4-20

eBay sales: Vintage GS badge

Craft Projects completed: None

#MilWordy update: 7448 (before this blog post)

I’m in a hotel and prepping for my 3-Day writing adventure. This means that I expect my word count to go insane in the next three days. I will have minimal social contact (ie: the food delivery person and a drop in from a friend every other day.) I also expect my sleeping pattern to be hosed for the next two days, but then again, I do try to keep a really solid schedule of 8 plus hours of writing each day.

Right now, I’m debating between working on the new project I started about a week ago and actually going all in with Cassandra and Jack. I have a feeling Cassie and Jack is going to win that competition though. Just because I can’t help but make myself work on a brand new project these weekends. And the other one will keep.

Cassandra is in for an interesting inheritance from her great-aunt who was a known adventuress back in the day and never married. They’d always connected over tattoos and sub-cultural exploration, so when she died, there was no question who in the family would get her legacy. Jack has always been up for an adventure and has been getting bored not being in the field or working on his business, so when the opportunity to explore the house and the collection comes up, he is more than willing to follow Cassie into the midst of it. Yes, I think this is the winner. I’ll work on the other project when I need a break from these two.

And no, this is not a kissing book. Or a romance. Established partners. No love interest beyond that relationship, but that could change at some point. Though, then it would be a threesome not an adultery story. Just more love, not less.

The biggest question I have right now is whether this is going to be an urban fantasy story or a regular world story. Magic is just so much more interesting. But I have to see what it’s like in the middle of the story. Either it will be high adventure like Indy or it will be a magical adventure. Decisions, decisions. I mean at least I didn’t end up writing an entire business plan for a school for this story. (Another project that will hopefully be finished this year.)

Overall my goal for the next year is to finish off as many of the open projects which are lurking on my desktop by the end of it. I will always be starting something new, of course, but the hope is to polish off a whole bunch of projects, get them out of my brain, and make room for the new projects to grow. And a bunch of those projects will be fandom based and may never see the light of day. But a lot of them aren’t. They’re the series I’ve gotten plotted out for 8 books or the universe which will be able to follow different people who all tie back to the same school. It’s the murder mystery that’s half-plotted in my Schivner and based on tarot cards.

Well, it’s time to get writing. Talk to you tomorrow.

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September 3, 2020 · 4:39 pm

9-3-20

eBay sales: nothing today

craft projects completed: 0, but I’ve made several rows of progress on my scarf

#MilWordy update: 5329 words (not including today’s blog post)

It’s been a fairly quiet day. Work called me, but I didn’t have to go in. Mom’s car didn’t start, so AAA came out to charge the battery and tell us that it needs to be driven more often and for longer amounts of time.

Unpacked the bags from Michael’s and integrated the Halloween stuff into the proper places. The Halloween/fall decor explosion has begun. I think we only have… six or seven more boxes. That sounds like a lot more than it really is. Pumpkins take up a lot of room. They do not pack well. Not in the least. If you’re lucky you get two to three into a box and then you have to pack around them to use up the rest of the box. I picked up a cute Happy Halloween felt banner at the Dollar Tree yesterday too. It’s adorable and very vintage.

Reframed a picture today. It’s a lovely little watercolor that deserved a better frame than it had. We also got it up on the wall in short order. So, that’s something off of the to do list today.

Spent the evening hanging out — via Zoom — with JM Beal and got in a lot of words doing sprints. It was nice to just talk and write and be productive. The whole thing about this #Milwordy thing is just getting writing. It doesn’t have to be good, it just has to be. Project wise, I’m almost four chapters in on a new book now. That’s a good start.

I still haven’t decided what I’m doing for my 3 Day that starts on Saturday AM. (Or Friday night at midnight, however you want to look at it.) I think I might grab one of the prompts I found on line and turn it into an actual book as opposed to the crack!fic I was planning on it being. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow, I think. I need a main character to throw into the situation. Someone who wouldn’t be expected to fall into the situation. *frowns*

Let’s see, she has blue hair and brightly colored clothing. There’s a full arm sleeve of a tattoo involved which is just as brightly colored as her hair. She wears combat boots and has been married to her husband for almost two years now. Her husband is significantly older than she is, who is basically a big money type. Maybe a dotcom entrepreneur who managed to get out before the bust in the nineties. His family is non-existent. Hers is generally nice, but small and scattered. She’s only in contact with them through social media and email because she hates the phone with a burning passion and would text before actually dialing her mother unless someone was dying.

Her name is Cassandra. She is a photographer who made her living photographing babies before she got married. Now she photographs whatever she wants and has been selling those at craft markets and on-line because her husband is more than happy to support her dreams of building an art career. He enjoys the fact that she wants him to help her at weekend shows and happily carries her frames and boxes and helps set up the lighting. As a couple they’re sickeningly sweet together, but are happy just spending time in the same space. His name is Jack. He likes to build things and travel.

Okay, I think we can do this. Just need a title.

I think we’ll call it: Through a Different Lens

🙂 Because I always need a new work in progress.

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September 2, 2020 · 6:44 pm

9-2-20

eBay Sales: 0

Craft Projects completed: 0

To do list item completed: will signed and notarized

#MilWordy update: 2506 words (before this blog post)

The spam-bots on my blog have been providing succulent care and puppy training advice recently. As well as telling me how Audible works. Personally, I appreciate that someone’s decided to copy and paste something more interesting than the generic “I liked dis” sort of sentence. It shows dedication to the craft of spamming. I do hope they get paid by the submission rather than the click though. I *knock on wood* have only gotten two comments which slithered through the spam net. Barring that — I hope they truly are a bot and not bothered by the repetition and boredom inherent in spamming every single post on a blog.

Progress on the newest novel is going well. Our MC is a young male with anxiety, OCD, and a newly discovered ability to make spells work. His best friend/ assumed SO is an Korean-American female artist. His siblings are legion. His friends far flung. And his mother is possible a Disney villain, but he doesn’t believe it. He’s got to find a new place to live, save his sister’s life, and keep on the good side of the gangs in his part of town and the cops.

Progress on book 2 of Stars and Shadows is… about half-way completed. Maybe I’ll get it done during Nano. And Progress on Book 2 of Queen Bee is two chapters in. (I might focus on that one for this weekend.)

Short story works in progress are still legion.

My prompts list is almost done. So I have emailed my favorite partner-in-crime for a new list.

Finally got my will signed, notarized, and properly stored away. That’s been lingering on my to do list like an evil stench. Next big project is to fix the couch foot. We need to lift the couch up, glue the foot on and then set it back down. On the plus side — I got the couch for a dollar in an auction and a dude there got it home for me in his pick-up truck. He refused payment, but I did get his card and pass it on to folks. It’s the least I could do.

Oh, and install the toilet paper holder/ support handle in the upstairs bathroom for my parentals WC. We installed the one in the powder room and it’s working well.

I have a stack of books from the library sitting on my printer. This was my attempt to keep myself from going on a book buying binge. It’s helped. But then audible went and made all of the originals available for listening to members. Part of me hates myself for giving any money to Jeff Bezos, but the books are still books. And audiobooks make my drives to work bearable when I can’t listen to one more word from a podcast or music. I get about two good hours a day during my commute to listen to things. Especially because I’ve worked my way up to 2.5x speed on the sound. I haven’t listened to a podcast at normal speed in more than a year. However, I do listen to Neil Gaiman at regular speed. I enjoy his voice too much. I will probably end up doing the same with Stephen Fry. Don’t know, I’m not through my current book yet and I’ve got 6K books to run through and make decisions on.

My poor nook is wondering where I am, I’m sure. I’ve been reading physical books and listening to audiobooks. I only tend to use my nook when I’m on a plane. Even then, I take a nice old-fashioned paperback with me.

That reminds me: Minor rant to publishers: If you start a series with a particular book size and cover style — PLEASE continue that until the series is done. I have the Rivers of London series. All of them are paperbacks except the latest one. My shelf looks weird. Also, the Hater books by David Moody. Two distinct hardbacks with white covers and blood red lettering. The next book… beige paperback. NOOOO. My shelf. *whines*.

Signing off now. Talk to you tomorrow. Maybe I’ll have something interesting to rant on then.

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September 1, 2020 · 10:52 pm

Writing From Prompts: #12 Glacier

“You seriously expect me to spend $1200 on water from a glacier. Was it harvested by specially trained penguins?” Tom asked. He raised his brows at his wife.

“Don’t be silly. It’s obviously trained polar bears. Penguins are too short.” Marianne looked over the top of her menu. She winked. “Still, it would be an experience. I’ve never had water that cost more than four dollars.”

“Because paying more than four dollars for water is insane.”

The waiter approached their table. “Compliments of the chef,” he said and placed two drinks on the table. “Earl Grey foam on a sweet tea with mango syrup.” It was basically a shot glass of sweet tea. But it was new and different.

“Thank you.” Marianne smiled up at the young man in the black suit and white gloves. The gloves were entirely impractical for delivering food, but maybe he only did drinks. “What do you recommend here?”

“Personally, I’m fond of the duck series, but you can’t go wrong with the grey stuff plate either. It’s delicious.” He gave her a sly grin.

Marianne nodded once. “I’ll have the grey stuff platter with the shrimp.”

“I’ll try the duck. And one glass of house red for me. Darling?”

“I’ll have an unsweetened ice tea with tonic.”

“Right away.” The waiter gave them an almost bow before disappearing behind a door into the kitchen and bar area.

“The house red? Isn’t that fifty dollars a glass?”

“It’s cheaper than the glacier water. And as long as I’m already paying three hundred dollars a person, I might as well splurge on a good glass of wine.”

Marianne laughed. She raised her amuse buche. “To splurges.”

“To splurges.” They clinked glasses and drank it down.

“I am totally figuring out how to make this.”

“I think I still have the foam making thing in the pantry,” Tom replied. He licked his lips to catch the last of the foam. It really was a lovely dry and sweet combination.

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September 1, 2020 · 3:03 pm

9-1-20

eBay sales: model, book, mixer paddles

Bonanza sale: Doll

Craft projects completed: 0

#Milwordy Update: (747 words) Just getting started, but I’ve seduced another one of my friends (JM Beal) to do it as well. Again, as a plus all the words count, even those from this blog. I’m hoping that will lend some consistency to my blogging.

Called out from work today, not because of the kick-off of this, but just because I’m tired. I’ve been working (overtime) for the past two-weeks. Long days and short nights to get everyone back to work — safely — so that they can be paid once the CARES act runs out. That means seat by seat analysis. That means squinting at measurements and talking to department heads to move people so that they don’t have to wear a mask the entire day while they’re sitting at their desks. Will this be a perfect solution? At this point, I don’t have it in me to care anymore. I’m burned out on the project and desperately needed the break.

In fact, a lot of things have burned out of me lately: sadness, rage, motivation. That’s one of the reasons I took on what look like an enormous and impossible number for the next year. I want to rediscover my passion and my love for writing and I need a reason to give it some space. External accountability is part of that. By stating that I am doing this challenge, I get the opportunity to make it a priority. I don’t like to disappoint people. That means I don’t always make room for the things I enjoy. I have always wanted to be a writer, yet I pushed down the possibility of being a professional writer, and just wrote around the edges and the crumbs of time I had available. That means that I only really devoted myself to writing two times a year: my 3-day challenge in September, and Nanowrimo in November. (I highly recommend both challenges actually. They at least get you most of the way through the book.) This challenge means that I’m putting two hours of my day into a bucket for writing. At least.

Nanowrimo (50,000 words in November) has been a god-send. I’ve made friends and learned that I can reach what seems to be improbable goals. It also means that I’m not alone in the madness.

The 3 Day novel (write a complete novel over 3 days on the Labor Day weekend. It’s associated with a publisher, but I stopped actually submitting there years ago.) challenge however, is different. I give myself three full days of deep dive, no holds barred writing. I immerse myself completely in another world and come out with at least… 90% of the final book. All three of my published novels were written during the three day challenge. This of course, doesn’t mean that I don’t edit them after that, but the main framework? the characters? all of that is written.

I’ve also signed up for some workshops and lectures on writing. Just to keep the theme for the year. I think challenging myself to learn about writing, actually writing, and making myself complete things, is my goal for the year. Maybe some of those pieces will just be little meditations like this. Some of them may try to address social injustices. Some of them may be the coursework for a company I’m building with a friend. All of that is possible. And the restriction and the freedom to work in that box makes my creativity focus down for a little bit.

Some other challenges you might want to try to stretch your creative wings:

The ABC challenge: Start your story with a letter. Then the next sentence starts with the next letter. Unless they’re really looking for it, most people won’t notice what you’re doing. Very few people actually do this challenge these days, though it used to be a stable back in the earlier years of online fandoms. *winks*

The 25 word challenge: Write a cohesive story in 25 words

The random word prompt: Get a friend to write down 30 random words. Take a word each day and write a story about it. This is what leads to my writing from prompts stories. I have a list a friend wrote for me about a three years ago that I’m working off of. I might have to request another one.

Well, that’s it for today. Unless I suddenly decide to write from a prompt this evening and it stays short.

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