Thurs. May 11, 2023: Keeping On Keeping On

image courtesy of Engin Akyurt via pixabay.com

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Waning Moon

Mercury and Pluto Retrograde

You can read the latest garden shenanigans here, on Gratitude and Growth.

As of today, this country declares the COVID pandemic over, which is ridiculous, untrue, and will cost more lives. The only reason is to force workers back into unsafe situations and allow insurance companies to charge more. The CDC and Rochelle Walensky failed us. And now, she’s tiptoeing away and not taking responsibility for selling out the general population to corporations. I was so excited when she was named, and she was a huge (and dangerous) disappointment. May she reap what she has sown.

Today’s serial episode is from Legerdemain:

Episode 84: Jae’s Theory

Jae’s belief that Brone is a pawn could have repercussions beyond Legerdemain.

Legerdemain Serial Link

Legerdemain Website

I belong to a virtual book club hosted by my university. More men than women participate in the club (which surprised me). It means that, whenever a book choice is voted on, books by men tend to get priority. I was deeply discouraged in the current choice list for autumn’s read: two books by women, one by a man, and he’s leading the votes. He is the most well-known author, but still. . .I’m going to read the two books by the women on my own. It’s not that I won’t read his book because of his gender; I will, because I’m interested in it. I just notice how the votes skew, month after month.

I did the social media rounds for The Process Muse, and then, later in the day, for ANGEL HUNT.

I’m still having problems with the Pages On Stages website. It doesn’t come up when I put it in the search bar. I can sign in and work on it: I just can’t see it. My webhost sees it just fine. It’s something in my Chrome settings. When I followed directions to clear the caches, WordPress wouldn’t let me sign into anything, claiming I blocked all cookies. I had to go back and change that. I can get in and work on my other sites now, but still not see Pages on Stages. I’m frustrated.

I got a bit of work done on the Legerdemain site. Not enough, but at least something. I have a LOT of work to do on that site, and I’m hoping that I can do some of it next week. I thought I had the history of Legerdemain written and ready to go, but then a throwaway comment in the episode I drafted yesterday needs to be integrated into it, and I need to write up the Enrique Macallen pirate story.

As I mentioned, I drafted an episode of Legerdemain.

Client work in the afternoon; finished earlier than expected (although I got a request for some additional information from one that I will do today).

Finished reading Cherie Priest’s FLIGHT RISK, which was a lot of fun. Need to start the Elizabeth Siddal biography, which has to go back to the library soon. I was percolating an idea for something built around her, but there’s a slew of projects in various pipelines about her right now, so I will sit back and enjoy them instead. (In case you’ve never heard of Elizabeth Siddal, she was a primary muse for the Pre-Raphaelites).

Put up the new string lights on the front porch. They’re very pretty, and it’s nice to sit there as twilight moves into darkness.

Slept through the night, until the cats rousted me out of bed this morning. Most of the poem for July’s event has formed in my brain, and I woke up knowing how it would flow. I scribbled it down in my “Poetry Adventures” notebook. When I get my starting word, I can write a couple of transition lines, and I’ll still be within the time limit, I think. Before I send it off, I’ll read it a few times with a stopwatch, and make any necessary trims. I mean, I’ll work it and rhythm it and hone it more between now and then, but at least I’m not starting from scratch when I get my opening word, and I can weave it in. Writing the poem in 24 hours is a challenge I met last year; this year, I want to prepare better, now that I understand the overall event.

Figures July’s poem would come at me, when I need to work on the poem I’ll read in a week and a half!

I want to draft another episode of Legerdemain today, and I have to get next week’s episodes uploaded and scheduled. I might go back and add something into yesterday’s episode (the one I wrote, not one already scheduled/dropped). I was going to put that exchange into today’s, but maybe it will work better in yesterday’s? Once I work on today’s episode, I’ll know.

Client work this afternoon, but I hope to be done early, and then that’s it for me for the week. I’ll regret it on Monday, but I don’t care for today and tomorrow!

Have to do a grocery run, a liquor store run, mail something to my insurance company by  Certified mail (because they never admit to receiving ANY paperwork unless it’s certified and when they claim they never got it, I send them a copy of the proof of delivery). Meditation this morning. All I want to do is sleep. I’m trying to pace myself a little better to deal with the fatigue. It’s waning moon, so I’ll also take iron supplements again for a few days. If I take them every day, I get sick; if I take them 3^rd/4^th quarter moon, about every other day, I’m usually okay. As the spring vegetables come out, I’ll round out my diet with more spinach and kale, and will start feeling better again. I haven’t watched what I eat as carefully as usual in the transition to spring, and my diet has been less healthy.

The pollen just wafts past the window in clouds. I’m making eyewashes with chamomile, and setting aside time every afternoon to lie down on the acupressure mat with a chamomile compress over my eyes. I’ll probably start using the air purifier again, too.

At some point this weekend, I’ll climb up onto whatever lets me reach it, and clean the tops of the ceiling fans. We’ll be using those soon, and I want to make sure they aren’t just stirring up more pollen and dust. Hopefully, by Sunday, it’ll be warm enough to take out some plants and set down the rugs out back.

The FALL FOREVER edits are percolating in my brain. The Heist Romance script wants attention, and CAST IRON MURDER reminds me that there are still revisions to do there. Plus the upcoming poem and the flash fiction. By next week, I have to get back on track with the next Twinkle Tavern short, “Labor Intensive.” I had a pithy name for the third one, built around President’s Day, but I didn’t write it in the file. I think it’s in my journal, so I’ll have to go back through that book and find it. And there are some other short pieces that I worked on back in February that are almost ready to go out into the world.

Plenty to keep me busy.

Have a good one!

Tues. April 18, 2023: A Productive Weekend of Scribbling

image courtesy of Queena Deng via pixabay.com

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Day Before Dark Moon

Rainy and cold

The temperature’s already fallen 45 degrees since late last week, and they predicted snow tonight.

Did you have a good weekend? Are you ready for our usual Tuesday morning natter?

I fixed a big plot hole in Thursday’s pages on FALL FOREVER, and that allowed the scene to move forward. I wound up writing about 6 pages on Friday.

Worked on material for June’s newsletter because there’s actually material for it already.

I wrote, revised, polished, and sent off the materials for the August residency. Either they feel I’m a good fit or they don’t. And if I get something definite on one of the other applications, before I hear one way or another from this one, I’ll have to make a decision. Chances are, I’ll take the definite. If I’m offered the August slot and know early enough, then I can build other plans around it.

Did a library run to drop off/pick up books. It was pretty damn hot out there.

Turned around two script coverages.

Read PAT IN THE CITY, Patricia Fields’s memoir about her life in fashion which then turned into a career in costume design (most famously for SEX IN THE CITY). It was very interesting. Although we overlapped a good deal in NYC, especially in the late 80s/early 90s, I was far too shy to be part of that crowd, and drugs were a big part of their scene, which was not mine at all. I mean, I was aware of her store and what was going on in the area (after all, I was at NYU, and then, once I came back from the three years on the west coast, I worked off-Broadway, climbing my way up to Broadway). I was just busy elsewhere.

Fortunately, Saturday wasn’t quite as hot. It’s pleasant enough to have my first cup(s) of coffee on the front porch, to write in my journal, and, Saturday morning, to write a few more pages of notes on REP. The big challenge with REP is going to be building the comedy properly, so it’s funny, but doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the story. And, since the ambition for it is to eventually adapt it back into either novels, or a series of novellas (the latter is more likely), I have to build the humor in a way that it doesn’t read as frantic in a flow.

I created a Serial Writers Questionnaire that I’m going to post around the various channels, to get an idea of what other serial writers are doing. It might grow into a blog post or an article at some point.

I winnowed down the inbox for my main email account to something I can deal with. I have to get on top of one more email inbox, and I’ll be on track.

I’ve been chasing down payment from a prestigious publication that pays a pittance, but claims that paying writers is important. I was supposed to be paid at the end of March. When I hadn’t received payment by the beginning of last week, I contacted the editor. The interactions have been pleasant, but so far, I’ve had excuses, trying to shift responsibility to me, and still no payment. I mean, I’d already decided I wouldn’t work for them ever again, since the payment is about 1/10^th of what I’d get at the other publications I usually write this type of material for. But no. Don’t say you care about paying writers and then not pay them.

FALL FOREVER was a bit of a slog on Saturday, and I only wrote 3 pages. But I showed up and did it, and that’s what matters. In the first 15 days of the program, I wrote 71 pages, so I’m on track. I expected to be somewhere between pages 45-60 at this point, so a rough day here and there is not going to make me whine. Pushing through to the end of this draft, rather than skipping days and catching up because I’m ahead at the moment is a better choice for me, I think.

Drafted two episodes of Legerdemain. Did the log lines for this week’s episodes and the episode graphics. Did some more work on the 2000-year history of Legerdemain that will go up on the website. I need to get more original content up on the website to enhance the serial for readers, and to intrigue new readers. But it takes time, brain energy, and tech maneuvering.

Revised, polished, uploaded, and scheduled the next two Process Muse posts.

Rubbed one of the Adirondack chairs on the front porch with teak oil, prepping it for summer. Re-painted a copper and crystal whirligig so it’s all shiny and pretty. Cleaned the crystals and put them back in on Sunday, when the paint was dry. That will look pretty once we can get the back door open and out onto the back balcony.

Finished reading a book I thought was great for the first few chapters. Then, the author, via her trio of female protagonists started slagging off other women with the term “witch” as a derogatory. Nope, nope, nope. I’ve been a supporter of this author’s work for several years, but no more. Referring to women who are mean and bullying as “witches” is inappropriate in a contemporary novel for 2023. Don’t pretend you give a flying fuck about equity and inclusion if your protagonists (who supposedly do care) use the term, you hypocrite.

Ordered Chinese food because I didn’t feel like cooking.

Finally got to watch THE LOST CITY. It was a lot of fun, for the most part, but the logistical lapses bugged me. I mean, there was a lot that was wacky, because it parodied this type of film, but the internal logic of this wacky created world needed to be stronger. A couple of the jokes were milked too long and the air went out of the scenes. One scene, for a supporting character, that was supposed to plant information for a final scene visual needed a rewrite. The actress did what she could with the material, but the words weren’t enough. It could have been an hilarious scene and wasn’t, because it was a badly written monologue that didn’t build properly.  A supporting character had an arc with potential set up, and then it was dropped as the film continued with a really weak exit for him, which was a shame, because it would have added texture. Sandra Bullock was a lot of fun. Her timing was impeccable. Channing Tatum was fine, doing his thing. Daniel Radcliffe had a good time chewing scenery (his role reminded me a lot of his role in NOW YOU SEE ME 2). Brad Pitt’s cameo was hilarious. And his schtick of eating in a scene (this time off camera, in the first phone call) was one of those things that the OCEANS movie viewers will get and love. The plot twist at the end of his cameo was unexpected, and I’m glad I hadn’t seen any spoilers. The way the movie sends up conferences was hilarious.

So, overall, I had fun. It also taught me a few structural things I want to stay away from in the Heist Romance script.

Had trouble getting to sleep on Saturday; Charlotte got me up Sunday. Morning coffee on the porch with the journal, then a few more pages of outline notes for REP.

Wrote 3 ½ pages on FALL FOREVER.

Sunday was the day I put aside to devote mostly to ANGEL HUNT. However, I still had to draft an episode of Legerdemain first. I drafted the episode, and then switched headspaces to ANGEL HUNT’s world.

I adapted two chapters into serial episodes, for a total of 8 episodes. I uploaded the next eight episodes to Vella, which gets me through the second week of June, and I have episodes drafted well into the summer. I need to work on ANGEL HUNT one day per week, in and around other stuff, until all the episodes are polished, uploaded, and scheduled. Somehow, I hadn’t written the episode loglines for the upcoming 8 episodes, so I wrote episode loglines for 16 episodes, which gets me through everything that’s scheduled. I updated the Style Sheet and Series Bible. I’m up-to-date with characters on that, but behind on plot points, and was too tired to backtrack, so I’ll have to catch up with that, too. Some of the stuff I adapted today needs better follow-through with the arcs down the line; I may have to insert some material into the chapters I’m adapting. I’ve got just over 60 episodes drafted, and I think I’m at the halfway point, maybe just a tad beyond it. I’ve uploaded episodes through Episode 40. The sooner I can get the serial finished, edited, uploaded, and polished, the sooner I can work on the plan for it.

Read the latest NEW YORKER. Felt tired and burned out. Got some of the painting done on the wind chimes. I need to do the small bits later this week, when it’s dry.

Worked on contest entries.

Yoga was terrific. The conversation is as worthwhile as the practice itself.

Home, finished the leftover Chinese food, read for a bit.

Slept pretty well. Woke up in the middle of the night, worried I had a fever. But I was sandwiched in between Charlotte and Tessa, both of whom are very warm.

I forgot to set the coffeemaker Sunday night. We were all very confused Monday morning.

Felt burned out on Monday morning. It was hard to get going. Which frustrated me, because I’d been looking forward to this holiday Monday all last week.

I snuck in a little work on GAMBIT COLONY.

Showed up to the page at FALL FOREVER, even though I wasn’t feeling it. Once I got into it, though I wrote 4 pages. Finished the scene.

I’m moving into the last few scenes. Maybe three or four more. I’d like to finish the draft before our company arrives at the end of next week.

Drafted another episode of Legerdemain, which makes me feel, finally, like I’m pulling a little ahead. I need to keep it up all week, and then I’ll make some real progress. I will be able, when I upload more episodes this week, to get a few weeks’ worth scheduled, instead of just next week’s. Got up this week’s promos.

Drafted the first three episodes of REP. I want to write about 10 episodes to see if this is actually a viable project, or if it’s just something silly to work on as a stress reliever. These episodes are more dramedy with slight satiric elements than straight-up comedy. I may layer some jokes into it, but I might let the voice that’s coming through prevail, since it’s working. And I’m trying to keep the episodes close to 1K/each (a little over/under is fine). So, in terms of episode length, it’s between the very short bites of ANGEL HUNT and the longer LEGERDEMAIN. Although I’m trying to keep the Legerdemain episodes a little shorter, too. Metrics show readers prefer to spend 10-15 tokens per episode, but not more than 20. (Which means 1-2K words for episode length, with 1-1.5K being the sweet spot).

It’s very much a valentine to theatre.

But it also means I wrote 5-damn-K words yesterday, and by 2 PM, I was TIRED.

I couldn’t paint because it was raining, and it wouldn’t dry properly.

I took up residence on the couch, and Charlotte took up residence on me (I’m one click away from adding “cat furniture” to my resume). I read SPARKLING CYANIDE, the Agatha Christie read for this month. Some of it was clever. But the young heroine fell firmly in the “too stupid to live” category and I was almost sorry when the hero managed to rescue her at the end.

Soup class was a lot of fun. It will end in mid-May, and then start up again, with a slightly different format, in November.

I jolted awake in the middle of the night with sense memory stress, but Tessa purred me down. When I finally got up this morning, I felt tired and burned out. I mean, I worked all weekend, even if it wasn’t client work.

I feel good about my work (although I wish I’d gotten more done on Legerdemain’s website), but I’m tired.

This morning, first priority is the next pages on FALL FOREVER, then another episode of Legerdemain. Then, I’ll see where I am timewise, and what I can get in before I head off to the library and the pharmacy. This afternoon, I have two scripts to turn around. I don’t have any other scripts in my queue for the week yet, and I’m trying not to let that worry me.

I also need to backup my drives before Mercury goes retrograde, put up this week’s Angel Hunt promos, put together a list of collaborative tools for a friend, and send out some pitches. A friend asked me to blurb her upcoming release, and I’m excited about that. I won’t get to read the book until sometime in May (my schedule, not hers), but I’m looking forward to it. I also want to work on contest entries.

I’m looking forward to yoga tonight, even if it kicks my ass.

Episode 77 of Legerdemain goes live today!

Have a good one, my friends! I hope your week starts well.

Mon. April 17, 2023: Intent for the Week — Prep for Mercury Retrograde

image courtesy of Dean Moriarty via pixabay.com

Today is a holiday in my state, so I’m taking it off from client work.

The sun moves into Taurus this week, which is about slowing down and taking pleasure in what one does.

Mercury goes retrograde on the 21st (Friday) until May 14. So I’m backing up my tech and hoping for the best.

I am doing what I can to prep, since the next three weeks will be about caution and treading lightly in all areas of my life. Friends are supposed to visit during that time, so hopefully there won’t be delays or chaos or miscommunication.

I’m doing the prep around the regular work of FALL FOREVER, the serials, The Process Muse, and client work.

Since Mercury Retrograde is a good time for finishing things, I plan to finish this draft of FALL FOREVER, finish the draft of “Labor Intensive” (Twinkle Tavern #2 short), and finish a big client project I do annually for a client that’s due in early May. Later in May, I hope to spend some quality time on the Heist Romance script and the next draft of CAST IRON MURDER.

But this week is about prepping for the retrograde and slow down, along with humming along on the current work.

What’s your intent for the week?

Tues. Jan. 31, 2023: Starting With More Snow

image courtesy of StockSnap via pixabay.com

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Waxing Moon

Snowy and cold

This won’t be as long as our usual Tuesday morning chat, because I just don’t have that much to say.

The month wrap up is over on the GDR site.

I wrote two book reviews on Friday morning, sent them in, invoiced, was paid, did a library run, came home. The weather was yucky. I had some scoring sheets and some pitches for coverage, that was it.

I have to say, these scoring sheets where the instructions are only to read the first page of the screenplay and score on that are teaching me a lot about how to open my own scripts.

I was done by mid-afternoon. My back hurt a lot, so I moved to the couch with the heating pad, and stayed there, reading for pleasure, pretty much all weekend. The weather was gray and icky.

Saturday’s reading was re-reading the 4^th book of my own GAMBIT COLONY project and what I have of the 5th, on which I wanted to figure out and rework a few bits. I made some notes and did an insert scene. It’s not traditionally viable, so I’ll have to pitch it to a small publisher, and I have to make sure I have all the ducks in the row for the series. There’s a lot that works in it, and there’s also a lot that pushes boundaries. And there are cuts that need to be made, or information integrated differently, in order to let the focus remain on the large and ever-growing ensemble.

But in the late afternoon/evening, I switched over to reading for pleasure, and basically read all day Sunday.

There were some books that I started and went back in the return stack for the library after a few chapters because they just didn’t do it for me. But I read LAST TRAIN TO MEMPHIS by Elizabeth Peters (another Vicky Bliss), Lana Harper’s BACK IN A SPELL (which is really good), and AN UNKINDNESS OF RAVENS by M.E. Hilliard, which I think I’ve read before, but it was a pleasure to re-read (and order the next books in the series), and an early book by an author whose work I’ve read a lot of under various names; this one was a little on the cutesy side for me.

I should have dived into the books on Malta’s history for the Heist Romance screenplay. I did look through the travel guides and watched some local videos, and decide where I’m putting some of the key scenes, though. I should have worked on contest entries.

But I was in pain and feeling grumpy and unsettled, so I didn’t. I did, early on Saturday morning, dash out to get more ink. Getting in and out of the car was hard. But it had to be done.

Monday I had to get up and actually function, so I did some prep for Imbolcc, blogged, worked on Process Muse posts, and took the car in for inspection in the morning – new-to-me place, in and out in 12 minutes, which is less time than it took to drive there. But I’m all set until next year.

I only had a stack of scoring sheets to do in the script coverage, so I did that, and started working ahead on the Process Muse posts.

I have an idea tickling at the back of my brain. I thought it was going to be historical alt-fantasy or epic fantasy, but the characters have decided it is urban fantasy romance, so that’s what it will be. If I ever figure it out. Because some key scenes basically dropped into my head, and I have the story with the emotional arcs for the two protagonists, but not the plot. So I’ll make notes on the scenes (or maybe write them, there are not many of them), and let it percolate on the back burner of my brain to see if a plot evolves. All of last night’s dreams were in the world of that story, and through those characters’ experiences (rather than me being myself in one of my Dreamscapes), so there’s obviously something in there my subconscious believes is viable.

I ordered the Midnight City Pocket Tarot and am very excited to get it. The artwork is based on NYC locations, so it will have a resonance for me.

Soup class was fun – we did mulligatawny soup, and it was great. I missed the last couple of weeks of class, and missed the camaraderie, as well as the skills I’m learning. Once the food is created, everyone just hangs out and chats, and it’s fun. The best of Zoom (and makes Charlotte so happy).

I did a reading with the Spirit Allies Oracle deck, which came in the Goddess Provisions box a couple of months back. I don’t know why I’m surprised when it’s so accurate. It’s a terrific deck, by the way.

Anthony Lemke talked about a book he read that he really loved. It’s been on my TBR list for awhile, but I’m moving it up, because he’s never steered me wrong when it comes to books or good work!

We had a little snow overnight, maybe just over an inch. We have an ice warning out, and it’s kind of flurrying. I’ll wait until mid-day to do my library-grocery-liquor store run. I need more coffee. And I have to put in a Chewy order for cat litter.

The cats have adjusted to the whole not-being-fed-until-coffee. But the second the coffeemaker starts (it’s set for a specific time the night before) and the smell wafts through the house, all of them are making demands that I Get Up and Feed Them. It’s kind of hilarious.

I need to get my act together and focus today. There’s writing to do, interview questions to create and send off, contest entries to read, a book to start reading for review. No scripts in the queue, at least so far. I’m not in terrible shape this pay period, but I’m under what I hoped, and I’m very, very frustrated at the pressure to “double volume” when there aren’t enough scripts at a decent rate in the queue. So I need to add in other options.

#28Prompts starts tomorrow. I hope you have fun with it. I had fun coming up with the prompts. It will drop on Twitter at noon EST every day, and on the other social media channels (where I can’t schedule ahead of time) whenever I can get on them.

The next episode of Legerdemain drops today. I hope you enjoy it. Be well, my friends.

Thurs. Jan. 26, 2023: Grey Days

image courtesy of Lena Lindell via pixabay.com

Thursday, January 26, 2023

Waxing Moon

Gray and cold

I like to spell the color both ways: “grey” and “gray” depending on mood and contest. “Grey” fit me better today.

The latest garden post is up over on Gratitude and Growth.

Did the social media rounds early yesterday, promoting The Process Muse and the Angel Hunt launch. Now that I finally have the direct link to the serial, I can start uploading/scheduling each episode’s logline. And, since I’m using the same graphic, it makes things simpler. I updated the links on various webpages.

Went out early to mail some letters and grab some groceries before the next storm came in. One of my lamps is out on the car, which means I have to find a place to fix it before the inspection. Which has to happen by Jan. 31. Argh. But I grabbed a few things (how did I run out of onions, for crying out loud?) and made it back before the snow started up again.

Considered signing up for a six week yoga program at the library in Williamstown. It’s on Thursday mornings, which means soon after the Zoom meditation with the group at Concord Library was finished, I’d get in the car and drive over to Williamstown. Which is doable; it just means rearranging my Thursdays to write extra early in the morning before meditation, and Thursdays mornings are All About Me. I kind of liked that idea. But, investigating the details of it, there are no COVID protocols in place, and it’s happening inside in the winter.

Nope.

We’re being pressured by the script coverage company to “double our volume” this year. Okay, first of all, then pay me more. Second of all, I’m already reading 10-15 scripts/week when they are available, and if I try to read 30, I’ll burn out even faster than I am now. Third, if you want us to work full time, that means salary AND BENEFITS INCLUDING PAID VACATION AND HEALTH CARE. Working 40 hours a week for a single company without a stable salary or benefits would just make me an idiot.

I mean, I know all of the readers are just part of the sausage factory, but we bust our asses, and the pay gets lower, but the volume of work gets higher. So I’m upping the LOIs (especially in the break between retrogrades) to get a wider range of clients over the coming months.

Because I’m burning out on this, and increasing the pressure on me is only going to make me burn out faster.

Went down a research rabbit hole on abandoned towns for sale as background for a piece, and it was a lot of fun.

Turned around four coverages and scores on a pitch.

Should have started reading the next book for review; instead, I read a book for pleasure, WELL TRAVELED by Jen DeLuca, which takes place at a series of Ren Faires. Deborah Blake recommended it, and I’m glad she did. It’s lots of fun.

The cats slept all day during the snow, and then were up all night causing trouble. I had to get up several times in the night to scold them. Then, they tried to blame each other, even though I fully knew all three were involved in the various escapades.

Busy times in the Dreamscape. All good, but it’s starting to feel like I’m leading a double life, and I’m tired of waking up tired.

Meditation this morning, and then some writing. I need to work on the article, get some more work done on LEGERDEMAIN, I think I’m just about ready to write the next section of the Heist Romance script. Have to do the social media rounds to promote the episode that goes live today. I have three coverages to do this afternoon. Tomorrow are dribs and drabs of score sheets and pitches. I think that’s all I’ll take, so I have room to finish the books for review tonight and tomorrow, and try to find a place to get the car done. I also need to do some extra yoga today; my lower back is unhappy from the shoveling, and then the sitting and couch potato-ing from the last few days. I need to stretch out the kinks.

Not sure if I’ll do coverage this weekend or not; I have to see what comes in, and what my energy levels are like. I’m under where I want to be, money-wise (in spite of a higher “volume” this pay period), but I’m also tired. And I want to focus on my own work this weekend. And maybe get some extra sleep.

We’ll see how today and tomorrow go. In the meantime, I hope you’re having a good day, easing into a good weekend.

Enjoy the next episode of Legerdemain!

Wed. Jan. 25, 2023: ANGEL HUNT Launch Day

Wednesday, January 25, 2022

Waxing Moon

Virginia Woolf’s birthday

Burns Night

ANGEL HUNT:

ANGEL HUNT launches today, with new episodes dropping on Wednesdays and Fridays. The episodes are intentionally short, usually less than a thousand words. I hope you check it out and follow it. The first three episodes are free, so you can read for free until the middle of next week.

A witch.

An angel.

An impossible task.

A devil calls in a marker, forcing witch Lianna Maplethorpe to hunt a renegade angel. It gets even more complicated and dangerous when the renegade turns out to be Lianna’s own Guardian Angel, who she believed abandoned her. As magical conflicts escalate in 2004’s New York City between differing factions, deeper and darker magic than Lianna has ever faced force her to grow – or die.

Urban Fantasy set in a slightly alt-New York City, beginning in 2004.

Direct Link Here.

Back to the Regular Blog:

The newest Process Muse post, talking about “Mindful Work” is here.

Wrote the loglines for the new LEGERDEMAIN and ANGEL HUNT episodes. Did the social media rounds promoting yesterday’s episode of LEGERDEMAIN. Created a double graphic for LEGERDEMAIN/ANGEL HUNT.

I need to get #28Prompts uploaded and scheduled soon, too. February is just around the corner.

Dug my car out. It wasn’t fun, but not as bad as expected. And I didn’t clear out all the space between cars, either, because I’m tired of being the only one who ever does it. But I made a nice little bowl around the car, so that I can run some errands this morning, before the next storm comes in.

Put up the Valentine’s decoration on the front door. I like having something fun up on the front door all the time, and switching it out every month or so.

Turned around 5 coverages and one score sheet in the afternoon. One of the coverages is for one of the best pieces I’ve ever read anywhere. What a delight! I can’t give more details, because NDA.

Worked on contest entries.

They’re backing off on how much snow is coming in. I might not do errands today, and do them tomorrow and Friday instead, although I need to mail a few things and get eggs. I might tromp down to the mailbox at the end of the street and then hit up Cumberland Farms and see if they have any eggs.

Pulled myself out of a weird dream last night. It wasn’t bad, just busy, and I realized it was the third time I’d been in the same dream in the same sequence (three distinct parts). Once I pulled myself out, I realized I should have stayed in it, because if I’ve had the same exact dream three times in a row, my subconscious is trying to feed me information I’m not getting. Go figure.

Discouraged with all social media platforms right now. February will be dialed back somewhat, focusing on the promotion drops and the #28Prompts. Then I’ll reassess. But I need to get the Topic Workbook promos going again. When I do those properly, they sell steadily.

I also need to figure out how I’m going to do wider promotion (paid advertising) for both Legerdemain and Angel Hunt (once there are more AH episodes live). I’m putting together a giveaway package of Legerdemain, and will probably do a series of bookmarks for it that will be a more general giveaway. I have to figure out what kind of giveaway I could do for AH.

Creating the giveaways isn’t that hard. It’s getting the material and getting them made up. Without the laser printer, I’m struggling. I wanted to do transfers of the logos so I could put them on bags and tee shirts, but this little printer isn’t gonna cut it. Maybe I can get them done at a print shop.

I have to do research for the next section of the Heist Romance script. Some of it is on Monte Carlo, where it takes place. The rest is on old German books containing woodcuts. I know a little bit about German woodcuts, because it was one of the things my uncle the artist was known for (along with stained glass windows, carved altar triptychs, and giant bronze sculptures), but I still need to refresh my memory on some details.

Writing this morning, script coverage, article work, and contest entries this afternoon. And so it goes.

Hope you have a good one, and please check out Angel Hunt. The first three episodes are free!

Tues. Jan. 24, 2023: Digging Out

image courtesy of Richard Duijnstee via pixabay.com

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Waxing Moon

No Retrogrades

Snowy and cold

Whew! Finally, we are done, for a brief shining moment with retrogrades, since Uranus went direct on Sunday the 22^nd.

Which was also Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now in the Year of the Water Rabbit.

Which is why tomorrow was chosen as the launch day for ANGEL HUNT.

Got all that?

Good. Now we can sit down for our usual Tuesday natter.

Friday seems oh, so very long away. It snowed all day. I did the section of the Heist Romance set in Kyle of Lochalsh, Scotland (yes, I’ve been there, too), back in London, and on the Eurostar to Paris. I spent about an hour and a half putting together a list of resources for a close friend of mine, who’s feeling stuck, and sent that off. Heard from a friend of a friend, who recently moved to the area and is now working at Williams College; we will get together when she feels more settled.

In the afternoon, I read both books for review, and then read for pleasure in the evening.

We got closer to 3 inches than six inches of snow overnight, but because of the constant freezing and snowing, digging out the car was not fun. But I did so, and got to the library to pick up the stack of 8 books waiting for me. So at least I have those in before the next storm.

The rest of the materials for the incomplete coverage arrived, so I read them and started the coverage. Did the usual Saturday chores, like changing the beds, etc. Made pasta with sausage for dinner.

Read Evelyn Salter’s memoir of her years working as Edith Sitwell’s secretary, which was very interesting, and relevant to one of the projects with which I’m noodling in longhand. And makes me want to read Evelyn Salter’s crime novels, which I’m having difficulty finding. Time to haul out WorldCat. Between the regional CW Mars network, the Commonwealth Catalog (all of the state), the ILL system of WorldCat, and the Gutenberg Project, I should be able to do it. I managed to finally find Alice Campbell’s JUGGERNAUT on Gutenberg, and order some of her other titles via Commonwealth Catalog. Her work was popular around the time of Agatha Christie’s work, though she was not as well known.

Speaking of Agatha Christie, I joined the reading challenge over on her website (run by her descendants). January’s title is SAD CYPRESS, which I haven’t reread in ages, so that will be fun.

Figured out how to plant a real clue and some red herrings in the section of the Heist Romance script set in Paris, and researched the neighborhood/architecture of the neighborhood where I want it to happen, so I can choreograph the action in a way that makes sense.

Up early on Sunday to make chocolate chip banana bread. The weather advisory shifted to up to 10 inches of snow falling between Sunday night and Monday evening.

So, instead of taking Sunday off, I finished the coverage and sent it off, wrote both book reviews and sent them off, and said I’d be ready for more, hoping the power would hold on Monday morning so I could download them and read them during the snow.

Wrote 16 pages on the Heist Romance screenplay, doing the Paris section, the train to Nice-Ville, and the train to Monte Carlo. Set up clues and red herrings.

Made spicy peanut noodles and dumplings for lunch, so we could celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year. I miss being included in family celebrations for this as I was during my Broadway days, working on shows like MISS SAIGON and FLOWER DRUM SONG.

Treated myself by reading the next Vicky Bliss book, TROJAN GOLD (I love that series so much), and working on contest entries.

It started snowing around dinnertime on Sunday, and snowed all day on Monday. I was glad I’d gotten everything out the door Sunday, although I got my next two books for review on Monday.

I also got a big stack of coverages to do today and tomorrow, for which I’m grateful, but it will keep me busy. Let’s hope the power holds.

I worked on The Process Muse post which drops tomorrow. I’m trying to keep the posts a little shorter than they’ve been thus far.

I polished, uploaded and scheduled the next four episodes of LEGERDEMAIN, which gets me through mid-February. I polished, uploaded, and scheduled the next eight episodes of ANGEL HUNT, which gets me through mid-April.

ANGEL HUNT goes live tomorrow, so I have to block off a few hours to promote, and to upload/schedule promotions on the first episodes, since Kindle Vella doesn’t give us the direct link to the serial until it goes live.

I have to write episode loglines for all 12 episodes, and do the graphics for the LEGERDEMAIN episodes.

Starting this week, people can read new episodes of mine Tuesdays through Fridays: LEGERDEMAIN episodes drop Tuesday and Thursday; ANGEL HUNT episodes drop Wednesday and Friday.

I went out to try and dig out the car once we hit 12 inches. It was still snowing, and I gave up after a bit; it was too difficult, and the plow had pushed large chunks of snow behind the car. I will try again today. We have another storm coming in tomorrow, although instead of the 8 inches predicted, now they’re only saying 4.

One of the few things I miss about living on Cape is the garage.

Worked on contest entries. Got some other reading done.

Chef Jeremy did a fundraising class for No Kid Hungry; I couldn’t attend the session (even though it was on Zoom), but I made a donation.

Frustrating when the premise is excellent, most of the writing is strong, and the protagonist is an idiot one wishes was the next murder victim.

Listened to the HADESTOWN cast album last night. It’s one of my favorite scores, and one of the shows I wish I’d had a chance to work on before I left working backstage.

Busy night in the Dreamscape. Nothing bad, just busy. Work up tired and grumpy. I have a feeling a good portion of the grumps is because I know I have to shovel out the car later, before the next storm hits. The very thought of it is exhausting.

And, somewhere between all the storms, I have to get the car inspected.

I plan to get some drafting done on the next LEGERDEMAIN episodes this morning, and maybe a few pages on the Heist Romance screenplay, before digging out the car and switching to script coverage. I’m grateful for the work, but I’m tired.

Have a good one! Enjoy today’s LEGERDEMAIN episode!

Fri. Jan. 20, 2023: Snow’s Here!

image courtesy of  Jörg Vieli via pixabay.com

Friday, January 20, 2023

Dark Moon

Uranus Retrograde

Snowy and cold

Yesterday was a good, if somewhat weird day.

After meditation, I sat down to layer in what I’d come up with in the Heist Romance script to make it more interesting. I usually push through a draft, but I needed to set up a few things to pay off further down the line, and because of the somewhat episodic nature of the piece, building each section properly is important.

Also, this is the opening. It needs to hook the reader/viewer immediately. How often have I received scripts to cover where the instructions were to only read the first page, the question was “does this first page make you want to read more?” and my answer was “No.” In the last few weeks, more often than not. I don’t want to fall into the same trap. And that’s something that’s come up a lot in the discussions I’ve had lately with fellow scriptwriters, analysts, and show runners – the best scripts capture the reader from the first page. If you need more than a page to “set it up” you need to go back and rewrite.

I got it where I wanted it, fixed the first six pages, established two more characters necessary for the rest of the piece. However, when I revised those first six pages, I kept going. By the time I hit a good stopping point, I was 27 pages in. I’d finished the section in New York, done the first section in London, and am ready to send one of my pair of central protagonists to Scotland (I still have to write a section in the British Museum Library reading room before he heads off).

I figured I’d worked for about an hour, until I looked at the clock.

I’d worked four hours.

It felt like nothing, although I was physically tired. It’s not as though the pages don’t need work, but it’s a solid foundation.

I turned around four script coverages in the afternoon, and a quick scoring sheet. There was nothing in the queue to grab, but overnight the missing materials from a script earlier in the week came through, so I will work on that today. And consider the rest of the time a gift.

I didn’t make the social media rounds yesterday to promote Legerdemain (I’m so grateful to the friends who saw the promotional graphics drop and boosted them). So I have to catch up on that today.

When I first woke up, it was barely snowing, and I thought I could do a library run to pick up the big stack of books that finally showed up. But the snow is intensifying, so I think I will just stay put, and hope I can dash out between storms tomorrow. We’re supposed to get 6 inches between now and tomorrow morning, and another storm coming through Sunday into Monday, and another midweek. Winter in New England.

 I do have to create the graphics for the next 4 episodes of Legerdemain and get them uploaded and scheduled. I did the loglines yesterday.

I want to do a little more on the Heist Romance, since it’s running hot in my brain, and then switch over to Legerdemain, and maybe upload some more ANGEL HUNT episodes (although I might leave that until tomorrow). I also want to get a jump on the next couple of weeks’ worth of The Process Muse.

Have a great weekend, and we’ll catch up next week.

Thurs. Jan. 19, 2023: Incoming Snow

image courtesy of Pexels, via pixabay.com

Thursday, January 19, 2023

Day Before Dark Moon

Uranus Retrograde

Incoming storm

I don’t understand why I’m so slow this week. Everything is taking much longer than it should.

Post on Gratitude and Growth about the garden.

Post on Ink-Dipped Advice about why I like using Direct Mail.

I did the social media rounds promoting the Process Muse post and Ink-Dipped Advice. I’m enjoying Post more and more, although they are moving to a system of “trust metrics” which just sounds like another version of a popularity contest. So we’ll see. There’s not much interaction there, but there’s a lot of good reading material, and I enjoy my time there. CounterSocial and Mastodon, so far, are the best for genuine interaction.

I drafted a new episode of LEGERDEMAIN, which was a lot of fun. I have to work on the graphics for the episodes for the next two weeks, which are already uploaded and scheduled. I thought I wrote the loglines, and am puzzled that I can’t find them.

I turned around five script coverages. I’m glad I have four in today’s queue because, you guessed it, the rest is blank. I may have to read over the weekend, which I do not want to do. Motivation to get the new Fearless Ink postcard out, and the new brochure designed.

I figured out a way to make this first section of the Heist Romance script more logical, more creative, and funnier for the audience. Even though I SHOULD NOT DO IT, I am going back and rewriting, so that I can move on a few days down the line. Because, over there? In that other corner? The LUCKY NUMBERS script Is Not Happy.

Caught up with some correspondence with friends yesterday, too, which was nice. Did a little reading for pleasure (when I should have been reading for review). But it will all get done, and I need to give my brain rest from critical reading with pleasure reading, or I get burned out.

We’re supposed to get 3-6 inches of snow today. Originally, the storm was supposed to come in tonight and into tomorrow. Now, they’re saying it will start at 11 AM this morning and continue through Saturday morning. Sunrise this morning was a sky on fire. I have the pre-storm headache. And when I stepped outside, I could feel the storm coming in.

Because I pulled myself together when the alert came in, and went to the grocery store at 7 AM, when they opened, to pick up potatoes, orange juice, and toilet paper. Because, you know, priorities.

I’m going to make the stuffed eggplant tonight for dinner, which uses a lot of potatoes. I thought we had potatoes when I went grocery shopping earlier in the week, only to discover that we had ONE potato. But now we have enough for the recipe.

Online meditation this morning, and then, after breakfast, it’s back to the page!

Have a good one, and enjoy Episode 52 of Legerdemain, which drops today.

Tues. Jan. 17, 2022: When A Project Takes Control

image courtesy of M. H. via pixabay.com

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Waning Moon

Uranus and Mars Retrograde

Sunny and cold

Time for our usual Tuesday morning catch up. The mid-month check-in is not yet up on the GDR site, but I hope to get that done later today.

Friday was pretty much a lost day. I did some blog work in the morning, made the social media rounds, and then headed out for the usual errands: post office, library, grocery store.

I didn’t realize how bad I felt until I was out and about.

Got things done, came home, unpacked, tidied up the living room (which involved rearranging stacks of books for various projects, and I wound up with a book fort).

I decided to give myself the day off and stayed in the book fort.

I noodled a little in long hand on an idea that started percolating a couple of days ago, and wrote a few outline notes.

I wrote up the two reviews, turned them in, and received my next books for review.

I finished reading THE READING LIST, which I really liked, and I’m looking forward to discussing it in book group.

Started reading another book that was recommended to me, but it was in present tense and lost me at the end of page one, so back to the library it goes, unread.

We were well enough to eat a decent dinner, and relax in the evening, reading and listening to Chantal Chamberland.

Slept reasonably well Friday into Saturday, although I had weird dreams. It was snowing again on Saturday morning (this after the weather reports said Saturday would be a “bright” day and the best of the weekend). Did the usual household chores.

Wrote about 12 pages on the outline I started the previous day. I know what has to happen for the last bit, but I’m not sure how to get there, so that will back burner percolate for a bit.

Roughed out ideas for two future “seasons” of ANGEL HUNT, if this one goes well, although the plot will be tighter and less sprawling. The seeds for both are set in ANGEL HUNT, although that was not my original intention. But we’ll see if it’s worth getting them past “idea” stage.

The damn new little printer wasn’t working properly, and I was ready to drop kick it out the window. I know better than to buy anything Canon anymore, be it a camera or a printer. They used to be a good company, but haven’t been for at least ten years now.

I want my big printer to work again.

Okay, whine over.

I set up the folders for the judging sheets in the three categories I’m judging, and put the correct sheets in the correct folders. I use paper sheets as I read, and then as I finish each book or a few books, I enter the data. It saves work rather than trying to enter all the scoring at the end. This way, I can finish the Batch 1 print in each category, then Batch 1 digital in each category, hopefully before Batch 2 gets there, and then I just have the final decisions to make, once I’ve read and entered Batch 2. I keep the Yes and Maybe piles on the worktable in my office for final decisions, and keep winnowing them down as I go. If it’s digital, I keep the physical sheet in the pile, so I can refer back to it when it’s time to make decisions.

I turned around a script, and started work on contest entries.

Sunday, I was up early, enjoying coffee, cats, and writing in longhand. Made biscuits. Had some sad news from a friend that a friend of hers, with whom I worked, has died of COVID. An online acquaintance is going through a rough time; I’m trying to be supportive, but also wondering if we’re being manipulated. That’s always the risk, when you only know someone online. Still, kindness from afar costs nothing, and can make a big difference.

Had to write a new Episode 56 for Legerdemain, because I needed to plant a character in a specific location to set up a plot intersection, and it needs to happen here. So the next set of episodes is misnumbered in the 1^st draft now, and I’ll have to be careful drafting and editing forward. But I fixed a plot hole I knew was coming up, and set up a good intersection, even though it won’t happen for a few episodes. Polished and uploaded the episodes, which gets me into the beginning of February. Writing ahead on the first draft while polishing the second to upload requires intense concentration and specificity. I am grateful for my Tracking Sheets, Style Sheets, and the Series Bible, and I am diligent about adding in new information as soon as it’s created, and then changing it if it changes in the edits.

That process is different than with a series of novels, where I have tracking sheets as I write, but I don’t update the Series Bible until the final galleys are done on the book.

Had to put in more ink in the little printer, because, of course I did.

Turned around some script scoring. The pay for that is insulting, but that’s all that was in the queue, and the pay period ended on Sunday, so there we are.

Yeah, I’m getting on top of the LOIs and the direct mail as soon as Mercury goes direct this week.

Finished reading SILHOUETTE IN SCARLET, the Vicky Bliss mystery, and loved it. It got me thinking about some tropes I want to turn inside out. I ended up staying up until 11:30 writing 11 pages of a script outline in longhand.

Yesterday morning, I wrote another 9 pages, and then typed it up. Basically, the whole day was on this outline, which is really more of a treatment. I think it will be a limited series script, not a single screenplay. And there’s research to be done, and some beats to be fleshed out, even beyond the 10K of this outline. But it’s fun. And because each section needs a different type of research, it will be worked on piecemeal around other projects. I’ll reward myself for finishing work on other projects by doing a section of this piece here and there.

I have scripts in my queue for the next few days, too, so although I’m worried about the small amount of money from the pay period ending on Sunday, I’m hoping this pay period will be better. And I have to get off my duff and pitch for some new gigs.

I turned around two coverages. I was too tired for soup class. I wrote the opening 6 pages of the script on the treatment I’d written. It’s doing what I want it to, at least for this draft, although there will be a lot of cutting and layering in future drafts. I don’t yet have a title for it. For myself, I’m referring to it as the “Heist Romance” script.

It was very difficult to pull myself out of that fictional world (even though some of the settings are places I know very well). I felt disoriented and out of place.

I should have started the next book for review or worked on contract entries. Instead, I started reading a book by an author who’s work I’ve read for years. Her new book is the first of a new series. It’s still a little too predictable, formula-wise (but that’s what her readers want) and I keep getting too far ahead, but I like the central pair of protagonists, so it was worth staying up until 11:30 reading (I hope to finish it today).

I overslept this morning, and Tessa Was Not Amused. I fed everyone and settled down to write in longhand for a bit. Still felt disoriented, and a bit addled. My brain is already rewriting those initial six pages, and I took the red pen and marked up what I printed out.

The priority this morning needs to be the post for tomorrow’s Process Muse. I started it a few days ago, and then got distracted, so I have to get back to it. I need to draft another episode of Legerdemain, adapt another chapter of ANGEL HUNT, and maybe upload the next month’s worth of episodes. I have to create the graphics for the four episodes of Legerdemain I uploaded on Sunday, and draft tomorrow’s Ink-Dipped Advice post. The two posts for tomorrow were supposed to be on yesterday’s work schedule, but the Heist Romance pushed everything else to the side. I don’t regret spending the whole day on it at all, but it means reshuffling the rest of the week’s work. And the other script, that I started a couple of weeks ago, with the working title LUCKY NUMBERS, is standing there, tapping its inky foot, demanding attention. Since I figured out how to get out of the corner into which I’d written myself, I can do so. The question is when? I don’t want to lose its rhythm, or get its rhythm diluted by the Heist Romance.

I have errands I planned to do on Thursday, but we’re supposed to get the 3-6 inches of snow on Thursday that everyone else got the past couple of days. Today is bright and sunny. The SMART move would be to do all the errands today, and then hunker in the rest of the week, and push off some of today’s work to tomorrow. If I do that, I’ll wind up only working on the two blog posts (and the GDR post) and turning around the two scripts in my queue for today.

I like the flexibility of my schedule, but it also calls for prioritizing and rearranging tasks and making decisions, and today, my brain is filled with mashed potatoes, so that is not an easy task. Perhaps the errands will help clear it.

I’m talking in circles now. I’m going to stop yammering and get to work.

Episode 51 of Legerdemain drops today. Hope you enjoy it.

Have a good one.