Fri. Aug. 30, 2019: Here Comes the Holiday!

Image courtesy of PhotoMIX Company via pixabay

Friday, August 30, 2019
New Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Sunny and pleasant

Got some work done yesterday. Told the “potential” client that was trying to get me to jump through a bunch of hoops before I actually talked to anyone involved in the project that wasn’t the environment for me. I’m glad I did. I was polite, firm, and direct.

Got ahead on some blog posts. I’m starting Kemmyrk again, now that the 2020 Almanacs are out, and I just submitted my article for the 2021 piece. Here’s an article yesterday on the Dark Moon. And today, there’s an article on the New Moon. The blog won’t have a designated day, but it will go by the phases of the moon, and talk about tarot, etc. I hope you enjoy it.

Gratitude and Growth and Ink-Dipped Advice will both be back next week.

I’m going to start up the blog under the Ava Dunne name, too, where I talk about the Nautical Namaste Mysteries. It’s called Affairs of the Pen, and the first post, on how I decided to write SAVASANA AT SEA is here.

I got some good work done on ELLA BY THE BAY. I got an idea for another stand-alone suspense novel, and did a rough outline. I’m behind where I want to be on GRAVE REACH, but I’m doing a big push this weekend, no matter how much I want time off. I can see the end of this draft, I can almost taste it. And I’m running out of time.

Participated in a fun freelance chat yesterday, which reminded me it’s time to prep my autumn postcard mailing. I land more work from the postcard mailing than any other form of marketing.

I also need to finish “Pier-less Crime” and draft the first scene of the Canaletto Sisters play. Coming up with a title for the latter would be great.

Have a lovely Labor Day Weekend, and we’ll check back in on Tuesday, although the blog might go up late.

Take some time to enjoy!

Thurs. Aug. 29, 2019: Duty Served

Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019
Dark Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Raining and warm

The remnants of Tropical Storm Aaron are here, so we’re having a lot of rain. We need it, but it’s still a lot.

Yesterday was jury duty. MA has “one day, one trial” which means that, when you get called, you either serve one day or for one trial.

I was up making h’ors d’oeurves at 6 AM, because my friend was stopping by on her way back from Nantucket to pick up the car she left in the garage, and I didn’t think I’d be back in time. So I wanted to make sure she had a snack before driving back to Connecticut.

I was out of the house a little before 8 AM. Traffic was awful, but I got there on time. The zippers in my boots set off the metal detector.

About two dozen of us were in the jury room. The woman from my yoga class wasn’t there; not sure if she got out of it, or if they decided they didn’t need everyone originally put on notice.

I managed to rough out an outline for a stand-alone suspense novel before we even started. I have to figure out specific clues and red herrings, but I have the backstory, the opening, and the end worked out.

We had our orientation, and watched a video, which wasn’t as cheesy as they usually are.

Then, we sat. For three hours. I read most of a novel. The author is highly regarded. I respect her writing, but dislike her as a human being. This novel? Well-written, but I loathe the protagonist: spoiled, weak, and not very bright.

After three hours, we were released. All the cases on the docket were settled, and they didn’t need us. I am now free for three years.

I was surprised that we were left alone in the jury room. In New York, there’s always a court officer with us. People pretty much ignored each other, and read or texted. There was water and a vending machine.

The one time I left the room to go to the Ladies’ room, the male lawyers in the hallway were checking me out like it was Saturday night at an upscale bar. Yeah, I was dressed more professionally than most of my fellow jurors, but still. . .I was torn between feeling flattered and exasperated.

Picked up a bottle of wine on my way home. My friend was there; she’d come over from Nantucket early to try to beat the storm. I made sure she was fed properly and off she went. Glad she ate, because she had a hellish trip back through the storm.

It gave me the gift of a half day. There was no point in going to my client’s; I’d worked ahead into next week. There was absolutely nothing I could do there. I should have worked on any of a number of writing projects; instead, I gave myself the afternoon off.

In the evening, we watched THE MALTESE FALCON. I can’t even count how often I’ve seen it, and I always find something new. I’d forgotten how good the pace was. It moves right along. I still don’t get how everyone thinks Brigid is so enticing. Manipulative, yes, but why fall for it? Anyway, it was research for a sequence I’m working on for ELLA BY THE BAY, where Ella, Simone, Rosalia, Olive, and Antigone sit around watching old movies and yakking, Ella’s attempt to make new friends on the island. I’m watching the other two movies in the scene, CASABLANCA and NORTH BY NORTHWEST this weekend.

I have a nod to a particular MALTESE FALCON scene in my radio play “Broken Links” and whenever I see the movie scene, it makes me laugh.

The less said about the conference with the potential client on Tuesday afternoon the better. It wasn’t the client on the conference, it was a recruiter. Which is ridiculous. Not only that, but nearly every question I asked was answered with, “I can’t answer that; I’m only the recruiter.” Waste of my fucking time. On top of that, now they want me to take a “timed assessment”? Twice? And then talk to a “hiring manager” and then, only MAYBE talk with the people with whom I’d actually work on the project? I don’t think so. Makes me wonder who they paid and how much to be listed as one of the top 100 companies to work for in Boston. Because my experience with them puts them firmly near the bottom of anywhere.

And they definitely need good content and a well-thought out marketing campaign. I went over their website more than once, and I still don’t know what they do.

Next!

Good morning session on ELLA. Worked ahead on some blog posts. Prepping some article pitches that will go out next week. Doing some research on more radio companies.

This afternoon, I will focus on GRAVE REACH for a few hours.

I’m going to write my way into the holiday weekend!

 

Wed. Aug. 28, 2019: Jury Duty

image courtesy of pixabay.com

Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde

Jury duty starts today. Should be interesting.

If I’m tied up for the rest of the week and can’t post, have a lovely Labor Day weekend, and I’ll catch you on the other side next week!

Onsite with the client was fine. Then I had to race home for a meeting at the worst time possible for me during the day. More on that to follow.

It is what it is. It was their insistence that the meeting had to happen this week.

Early in the morning, I had to prep some food. A friend is passing through while I’ll be at court, and I want to make sure she can have something to eat when she stops by, even if I’m not there.

Yesterday sucked as a writing day, but I figured out how to start the play about Canaletto’s Sisters. I’ve got the opening scene mapped out in my head. It’ll be awhile before it gets on the page.

I definitely need a long weekend!

Tues. Aug. 27, 2019: Trying To Get It All Done

Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde

Busy weekend, but not very productive. I didn’t get anywhere near as much writing done as I needed to, especially not on GRAVE REACH. ELLA was in fits and starts. The main focus was on the article for Llewellyn, which I polished and sent off yesterday.

Saturday morning, friends stopped in on their way back from Nantucket. I had baked a chocolate sour cream cake on Friday night, and put on the brown sugar frosting on Saturday morning. It was supposed to be a 7-minute frosting, but took 27 minutes, as it does.

I read some of Elaine Viets’s books in her Dead End Job series and really enjoyed them. I finished reading a biography of Wendy Wasserstein, which got me thinking about my early days in professional NY theatre.

I did some research for a client meeting I have this afternoon. I did my paperwork for jury duty, and some other paperwork that needed attention. Got some bills paid and some errands run. Caught up on things like laundry. Cleaned the house.

Saturday was my last day on the antibiotic. I forgot that coming off an antibiotic is even more unpleasant than going on one, so I felt pretty miserable on Sunday and Monday.

Sunday evening, a friend came in on her way back to Nantucket. Brought us some fresh peaches. We’ll eat some and I’ll put the rest into a peach tart.

A lovely little black cat strolled through the yard, exploring. I’m not sure if she’s new to the neighborhood or lost. She was too shy to let me come close. I tried putting food out for her, but Che Guevera Chipmunk was all over it right away, so that didn’t work. I don’t want Che to think he gets room service. But I do want to find out if the little cat is lost and needs help finding her way home, or if she needs a home.

I made a Crockpot chicken tomatillo chili with cornbread, which was pretty good. Drove my friend back to the ferry.

Up early on Monday, writing and getting things done. Worked onsite with a client, prepped for today’s meeting, did some work at the library, went to meditation.

Have to run some errands this morning on my way in to the client’s. Then, I have to dash back to my home office for my conference with my potential client, then to the library to get some work done.

Tomorrow, I’m supposed to show up for jury duty, unless I hear otherwise by 5 PM tonight. Not sure how much I’ll be posting for the rest of the week.

I seriously doubt I’ll get put on a jury. They don’t want someone who is experienced in jury service to actually serve. Someone who might actually understand the way the law works and not be manipulated by lawyers. I’m sure I’ll get kicked out of contention tomorrow.

But it’s important to show up. Vote. Serve jury duty. It matters. It’s part of the responsibility of citizenship. I have no respect for people who try to wiggle out of jury duty. And I loathe people who don’t vote.

I’ll see what happens and think on my feet. All I can do is the best I can do.

 

Mon. August 26, 2019: Shake Up Your Process — #upbeatauthors

image by Felix Mittemeier via pixabay

Monday, August 26, 2019
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde

We’ve been talking about different things that inspire us here on the blog for the Upbeat Authors Month of Inspiration. Today, our final day on this topic, let’s talk about shaking up our process as a way to inspire.

We all get stuck. We all have days where there’s resistance.

As a full time writer, I can’t afford the luxury of writer’s block. Yes, I said “luxury” and I will not apologize for it. If I want to keep a roof over my head and food on the table, I can’t indulge in writer’s block. When things get tough, I have to show up and do the work anyway. Just like in any other PROFESSION.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t days when I look at my chapter and have no idea what to do next, even with a detailed outline. Or I know what to do, but the words feel like lead instead of taking fire and racing across the page.

Then I know it’s time to shake things up.

How do I do that?

Lots of different ways:

Shower. Yup. For me, that’s one of the best ways to work through plot problems. I take a shower. I get more inspiration in the shower than just about anywhere else. When a book gives me trouble, I am so clean I squeak and practically glow in the dark.

Cook. I love to cook. While I often like to cook focusing on the cooking itself, my mind often begins to wander and work out plot problems. Food and feeding each other is an important part of many of my books. When I set a book somewhere, I often cook meals from that area that are then incorporated into the book.

When I initially write cooking or food scenes, I overwrite them, overload them with detail and sensory description. I then cut back in the editing, leaving what is necessary to further plot & character.

Housework. Vacuuming, scrubbing things, folding laundry. Again, there are days when I want to do it mindfully, when I need to do it mindfully. Other times, I can let my imagination figure out how to solve writing problems. Then I’m eager to get back to my desk AND the house is clean!

Take a Walk. I’m lucky. I live in a neighborhood that is quiet enough to take a walk. I live a few miles from the beach. I live a few miles from several Audubon sanctuaries. Walking helps me clear my head and figure things out. I tried running, but I hated it so much that I stick to walking.

Additional yoga/meditation. Sometimes getting up and doing a few asanas or sitting on my zafu makes all the difference. It’s a refresher for my tired brain.

Read a book. Reading often fuels the writing. The danger is that you get so into the book, you lose the whole writing day. Sometimes I use a particular book as a reward AFTER I get in my quota for the day.

Switch projects. Sometimes this works, sometimes this doesn’t. If you have too many unfinished projects around, it drains creative energy. It’s important to finish what you start. I teach an entire class about this and have a Topic Workbook on it: THE GRAVEYARD OF ABANDONED PROJECTS.

Switch locations. When I get restless at either of the two desks in my writing room, I might write in the living room. Or out on the deck. I often go to the library to work. We’re lucky on Cape; every town has a wonderful library with a unique character. Library-hopping is an activity many locals enjoy. There’s also Cape Space, a wonderful co-working space. I don’t write much fiction there, but sometimes I’ll go if I need to video conference or work on projects for my marketing clients.

Go to a museum. As I’ve talked about, over and over again here, I use visual art to fuel my verbal art. Live music often does the same. Or dance. Or theatre.

Experiment in a new genre. Try writing something in a genre in which you don’t normally work. It can be flash fiction, if you like. Or it can grow into something different.

Write a scene several times, in several different perspectives. If you’re struggling with a multi-person scene, do one draft of it in the perspective of each character. Yes, you’ll cut a lot. One of the most ridiculous things I hear from writers in classes is they don’t want to write something that will get cut. It’s not a waste of time. You need what you learn from it to get to your ultimate goal.

Use prompts. There are prompts all over the place. In July, I posted one every day. They are still up here on the 31 Prompts page.

Write differently. If you always outline, try blank paging. If you NEVER outline, outline something and then follow through and write it. (Note: I don’t call it “pantsing.” To me that sounds like an STD. I call it “blank paging”). Whichever way you try, FINISH THE PROJECT. If you didn’t like this foray, you don’t have to do it that way again. BUT FINISH THE PROJECT.

Join online groups where you can hang out with other artists. I find Women Write Change to be especially valuable, in both good times and rough ones. The #remotechat group on Twitter, with its Wednesday afternoon chats, is terrific. We have so much fun there, and exchange so much useful information. #TheMerryWriter, also on Twitter, is a fun monthly game, and I’ve met some great people through it. I’ve had some excellent conversations with other artists of all types via Ello. Lori Widmer’s Words on the Page blog has grown into a tight, supportive community.

Get together with other artists in person. I like mixing with all kinds of artists. Too often, hanging just with writers lately has become a venting session or all the talk goes to marketing. It’s not enough about craft and content and ideas. (Again, this is why I love Women Write Change — we talk a lot about craft and ideas).

The HobNob Group ended when its founder died last year. I miss it terribly. It was a combination of visual, verbal, and performance artists. We got to learn from each other and support each other. I participate in some of the writer activities around here and go to conferences. I try to attend as many readings and author events as I can. I also go to opening receptions at local museums and art galleries. I’ve cut back on a lot of the other networking I was doing around here (chamber events, business networking events, etc), because I’m setting the foundation for moving in a different direction with my marketing writing.

Online is great, but meeting and spending time with other artists in person is even better.

Make sure you give yourself an Artist Date. We talked about that earlier. If you stick to that, and integrate a weekly Artist Date into your life, a commitment to yourself, you will find that you’re refilling your creative well, and that will flow into all areas of your life.

What are your favorite ways of changing up the process?

Fri. Aug. 23, 2019: This N That

Friday, August 23, 2019
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Rainy and cooler

Yesterday was unpleasant, in terms of weather. Got some work done at the library. Took care of a bunch of stuff.

Quiet afternoon reading. I’m reading both Elaine Viets’s Dead End Job series and her Mystery Shopper series. They’re fun and lively. She balances plot and character well.

Started reading the Wendy Wassersetein biography WENDY AND THE LOST BOYS. I knew her from my NYC days, although she was a few years ahead of me on both years and her career. I admired her work enormously, although I didn’t know her well. But it was a reminder of a lot of that off-Broadway world that nurtured new work from the mid-seventies into the nineties. I knew some of the same people and places. Brings back a lot of memories. It’s always interesting to read another perspective about something you’ve lived.

Up early this morning. Out to run errands. What usually takes me 30 minutes took TWO HOURS because of traffic.

Friends coming in tomorrow for a bit, so I will clean the house — and hopefully not re-injure my hand. I had a great session on ELLA this morning, and look forward to working on both GRAVE REACH and my article this afternoon.

And focusing on GRAVE REACH all weekend. Next week will be a roller coaster.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Thurs. Aug. 22, 2019: Sometimes You Have to Make the Break

Thursday, August 22, 2019
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Sunny, hot, humid, with incoming storms

If my father was still alive, this would have been his birthday.

Yesterday was okay. Had a decent morning’s work on GRAVE REACH before I headed to my client’s. Had a decent morning’s work on ELLA.

Got a good bit done at my client’s.

The Remote Chat was terrific. I always have such fun with that group.

Stopped at the grocery store, then went home.

Set up an interview with a potential new client near end of day next Tuesday. The company is fairly new, and their work interests me, so we’ll see what happens when we talk.

The Narcissistic Sociopath now claims to be “King of Israel” and the “Second Coming of God”? He’s insane. It’s so infuriating that no one will DO anything to hold him accountable.

Decided to end a friendship because the other person is so toxic in my life. I’ve tried to be a good friend over the years; she’s talented, and I know she’s struggling with mental health issues. But she continues to hurt, attack, stand me up, try to manipulate me all the time. I am done. Her position is that she has mental health issues and therefore can’t be held responsible for what she says or does. She needs to do what she needs to do in the moment to take care of herself, and if lashing out is what she needs to do, then she’s going to do that. She considers it my job to stand there and take it without complaint. Even when it’s behavior I have repeatedly told her is harmful to me. I agree that she has the right to do whatever she needs to. I also have the right not to be her whipping post. Not to constantly be expected to accept the poison and hurt she keeps trying to pour on me. I, too, have the right to take care of myself. We’re done. If her therapist is telling her it’s okay to commit deliberate acts of cruelty toward the people in her life, I have problems with that.

The loss of the good times and her potential and her talent will be mourned; her refusal to take any responsibility for toxic behavior will not.

Today is supposed to be brutally hot and humid, then storms that will break it. I hope that’s true.

I am focusing on my article and on GRAVE REACH today. Had an excellent morning on ELLA. The first draft of ELLA is a mess, all over the place, but I’m loving the process. I have a basic idea of the points I want to hit, but I’m not working from a detailed outline the way I often do.

It’s important to change up the process occasionally, and not get into a rut.

My hand is still bothering me. I have a few hours where I feel better, then a bunch of hours where I don’t. One day at a time, I guess.

Back to the page.

 

Wed. Aug. 21, 2019: When Healing is a Set Back/Done With Undervaluing

Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Someday it will stop being hot and humid

I had a bad night Monday into Tuesday, due to the infection in my hand. Scared me.

I went back to the doctor on Tuesday. She warned me that I would have a couple more bad days because the antibiotic is doing its job — but the infection will intensity for a bit before it improves.

In other words, type less.

I’m taking a break from Ink-Dipped Advice for a couple of weeks, and from the garden blog. I will still post here, but probably shorter posts.

My focus is on finishing my article and this draft of the book.

Nothing like being ready to walk out the door and the client needs you to create and send out an email blast for an event happening tomorrow that she forgot to mention. Yeah, it got done. On time. I wasn’t even leaving late. Because I’m just that good.

Prepping for a meeting with a potential client, I was told to “low ball” my rates. “Why would I do that?” I asked. I looked at the annual report. There’s plenty of money to pay writers. I know how much the previous person got.

“They don’t want to pay that much.”

Me: “Then I don’t want to work for them.”

I’m tired of being undervalued and undervaluing myself. You don’t want to pay my rates? Go ahead and hire someone cheaper, who doesn’t bring what I do to the table — a unique way to create voice, character, and story that works to engage an audience. Your loss. Not mine.

On site with a client today. I intend to enjoy the next two Lauren Dane books this weekend.

Back to the page (sometimes typing one-handed, sometimes hunt-and-peck).

Tues. Aug. 20, 2019: Trying to Get Better

Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde

Hop on over to A Biblio Paradise to see what I’m doing on The Reader Expansion Challenge.

It took me a few days to adjust to the antibiotic. I’m coping. I think I’m healing.

I spent far too much time the past few days, gobbling down the first three books in Lauren Dane’s GODDESS WITH A BLADE series. Boy, are they good! I have two more to read, and then book 6 comes out in December. It’s a really, REALLY good series.

Read another book, by that author I mentioned last week, about whom I was on the fence. I’m definitely off the fence now, and it’s crossing her off the list. Her protagonist quit a job that was putting her on the path to an outstanding career because her boyfriend didn’t like that she was working with another man. Sorry, that’s not true love. That’s a toxic relationship. Add the character’s constant “tired” to miss major plot points, whining, crying, and relying on men all the time — not the series for me.

Read another book where the premise was good, but the book dripped with so much white woman Southern privilege & adherence to the status quo that it nauseated me. The author is trying to portray his protagonist as a “tolerant” Southern woman. Honey, she’s not. She has flashes of racism (which means she’s racist), she believes it’s not grafting if you cheat someone with less money than she has (but is horrified if someone wealthy gets cheated), and I got way, way, WAY ahead of the plot. Cross that author off my list.

Got the review off to my editor, worked on my article, worked on GRAVE REACH, ELLA, and a little on DEATH OF A BROKEN MAN.

I was not allowed to read Lauren Dane’s book on Saturday until I’d written my quota for the day!

I also got my first Sephora Play! box. I was surprised by the quality of the samples. They are stuff I actually want to try and use. The lipstick is a color I would have never chosen on my own, and it looks great on me (I love lipsticks). There are also some interesting skin care products that I’m trying.

Sunday, I had to hack away some invasive plants and feed the lawn. We were supposed to get storms and rain, but they were wrong. AGAIN. I went out while it was cloudy, and then the sun came out, and I had problems, in spite of slathering on the sunscreen, because of the antibiotic.

Good writing session Monday morning before I had to go onsite with a client. Which was what it was.

A quick trip to the library, then meditation group. Much-needed. Then some work on the article. It’s due next week, but I’d like to get it in a little early. Gmail was down at the library, so things I needed to get done there couldn’t happen. Plus a bunch of uniformed old white men talking politics and showing their ignorance.

This morning, work on ELLA and GRAVE REACH, then onsite with a client and other appointments.

Head down and back to the page.

Mon. Aug. 19, 2019: Feng Shui for Inspiration — #UpbeatAuthors

image by silviarita via pixabay.com

Monday, August 19, 2019
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde

We’ve talked about using paintings to inspire us when we’re stuck. So many other art forms can also be used: any of the fine arts (sculpture, textiles, mixed media) or music or dance or anything else.

But sometimes nothing works.

That’s when applying the principles of Feng Shui to our creativity is useful.

There are two parts to this: applying it to the space in which you work, and applying it to the project itself. It might sound weird to Feng Shui a project, but I’ll explain how I do it.

There are multiple schools of Feng Shui. I like the Black Hat School, which Karen Rauch Carter details in her book MOVE YOUR STUFF, CHANGE YOUR LIFE. In my opinion, this is the best Feng Shui book out there, and makes the most sense to my life.

Feng Shui for Space
Draw a bagua, writing in the nine life areas: career, skills & knowledge, family, prosperity, fame & reputation, relationships & love, creativity & children, helpful people & travel, and health in the appropriate points, per the typical bagua. In this piece, the techniques I talk about are from the Black Hat School. If you use Compass School, or a different technique, you might have to adjust where you stand with your bagua to survey the space.

Holding the bagua in your hand, stand in the doorway of your workspace and look around the room. Look at the placement of furniture, decorations, windows, mirrors, etc., and see what falls into each area of the bagua.

Using advice from the Feng Shui School of choice, start moving around objects so that they fit into the correct area of the bagua. If there’s something that can’t be moved, or something missing, look up the “cures” to balance it out. Even more important, clean your workspace. Tidy things up. Dust. Vacuum. Wash the windows. Water the plants. Rearrange furniture if you can or want to. Change the curtains or tablecloths or throw pillows or pictures. Remove anything that is dead or broken. Remove anything that doesn’t serve you any more.

Look through the rest of the house or things you have packed away to see if you already own something that serves as a “cure.”

You don’t have to throw out items with sentimental value just because they don’t fit the space anymore. Pack them away, with gentleness and compassion. A time will come when you want to freshen your space again, and then it might fit. In lean times and sad times, items I packed away ages ago have come in handy on multiple physical and emotional levels.

I genuinely believe that all these organizers who try to get you to throw out perfectly good “stuff” are just trying to get you to buy more stuff. If it’s still useful and purposeful, even if it isn’t needed right this second, pack it gently away and save it for the future.

Take another look at the space. If something still doesn’t feel quite right, keep tweaking it. But I bet you feel happier just being in the space.

Often cleaning up my writing room helps get me out of the “stuck” place, or the uninspired place.

Additionally, looking at the areas in both my writing room and the overall house, and making adjustments in the relevant areas will help get my creativity moving again.

Stand at your front door, looking at your entire space. Where does your writing space fall within the bagua? Mine is in the Helpful People & Travel sector in this house. So I have power tools in the writing room that serve Helpful People & Travel in respect to the overall house, while also looking at the room itself and seeing where the room itself falls into the bagua. It can get a little confusing sometimes, and I find myself adjusting and readjusting after most big projects. I’m a nester, which means wherever I work — the desk, the reading/writing chair, etc. — I tend to pile up what I’m using.

Feng Shui for Projects
How the heck do you Feng Shui a project?

I bet there’s advice on that out there somewhere. At the time of this writing, I haven’t read any, but writing this piece makes me want to hunt it down, if it exists.

However, I’ve come up with a couple of techniques on my own.

Have Your Character Do Some Feng Shui
See what happens if you write a scene or sequence where your character does some Feng Shui on their own space. Sometimes rearranging the character’s space helps the writer push through. That doesn’t mean you have to leave the sequence in the piece, unless it works. You can always cut it.

Remember that nothing written is ever wasted, even if it’s cut from the final draft. You needed to write it to GET to the final draft.

Use the Bagua on Your Plot
Take a look at the nine areas of the bagua. How do they relate to your protagonist’s journey? What pieces are missing, and how do they serve as a catalyst to the protagonist’s journey? Are any of them healed during the course of the book?

Conversely, when you look at the bagua, is there any area you can think of making more difficult for your character, and upping the stakes on the story? Is anything going a little too well in the character’s life, and needs more complications for a more engaging plot?

The act of cleaning and rearranging gets you out of torpor and into motion. As your body moves, your brain starts to re-engage, and that helps get your creativity flowing. Plus, a beautiful space is a much more welcoming space for your work!

Change Where You Work on the Project
Where does your workspace fall into the bagua of your home? Is there another place that would work better? Perhaps the Creativity & Children sector, or the Career Sector? The Prosperity or the Fame and Reputation Sector? Trying working in a different spot, and see if that rattles the creativity loose again.

This Week’s Task
Read a book on Feng Shui (libraries usually have several). Compare different styles. Pick one area of your home to Feng Shui and work on it.

Have you used Feng Shui in your home or your work? What style do you use? What were the results? Let me know in the comments.

Also, in the comments, talk about your Artist Date, and what kind of paintings or other art you experienced, and how it helped.

Fri. Aug. 16, 2019: The Insolence Never Ceases

Friday, August 16, 2019
Last Day of Full Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Sunny and pleasant

I didn’t post on Gratitude and Growth yesterday. Making up for it today, with just a quick post.

I’m on an antibiotic for the infection in my injured finger. It has about 29 possible side effects. Fortunately, I only have three of the minor ones: it makes me a little giddy, I can’t be in direct sunlight (so I’ll just spend 10 days in a dark corner like a vampire), and I’m thirsty all the time. I was shocked at how much direct sunlight HURTS, even with sunscreen.

Other than that, I feel much better.

I always feel odd the first 48 hours on an antibiotic. I don’t take them often, which means when I do, they hit hard. Which is a good thing.

I came home early yesterday and read, rather than tried to do anything else. I finished the book for review (and will work on the review today).

I also read Lauren Dane’s THE GODDESS BLADE. Loved it. I read it straight through in one sitting. I became acquainted with Lauren via Twitter, and we’ve had some good conversations. It was the first chance I had to read something of hers. I’ve already ordered the second book in the series, as my weekend treat! Unfortunately, because Amazon sucks so badly, it won’t download. It’s bought & paid for, it shows up on my screen with an X. And Amazon, of course, is no help. Update: I figured out a workaround, using two computers at the same time, in order to get it on my Kindle. NOT okay, Amazon.

I’ve been having weird, disturbing dreams lately. Which is weird, since that’s what Lesley experiences in GRAVE REACH, although the source of mine are something else.

There’s way too much idiocy online right now, and way too many idiots intentionally running the country into the ground. It has to stop. And the media needs to stop pandering to the Occupant’s hate rallies.

I blocked quite a few people yesterday. I don’t bother arguing with them. My energy needs to be spent working constructively, not destructively.

Oh, and here’s another volume in the Local Insult Directory:

Local: What did you do on Broadway?

Me: I worked in wardrobe. I was a dresser.

Local: Oh! Can you reupholster a chair for me?

Me: Um, what?

Local: You know, put new fabric on it.

Me: That’s props or set design, not wardrobe.

Local: Fabric’s fabric.

Me: It’s not.

Local: Besides, if I get a professional to do it, it’ll cost $750. But people work in theatre for free because they love it.

Me: Professionals work in theatre because they love making a living at it.

Local: No one gets PAID to do theatre.

Me: I did. For decades.

Local: You can’t expect money for things like this! It’s not real work.

Me: Why not? The professional upholsterer expects to be paid. Why shouldn’t a professional dresser or props person be paid?

Local: Well, you’re not very community-spirited, are you?

Me: I have a zero tolerance policy on grifters.

Bitch is lucky I didn’t slap her into the middle of next week. It’s so typical of the attitude around here. Now, this is a woman who’s never worked a day in her life (she lives off her husband’s money in his multi-million dollar oversized house and has a staff). She can afford to hire an upholsterer. But she wants a theatre person to work for free, because if someone in the theatre does it, it’s not “real work.” And why is working for free for a rich white woman who lives in a mansion considered working for the “community”?

Volunteering at the library or the food pantry or the domestic women’s shelter is working for the “community.” Not reupholstering a rich woman’s chair because she feels she’s entitled to free labor, and entitled to decide what constitutes “work.”

Before you say maybe they’re house-rich and cash-poor — no. Not the case. She only buys/wears designer labels and boasts about their trips to St. Bart’s.

I wish this was the exception around here. But it’s not.

Working on the article, GRAVE REACH, and my review this weekend. And, hopefully, getting better.

Have a great weekend. See you next week!

Thurs. Aug. 15, 2019: When You Have To Trust Your Instincts

Thursday, August 15, 2019
Full Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Sunny and pleasant

Never a dull moment.

Yesterday was fine with my client. Then, I drove to Eastham to pick up a wonderful little antique sewing chest. It was a nice ride there and back.

Tuesday night, I’d finally watched CAPTAIN MARVEL. There was a lot I loved about it. Too many prolonged fight sequences. But the humor was great, Brie Larson was great, and her scenes with Samuel L. Jackson were the best. Their chemistry was superb.

This morning, after a good session working on ELLA, I gave in and went to urgent care. They were great. It turns out, it was the right choice. My finger is infected, not just bruised. The doctor had to pierce it, drain it, dress it. I’m on antibiotics for the next 10 days. It will drain for a few days. Can’t be out in direct sunlight while I’m on them, either.

They were great, the first actual health care without drama I’ve had since I moved here. They are helping me jump through the insurance hoops. I’m not happy with my weight, but all my other vitals are excellent and much better than I expected. However, I was right to trust my instincts and go today. If I had waited much longer, it would have been worse.

I was in CVS waiting for the prescription (which was called in before the doctor started the drain) longer than the procedure at urgent care. Typical. But I got it. They are horse pills, not fun, but I manage.

If you haven’t read the latest Chapter of Fred’s saga over on Ink-Dipped Advice, you can do so here. I’d love your comments.

I have some LOIs to get out today, and then I’m turning my attention back to GRAVE REACH. In and around GRAVE REACH this weekend, I’ll be refinishing a table and the little sewing cabinet. And finishing up my article. AND finishing up a review.

It’s a relief to actually get something done about the injury. I don’t have much else of interest to say.

Although I had a great time in the #remotechat. We always exchange such wonderful ideas and resources. I’m so grateful for that group.

Back to the page. Looking forward to it.

Wed. Aug. 14, 2019: Feeling Stuck

Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Day before Full Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde

Bizarre few days.

Woke up in the middle of the night Monday, with my ring finger on my left hand swollen and throbbing. I’d bumped it a couple of times over the weekend, cleaning and moving things, but didn’t think much about it.

But it was bad enough to wake me up.

Then, I was dumb enough to look it up on the Internet and worry I needed to go to the ER.

THEN, I had to worry about insurance, because here in MA we have Romney-care, which means insurance in name only most of the time.

I iced it, took ibuprofen, used tea tree oil, kept it elevated, and managed to get back to sleep for a couple of hours around four.

It was better when I woke up. I’ll nurse it for a day or two and see. It doesn’t help that I have to use that poor finger to type. If it doesn’t get better, I’ll go to Urgent Care and see what they can do. At least I can afford that, if they decide to decline my insurance card.

Tuesday was a challenge with my client. Then, I was supposed to drive to Eastham to pick up an antique sewing cabinet (a craigslist find) — but with incoming storms, I wasn’t sure and thought I should push it to today. So I’ll head out there this afternoon.

Read my friend’s radio play and gave feedback. The play is good, but the formatting needs some work. Radio is driven by aural cues, and they have to drive the plot and characters, not just be there to be there. Visual cues have to be translated into aural cues.

Worked on “Pier-less Crime” and on my article.

I’m off my game right now, mostly because I don’t feel well, and I have to get my act together. I feel stuck. Everything feels like it’s moving, and part of me feels like things are moving, and the changes I’m taking action to make WILL happen, but they’re not happening yet, and I’m getting impatient. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

Working with the singing bowl. I ordered some books on working with them from the Commonwealth Catalog via the library.

Big push this weekend to finish this draft of GRAVE REACH and get it to my editor.

Think good thoughts for me.