Thurs. March 30, 2023: Inner and Outer Storms

image courtesy of  David Mark via pixabay.com

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Waxing Moon

Cloudy and snowy

The latest on the garden is over on Gratitude and Growth. With some actual photos of what’s growing, not the usual stock photos.

Yesterday was a bit chaotic. The toilet tank went from leaking to acting  like a geyser, which meant the whole small bathroom was a mess. Everything had to be dropped to clean it up before it caused a problem for the downstairs neighbors. And, since it was all wet anyway, why not throw in some soap and start the Big Spring Clean with the bathroom?

It took awhile to do a good deep clean, and I still have to scrub the tub and wipe down the top of the heater, but the rest of the room sparkles.

I mean, I had to do something while I waited for maintenance, right?

Checked with my Llewellyn editor. Why yes, we are now being paid early. Awesome. Deposited the check.

Did a quick library run to drop off and pick up books. Found a large, hardcover, spiral bound sketchbook in which to start the large nonfiction project. Came home and realized that I forgot one of the books due Friday, so I’ll do another library run today and just put it in the drop box. There are several other books with which I’m finished, and can return, too, even though they’re not due.

Sent off an email to a reporter to whom I’d promised answers to her questions about Twitter’s latest bad choice.

The maintenance guy came. The toilet tank issue was the need for a new flush valve. The one in there was so old they don’t even make it anymore. Plus another part of it was frayed, and the whole thing would have become a major problem within the week. But it was a simple fix and everything works well now.

Showed him the growing wet stain in the ceiling of my mother’s bedroom. It concerned him, and up he went to the attic (to which tenants do not have access), and found a big leak. So it’s the entire house that needs a new roof this spring, not just the bit over the porch. Guys have been hired, but the weather needs to stabilize before they can do it. In the meantime, he did what he could up there to mitigate it so the ceiling doesn’t come down.

I was absolutely exhausted by the time he left. I did the social media rounds, promoting Angel Hunt, Process Muse, Ink-Dipped Advice. Worked on the newsletter, which should go out later today. I’ve been adding to the document throughout the quarter, so it’s about polishing, adding the graphics, adding/checking links and the like.

But I was tired and on edge and couldn’t settle. Managed to get some work done on the Essay Camp assignments, but couldn’t even settle down to read (for either work or pleasure).

Watched two dudes over at the college folding tarps. It was obvious they didn’t do their own laundry and had never folded a sheet!

Didn’t sleep well. Woke up when the storm started, and checked to make sure everything was storm-ready. Couldn’t get back to sleep for ages. When I finally went back to sleep, I had a series of weird dreams where I bounced from dream to dream.

Did not want to get up this morning. Felt like I couldn’t face the day. Then, I realized it was sense memory stress. I reminded myself where I am now. Followed my breath. Reminded myself I am about to send out a joyful newsletter full of all the good stuff that’s going on, and I have a day ahead of me of doing work I love. That I live in the right place for me now, and tomorrow is the grant reception.

Which I cannot walk into beaten down by sense memory stress. I need to walk in with confidence.

Woke up to more snow. Not much, just enough to be annoying.

My ticket arrived yesterday, and I have the choices down between two dresses. I will try them both on today and see which feels right. I have the jewelry picked out (it’ll go with either dress). Once I know which dress, I’ll figure out the makeup.

On today’s agenda: meditation, uploading/scheduling next week’s Legerdemain episodes, doing their graphics and loglines, designing/printing the business card for tomorrow, printing out the monologue, trying on dresses and deciding on dress/make-up, doing the social media rounds to promote the two episodes of Legerdemain that go live today (because of Tuesday’s glitch), and turning around a script coverage. I have to do another quick drop off at the library, and one other errand, too.

I also have today’s Essay Camp assignments, and that’s probably as much writing as I’ll get done today. I got a little bit of writing done this morning. This Essay Camp has helped me clarify the skills and tools I need to pull off the big nonfiction project. The timing was great, and I’m so grateful to Summer Brennan for doing it (guess who’ll be acknowledged in the project credits, along with the Cultural Council)?

Have a good one!

Wed. March 29, 2023: A Little Bit of Many Things

image courtesy of Pexels viz pixabay.com

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

Waxing Moon

Partly sunny, chilly, and damp

Today’s Process Muse talks about sensory details. You can read it here.

Ello was glitching yesterday. I could get in, but not post. Urgh.

As I’m developing material for the Legerdemain website, I’m working on the history of the city (two thousand years’ worth, which, you know, takes a while). I’m also working on the origins of The Fathomless Library (hint: there’s a book loving hermit with a busy sex life, his bluestocking daughter, and pirates who steal/rescue books).

Yesterday, I wanted to dive into the next Process Muse post on the list, and the Ink-Dipped Advice post which appears today, but I knew I had to draft the next Legerdemain episode first. I need to stockpile episodes.

So I sat down and drafted the Legerdemain episode. I realized, later in the day, that I have to rename a character in the episode, because his name is too close to the name of another character, and, since it’s not a plot point or part of a theme, I need to change it.

I wrote, revised, polished, uploaded and scheduled today’s Ink-Dipped Advice episode, which is about the need to have your own website, not a social media page posing as a website. You can read it here.

Did the social media rounds. Not having an episode of Legerdemain to promote cut off a lot of time. I REALLY need a scheduling tool that crosses all platforms. The only platform on which I can schedule posts right now is Twitter, and by mid-month, that will be useless. I need to be able to upload the post once and schedule it across ALL my channels. One big block of time once a month, and I wouldn’t have to worry about it. Much more efficient that the couple of hours a day I now have to put aside for it. That will also enable me to use each platform for the best engagement with a piece’s audience. Then I can spend quality time on the different sites interacting.

I’m willing to pay for it, but it has to be ONE tool that connects to EVERY platform I want with UNLIMITED posts per month.

Anyway, in the afternoon, I turned around two coverages. And was done at a reasonable time. Went back to the Cornell biography. I may just need to purchase a copy. There’s too much information I need for too many projects. And it’s an old book, likely to get weeded.

Changed for yoga and walked to class. It’s just under a mile, and the weather was fine, so it wasn’t that big a deal, but it made me realize how out of shape I am, and how I sit too much. Yoga itself was great. The walk back was somewhat of a challenge, though. I’m hoping it will get better if I do it more often. I want to walk back and forth, at least in nice weather.

I came home to find the check from Llewellyn for the 2024 almanac, which puzzled me. Usually, we don’t get paid until October. I sent an email to my editor this morning, double-checking (yes, I checked my contract first). I want to make sure it wasn’t a mistake before I deposit it.

The toilet is giving us difficulties. The tank alternates between leaking and acting like a geyser. I have to clean the bathroom this morning and put in a call to the maintenance guy. Later, I have to do a library run. I have a big stack of books to return, and a big stack of books to pick up.

I have one coverage this afternoon, and I need to get next week’s Legerdemain episodes uploaded. I have to find a notebook for the big nonfiction project, since most of the early drafting will be done in longhand, and I realized I can start the project on Friday, when I’m on the location around which most of it centers. I need to do the social media rounds to promote Process Muse, Ink-Dipped Advice, and Episode 19 of Angel Hunt, which drops today.

I doubt I will get much writing done, thanks to the toilet tank issues, other than the Essay Camp assignments. Ordered a copy of the Cornell biography.

But that’s why I freelance; so I have flexibility for stuff, although I’d prefer it to be fun stuff and not plumbing. But that’s life.

I’m not as sore as I expected (I actually was in more pain last night), so that’s a good thing.

I had a weird dream about a creature who was a mix of lynx and jackal on tall, skinny four legs that brought him to face-to-face height, stalking me through the streets. He wanted the bag of fast food I had, but I was afraid if I gave it to him, I’d be next on the menu. Weird.

I may be done with script coverage for the week. Seriously considering not taking on any more until Monday, which will give me tomorrow to catch up on anything derailed by today’s plumbing issues, and prepare for Friday’s grant reception. I need to figure out what I’m wearing so I can figure out the makeup. I’ll print off one of the monologues from WOMEN WITH AN EDGE that I know works (because it’s been performed all over the world, and even I can pull it off). We were told all we needed to do is show up, but I’ve heard that before, and I want to be ready.

We need to buckle up, my buttercups. Retrograde season will start in a few weeks, with Mercury going retrograde on the 21^st. Could we just NOT, this year? It’s been so nice not having retrogrades.

Have a good one, my friends.

Tues. March 28, 2023: Time for the Tuesday Natter

image courtesy of Agata via pixabay.com

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Waxing Moon

Rainy and chilly

Hope you had a grand weekend and are ready for our Tuesday natter.

A slew of submission calls hit my desk on Friday morning. I submitted two ten-minute plays to one of them. Another call was interested in radio scripts, but the guidelines made my eyes cross, so I skipped it. Maybe I’ll go back and re-read them some day when I’m not jugging sixteen kajillion things. I saw a call that a friend’s work would fit, so I sent that off to her.

I lost way too much time dealing with my mother’s health insurance. Again. Which meant I lost the writing time I’d put aside for Legerdemain, and that put me in an unsettled mood.

I picked up a big stack of books at the library, got in some groceries from Big Y (another snowstorm predicted for the weekend), mailed some stuff and bought stamps at the Post Office (and chatted, because, around here, the Post Office is the happening place), and swung by the liquor store to replenish.

I read some more in the Katharine Cornell biography – it’s good background on Jessie Bonstelle, Rachel Crothers, and, of course, inspiration for the serial in development, REP. It’s a little on the fawning side, but if one digs past that, there’s some good theatrical history in there.

In the afternoon, I turned around two script coverages, and then went back to the Cornell bio. In the evening (and late into the night), I read a book getting a lot of attention. It’s billed as a thriller, but it’s also a horror novel. It’s very well-written, a page turner. But, at the end, it didn’t give me a feeling of catharsis, just sadness, because of the unnecessary brutality. I mean, the brutality was necessary on the author’s part, but I felt sadness for the deaths of those brutally murdered in the book. It’s well done, and I’m glad I read it, but saying I “enjoyed” it would be a stretch.

Tessa and Charlotte are now BOTH sleeping on the bed with me. Tessa is on one side, down near my feet, and Charlotte is on the other side, curled up against my chest. Charlotte always considers being a pill to Tessa when she jumps up, and I tell her that if she’s not nice to Tessa, she will be kicked out; we’re here to sleep. She considers it, decides sleeping on the bed is more important than being a brat, curls up, and goes to sleep.

I figured out how much I need to write each day on FALL FOREVER for End Of Play in April. A full-length play is 90-120 pages (with the sweet spot being a little less). Over the course of 30 days, that’s 3-4 pages, and do-able. In fact, that’s a reasonable, stable pace, although there may be some days where I write more, in order to capture the entire scene.

I also came up with a large, nonfiction project made possible by the grant (once the money ever gets here). The initial phase of it would take an entire year of a block of time devoted to it each week, and polishing it after would take a few months. But it would be a good way to show gratitude for the grant, and have a tangible project by the end of it. Well, the first draft of a tangible project. I made some notes on it, and will set up the files for it once the grant money arrives, and I can actually take action on it. Because it’s non-fiction, I can write a proposal before the draft is finished, once I have a better idea of how the idea actually works as a real piece. It’s also something I could work on in residencies, if I didn’t want to apply to residencies next year with a fiction project.

The project has a nice resonance in the heart, which indicates it’s on the right track. The right thing at the right time is like a tuning fork. You can feel when it matches the tone.

Saturday morning, I woke with the pre-storm headache, which was just not fun. Once the storm started, it eased a bit, but the weather cycled from snow to sleet to rain and back again, and it was yucky.

I drafted another episode of Legerdemain. I uploaded the next couple of episodes. It wouldn’t let me schedule today’s episode, so both of this week’s episodes are dropping on Thursday, and I have an apology graphic making the rounds. I’ll get next week’s episodes uploaded and scheduled by tomorrow, to make sure there are no glitches. I did the log lines and the episode graphics.

A friend sent me a submission call, and I had a short play that might fit, so that went out the door.

I rewrote the opening of “Labor Intensive” and then did another pass on “Plot Bunnies.” I put the opening of “Labor Intensive” in as a teaser, and added in teasers for “Just Jump in and Fly” and SAVASANA AT SEA, along with information about the serials. I kept finding little copy edit glitches, so I proofed it a few more times – and KEPT finding little niggly things. But I think it’s finally clean, and that’s uploaded and scheduled for April 4 release. I’ll be doing graphics and pre-order information and updating websites and doing a big push for the next couple of weeks on that.

But it was a full day’s work.

I did a bunch of work on contest entries, too, along with a bunch of admin work that needed to be done on them.

I dug through some books I’d ordered from the library as background for the Heist Romance. I scanned some information, and I also ordered a copy of one of the books, because I can use it as research on more than one project, and it will be useful to have on hand.

I went back to the Katharine Cornell biography and learned about Minnie Madden Fiske and the company she ran with her second husband, Harrison Grey Fiske. She’s listed in the book of American Women Theatre Directors of the 20^th century, so I can do more digging on her, too.

I need to start putting together a timeline of some of these interesting women and see where they intersect. Because there’s a project in there, even if I don’t yet know what it is.

But I was tired by the end of Saturday. Really tired.

Tessa was the only one who slept on the bed on Saturday night, and I overslept on Sunday. But the cats got breakfast and I baked biscuits.

I drafted an episode of Legerdemain, and started the next episode. I finished, polished, uploaded and scheduled this week’s Process Muse, and then went ahead and wrote, polished, uploaded, and scheduled next week’s Process Muse. I’d like to get all of April’s posts written, polished, uploaded and scheduled this week to take the pressure off me in April.

I watched/listened to the prep video for the April yoga/eco challenge, and a lot of it resonated with me, which is a good thing.

Worked my way through a stack of contest entries in the afternoon. In the evening, I went back to the Cornell bio and made some notes for several different projects. I love it when one resource has multiple uses.

Had weird dreams Sunday into Monday. First, I was driving along a highway and had to keep stopping because people crossed in front of me. Pulled myself out of that dream, and was in the midst of fretting. Then, I realized I’m slipping back into the sense memory from before the move. I kept reminding myself that the feelings are real, but the reality has shifted to something more positive.

I hope, as I mentioned in yesterday’s “Intent” post, that I can use the pillars of End of Play and the yoga practice to ease that and prevent me from sliding back into that physical and mental state. It made April-May-June and even into July last year tough.

Finally fell asleep again and fell into more weird dreams, which fled as soon as I woke up.

Instagram no longer lets me cross post to Twitter and Tumblr. I can only post to IG & FB. Urgh.

I need ONE scheduling tool that lets me schedule unlimited posts to ALL my social media channels. But that doesn’t exist. Most tools only integrate with FB, IG, and Twitter. Some add Tumblr or Pinterest. That’s not good enough.

Did some admin, drafted an episode of Legerdemain, wrote a 3-page insert for GAMBIT COLONY. Scheduled the promos for this week’s episodes of Legerdemain and Angel Hunt.

Turned around three script coverages. I started them on the front porch, but it was too chilly. However, our yellow tulips are starting to bloom! So that’s lovely.

Completely forgot I’d signed up for Summer Brennan’s Essay Camp workshop, which started yesterday. Thank goodness for emails. I managed to get in both the writing assignment and the reading assignment.

Soup class was a lot of fun. Poor Jeremy. It’s gotten a little bit like herding cats for him.

After soup class, I had another idea for the Essay Camp assignment, so I did it. I think this one might be a stronger choice, but it’s always good to have options.

I went back to the Cornell bio. The chapter on the year-long rep tour by train (ROMEO & JULIET, THE BARRETTS OF WIMPOLE STREET, CANDIDA) was amazing and funny and difficult (among her co-stars were Basil Rathbone and a young Orson Welles). Maude Howell, the first female stage manager on Broadway, helped general manager Gert Macy set things up, before heading out to California to direct films. Minnie Fiske’s niece, Merle Maddern, was an actress in the company and a skilled tarot reader. They traveled with their own train cars with 50 actors, a crew, pets, spouses, scenery, props,  and costumes. The Christmas performance in Seattle, where the train was delayed by storms, but the audience waited, watched them set up, and then they performed until 4 AM is a wonderful story in itself.

There’s a project in there.

What and when, I don’t know, but I’m gathering information. The research will be tons of fun. I can also use some of this as inspiration for the REP serial, even though REP’s premise is very different. I’m not sure when it can fit into the schedule (probably next year), but it is very much my kind of project.

Dreamed I was part of a very busy writers’ group overnight, which was fun, but I felt like I’d put in a full day before I woke up.

FALL FOREVER is definitely ready to be written. I’m feeling that pull of “come on, now, tell my story” and I’m looking forward to April 1. I’m attending the virtual kick-off party on Friday night. I can’t attend Sunday’s virtual New England event because it conflicts with yoga AND with Sunday supposed to be my day of not going online, and, in this case, the yoga needs to come first.

Twitter’s only putting those who pay for blue checks in the “For You” feed (which is where the people I follow show up, rather than in the “Following” feed). That starts April 15. I think, that week before, I will lock my account. I need to shift my focus to building community on other platforms, and remind myself that it took years. But I need to put attention there, because, although Twitter used to fuel sales (especially for the Topic Workbooks) and reads and other things, it hasn’t the last few months. I need to figure out where my audience has shifted, and establish myself there.

The “Plot Bunnies” launch will end just as that’s happening, so I’ll be able to get some good metrics about the shift in a couple of months.

Speaking of “Plot Bunnies” it’s starting to go live for pre-order. I will post more info when I get relevant information up on the website, in the next few days. It re-releases on April 4, which is next Tuesday.

On today’s agenda: working on Legerdemain, working on tomorrow’s Ink-Dipped Advice post, prepping the launch info for the re-release of “Plot Bunnies,” turning around two scripts (one of for which I was requested), and then, tonight, yoga.

There’s no episode of Legerdemain going live today because of the glitch; again, my apologies. Have a good one!

Thurs. March 16, 2023: Digging Out

image courtesy of Jill Wellington via pixabay.com

Thursday, March 16, 2023

Waning Moon

Partly sunny and milder

Catch up on all things planty over on Gratitude and Growth.

There’s a post over on Ink-Dipped Advice with suggestions for an Electronic Spring Cleaning.

It kept snowing yesterday.

Power was on, and internet worked. I blogged. I did the social media rounds to promote Legerdemain, Angel Hunt, Process Muse, and the Topic Workbooks. With Twitter in its death throes, the Topic Workbook sales have gone down, and since they pay a decent amount of bills, I better come up with a good marketing plan for them.

I tried to figure out Scrivener’s Corkboard, so that I could do Character and Plot notes. I have a system of Tracking Sheets, but I wanted to see if anything in Scrivener could do it more efficiently. It’s most vital for GAMBIT COLONY, but if it works, I can do it with other projects, too.

But of course, it’s Fucking Scrivener, so the way the tutorial says it works and the way it actually works are two different things. I looked at four different tutorials raving about how “easy” it is. None of the screenshots and directions were relevant to what was on my screen, and this was AFTER I downloaded the update.

I could only use the “Character Sketch” template once, which annoyed me. The ways it claimed to create a new one did not work the way shown. I tried a workaround in the Character file because I can corkboard there, and create blanks for the other characters and do them how I would in a series bible instead of using the Scrivener template which has too much that isn’t relevant. But having to do a workaround annoys me, because I should be able to use the function in the software.

For the plot arcs, I will use the “Places” file and name the plot arcs and do it that way.

I looked at DramaQueen, but it only has list features, not index card/corkboard features, even at the Pro level. Final Draft has pretty good story boarding and index card features, so it’s more and more likely I will use some of my grant money for that. I can export from DramaQueen to Final Draft, so I won’t lose anything I’ve done so far in DramaQueen.

By the time one figures out how to workaround Scrivener’s regimented crap, there’s no creative energy left to actually DO anything.

I might just buy a few more corkboards and do it old-school, with pushpins and index cards.

And then Windows11 decided it “had” to update, so there was that. And DramaQueen “had” to update (which was painless, as pretty much everything is with DramaQueen. Which is why I love DramaQueen so much).

But man, there went my creative time. I got a little bit of work done on Legerdemain, but nowhere near what I hoped.

I went outside to dig out the car from 3 feet of snow. Only it was more than three feet, because the cars on either side of me had left, and the plow plowed the snow up against my car on both sides, all the way up to the windows.

Fortunately, a kind neighbor walked by, saw I struggled, grabbed a shovel, and helped. I am so grateful. I will have to discuss this with the landlord. There’s got to be a better way. I am the oldest person with a car in the parking lot. I shouldn’t be the one shoveling the most snow.

I came back in, and my friend Diane, over in the UK, who is a Scrivener whiz, helped me figure out how to do what I need to do to create the character board for GAMBIT. I trashed the first hot mess project file, ahem “binder”, because it was beyond salvation, and created a new one,  but now I have a rhythm. It has nothing to do with the way any of the tutorials I found explained it. I need write up notes to myself, so I don’t forget the steps. To get it in my physicality, instead of just thinking it, I set up the sketch names for everyone in the first chapter (a whole lot more people than should be in any first chapter, but necessary for a chapter auditioning actors in London). Anyway, those sketch templates are set up, so when I go back for the next revision, I can fill in details and start the plot arc board, so I can track where I’m ending arcs, and which arcs are series-long.

I mean, I oughtta be able to use Scrivener for SOMETHING, since I bought it and all, and if it works for this, great. Once I started working with the board, I enjoyed it. Whew! A tool that actually works, imagine that.

A fellow freelancer shared an article by a whiny bitch of an NYU student who hated her semester studying in Florence. FLORENCE! She whined that her SEVEN roommates travelled on weekends and she was “left alone” in the apartment to cook and walk around and go to museums (which sounds like heaven to me). She found people “hostile” toward her. Considering I wanted to bitch slap her just from reading the article, I’m not surprised. What a whiny, entitled waste of space who squandered a semester in FLORENCE. One is never alone when one is among art.

And that whole damn city is art.

She decided to be miserable, for a whole semester, and instead of making an attempt to turn the things that she found difficult into positives, she dug down deeper to be as much of an awful American as she could. She even boasted about how she embodied the Ugly American. The entitlement and cultural ignorance and lack of self-awareness in the piece, so she could justify being miserable, was appalling.

But then, most of us, especially in the arts, have a rich inner life which is further enriched by new experiences, and this individual does not.

I’ve traveled all over the world on my own, and been met almost always with kindness. Where there times when I was sad and lonely? Of course. I’m human. But then I made a choice to DO SOMETHING to make it better. In many cases, it was as simple as going to a bookstore or a museum or an historic site or a theatre production, and that cheered me right up. It allowed me to see and experience the place in new ways. And doing those things, I met with terrific people from all over the place that I might never have crossed paths with otherwise. I’ve made friends decades ago that are still my friends. I learned wonderful things and had amazing experiences. The whole point was that it was different from my life at home. Jeez, if you want it to be just like home, then STAY HOME. Don’t take a slot that someone who could have benefitted from it should have had, because you’re spoiled and entitled. What a shame this individual is an NYU alum.

Unclogged the bathroom sink because, you know, life as a writer is SO glamorous! 😉

Polished the next Process Muse post, so I can upload it today, and started the one after that.

Turned around a script, my first coverage since the end of last week. Started the novel they want me to cover.

Attended a virtual session with a chef Surbhi Sahni via NYU Alumni last night. It was a lot of fun, and the chef has a Michelin star for her restaurant down at South Street Seaport, Tagmo. It was a really interesting class, and she’s a lot of fun. Her former roommate, who’s now based in Paris, attended the virtual session to surprise her. What fun! I want to order some of their mithai.

My back hurt a bit from the shoveling, but it wasn’t too bad. I overslept, because I’m still on Standard time, not DST. Tessa Was Not Amused.

Meditation was good, as always.

I’m going to do some admin, and then head off to the library and grocery store. I’m out of coffee again, and that has to be remedied. Wild Oats was open during much of the storm, and offered themselves as a rest stop for the plow drivers. As an owner/member, I’m so glad we’re doing that.

Then, it’s back to the page. The only coverage I have for the rest of this week is finishing and writing up the analysis for the novel. Even if I finish that today, I will let that be my all for the week, and concentrate on getting ahead on Legerdemain and Angel Hunt, finishing the revisions on “Plot Bunnies”, and working on contest entries.

There’s sun, so maybe I can do some of my reading on the porch!

Episode 68 of Legerdemain drops today. I hope you enjoy it.

Have a good one, my friends.

Thurs. March 2, 2023: Decisions, Seeds, and Prepping for More Snow

image courtesy of Roman Grac via pixabay.com

Thursday, March 2, 2023

Waxing Moon

Rainy, icy, cold

The latest Gratitude and Growth post about the garden is live here.

I had a realization about process today. Bear with me.

I sat down yesterday morning to work on a project I’ve been noodling with and have had resistance to work on. I sat there, staring at the screen, and thought, “I don’t want to work on this.”

Then I had to ask myself WHY I didn’t want to work on it? The project has merit; it’s fun and plays with ideas and form.

I didn’t want to work on it because the only reason I was doing it was to create content for a particular site, not because it was an idea that took fire for me. I had gone in search of the idea because I needed to create content, instead of getting zapped by an idea and trying to figure out where it fit best.

Now, I make my living writing. There’s nothing wrong with creating a piece with a specific target in mind. But this project is kind of my last Hail Mary for this particular site, so I’m feeling pressure to, well, not do genuine work but mimic the voice of similar content.

Which is not the right reason to do something. Not for me, anyway.

Working for money is part of the deal. All those “I wouldn’t do art for MONEY. I don’t care if I get PAID” people  — I have all kinds of issues with them and how they intentionally sabotage those of us who make a living at it, often because they can’t do it as a living, and resent that anyone else can. It’s fine to create for oneself and not monetize it. That’s a choice. But don’t get in the way of those of us who do.

I need to step away from this particular project for a few weeks or months and try to figure out if it’s something that I think will be fun to work on while having an eye on the market, or if it’s a clinical market experiment. Both of those are valid choices. But I have to be honest with myself about the reason I’m doing it, and take responsibility for those choices. Originally, I figured I’d start it today, and have a first draft done by March 15 (it’s only 15K in length, and has to hit that pretty exactly on the word count (maybe about 20-30 words of wiggle room). It needs to be created on the computer, not in longhand, because the word count on each section must be precise. That would give me two weeks to revise, and then it would start running in 500-word segments for the month of April (while I’m busy involved with the DG End of Play project), let it sit for 3 months, disappear it, and possibly reappear in novella form (revised) in fall or winter.

I don’t like to squash the revisions in that fast, or have that short a time before the first revision. Then I figured, well, I’ll write it this month and have it run in June.

But I still met with resistance when I sat down to work on it.

It hasn’t had enough percolation time, and I’m trying to push it into being before it’s ready. Now, some projects drop into my head nearly fully formed and take off immediately (such as the Heist Romance script). This one, I was searching for ideas to work in the format/market/experiment. If I had landed an advance for it, well, then I’d have to suck it up and get it done. But this is an experiment, to see if this type of piece will work in this particular market. There are no guarantees at all it will hit, even if it’s good. And it doesn’t have the chance to be good if I force it before it germinates. Because it’s not under contract and advance, I have the luxury to push it back and to germinate/percolate/grow organically a little more. Even though, by the time I’m ready for it, the market may well have shifted, and then I’ll have to deal with that reality.

The central character is there. The basics of the premise are there (but not the hook). But the muse hasn’t smacked me upside the head with the Frying Pan of Creativity, and in this instance, I need it. It’s not already contracted, so I can let it grow organically. It’s a hard decision, but it’s a case where I need to put the work first, and because it doesn’t affect anyone else’s schedule or income, I have that flexibility.

Back to our regular daily musings.

I felt better after the decision, but still couldn’t settle and focus. I was agitated and unsettled. I found another grant to which to apply, and will do so when I can focus. I tried researching novels set in artist or writers’ colonies, and the search engines were useless. They are getting worse and worse every day with all this faux SEO and AI crap. I’ve read TC Boyle’s EAST IS EAST multiple times. I have THE ARTIST COLONY and THE ECLIPTIC on my list. But there must be more. I found THE WRITING RETREAT by Julia Bartz, which also sounds good, and some other novels, which aren’t set in that location, which sound interesting. A fellow reader on Mastodon suggested A THEATRE FOR DREAMERS by Polly Samson, so that’s on the list.

I navigated through the day with a growing sense of doom, as though I waited for something awful to happen. Then I worried that I would draw it to me by worrying about it. One of THOSE spirals.

I did the social media rounds for Ink-Dipped Advice, The Process Muse, and yesterday’s episode of Angel Hunt. I turned around two script coverages, both of which were more complicated than expected.

I read for pleasure in the evening, until about midnight.

Had an intense time in the Dreamscape. Positive, but intense, and woke up with an idea that’s formed as far as beginning and end and needs some figuring out in the middle. I made notes and added it to the percolation pile.

A piece that’s been percolating waved at me and said, “think about taking another look at me. I might be what you want for that market you stepped away from yesterday. But you can’t rush it.” We’ll see.

I have meditation this morning, then it’s off to the post office, the library, and the liquor store. This afternoon, I’m attending a virtual author talk, and I also have to turn around two scripts. I hope to get some work done on Legerdemain and on a grant application where the application portal opened yesterday. One of those where they won’t let you read the whole thing ahead of time, which is Very Annoying.

Tessa and Charlotte negotiated sharing my bed all day yesterday. Each made her own blanket fort on a different part of the bed and pretended the other wasn’t there. Tessa slept with me on the bed all night until the coffee started this morning, and then Tessa went to check on the coffee while Charlotte concentrated on waking me up.

Episode 64 of Legerdemain drops today. I hope you enjoy it.

Off to meditation. Have a good day!

Wed. March 1, 2023: Sun After Snow

image courtesy of Kanenorivia pixabay.com

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Waxing Moon

Sunny and wet

Yesterday morning was quite productive, with the snow falling outside. I wrote an episode of Legerdemain. I created loglines and graphics for the 4-Batch of Legerdemain episodes going live in the next couple of weeks. I uploaded the promotions for this week’s Angel Hunt episodes. I read over the edits on the article that the editor sent; I didn’t have to do anything. It was just a courtesy on her part, so I wouldn’t be surprised when the piece went live, which is much appreciated. I polished, uploaded and scheduled today’s Ink-Dipped Advice post, which is live here.

Today’s Process Muse is about Setting, and is live here.

I did the social media rounds for yesterday’s episode of Legerdemain and for the final #28Prompts post. I turned around coverage on two pitches, a scoresheet, and two full scripts. I made less than half of what I wanted to this pay period. But the coverages for the next three days will get me back on track, provided enough scripts come in next week.

I pre-ordered The Midnight City Oracle deck, because I like the tarot deck so much. That should ship in June.

In the evening, I read Amor Towles’s A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW.  Anthony Lemke recommended it. I’d heard of the book, but hadn’t read it yet. His recommendation moved it farther up my reading list (because I trust him). I really enjoyed it. It was a nice change to read something not genre-focused and see how genre elements are used in something with a larger scope. The character and setting work are as enchanting as the plot is riveting.

I was delighted to see that one of my favorite scripts of the last couple of years made The Grey List. I love to see scripts that enchanted me during the analysis process succeed.

The Dramatists Guild sent me log-in information; I assume it’s because I’m part of End of Play, and a lot of that will be done via their site? I mean, I’d love to be a DG member, and I could be – if all my programs weren’t in storage. (I have to provide proof of a paid production via a program from it). Maybe a photo of a poster would do it. It’s not something I have to worry about right now. I’ll make a decision after the End of Play project.

Tessa slept on the bed all night. Charlotte didn’t even come in this morning. The minute the coffee started, Tessa went to the kitchen to check, then came back to roust me out of bed, because the smell of coffee now means it’s time for breakfast. While Tessa was off doing her morning rounds, Charlotte grabbed the bed back, and now Tessa sits on the floor in my office, glaring into my room. Charlotte has turned her back and gone to sleep. Willa is staying out of it.

It will be an interesting day on the feline front.

I have to dig out the car later on. We didn’t get as much snow as predicted, only 4 or 5 inches instead of 10.  But most of the day is about drafting another episode of Legerdemain, promoting Angel Hunt, uploading a few more Process Muse pieces, working on another idea, and possibly uploading and scheduling the next 8 Angel Hunt episodes. It’s definitely a challenge to keep clear between the two serials, but hopefully one that I’m meeting.

I’m edgy and full of doubts today, so I need to get over myself and focus on the work. I can always find solace in the work, even on the more difficult days.

Episode 11 of Angel Hunt drops today. I hope you enjoy it.

Thurs. Feb. 16, 2023: It’s Official

image courtesy of Edwin Valencia via pixabay.com

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Waning Moon

Partly sunny and mild

Got the promos for this week’s Angel Hunt episodes uploaded into Tweetdeck, and did the graphics for the next two weeks’ worth of episodes of Legerdemain, although I didn’t get a chance to schedule them to post yet.

Did the social media rounds for Angel Hunt, The Process Muse, #28Prompts. Wrote and posed a piece on Ink-Dipped Advice about Evolving While Growing, and did the rounds for that, too. There’s a new post over on Gratitude and Growth this morning, too.

The headache medicine makes me nauseated, but so does the headache, so it’s a tossup as to which cause of feeling awful I choose.

I have catching up to do with fresh links on the Devon Ellington website, as there’s been increased distribution across several channels for pretty much all my work. Just when I think I’m caught up, there’s more. I have a feeling website updates will become a weekend project this weekend.

Did a library run, and brought back a huge stack of books, including books on the Ancient Celts and their travels, which I need for the Heist Romance script. You thought I forgot about that one, didn’t you? Nope. Waiting for some research books that I have to work through before I write the next section.

There are also the rest of the Con Lehane books in the mysteries he sets in and around the 42^nd Street Library in NYC, so I’m looking forward to those.

The new regional artist resources list came out. I’d already heard about some of the opportunities (and even applied for some), but there are also others on it, and I need to spend some time with that and really go through it, line by line. It’s so useful, and I’m so grateful to the local Assets for Artists/Artist Impact Coalition for putting it together every month.

It’s official: I am one of the recipients of the Mass Cultural Council’s artist recovery grants. I’m absolutely thrilled that they believe in and support my work enough to include me in this grant cycle. There’s an official event at the end of March at the Clark Institute, in which I will participate, and I’ll see what else they ask me to do. The grant gives me some breathing room, and makes it possible to accept opportunities and upgrade tech that I might not otherwise be able to do because of the financial strain.

I was told about it a couple of weeks ago, and asked not to speak about it publicly until the official press release went live. Because I loathe vague social media posts about upcoming good news, I didn’t post any of those, other than to mention a contract for a big project here. It always amazes me when the paperwork to receive the grant is more than the paperwork to apply for it!  I probably won’t run around posting much about it anyway; I’d rather post about the projects/opportunities it supports and mention it via thanking the council for their support. And once they tell me the wording and which logo to use, I’ll put it on my websites, and any projects that are relevant to the grant.

I already heard from an ex-client of mine in my previous location. She ranted about how these grants are a “waste of taxpayer money” and, because HER money paid for MY grant (so she believes), I owe it to her to work for her for free for the amount of the grant because I’ve already been paid. (um, no, it’s going to be another couple of months before we get the money). I told her that’s not the way it works, and ended the conversation. The hubris involved is not unexpected, but it’s still irritating. Plus, the grant is for my creative work, not the grunt work she wants for her business. This is someone who took full advantage of PPP loans and huge recovery loans, all of which were forgiven, and to which she felt entitled.

Some people just can’t let anyone else be happy and receive something without trying to take a piece of it for themselves, can they?

So happy to be out of that whole situation!

I had plenty of leftovers in the fridge, so of course I ordered pizza from our favorite place down the street. It was yummy. We’ve had pizza from three local places so far, and there are still two more to try. This is very much a pizza town. And each place is very different from each other.

I actually slept all the way through the night. Although I was busy in the Dreamscape and put in a full day before I woke up, I do feel more rested than usual. And I also came up with something I might be able to use in Legerdemain.

On today’s agenda: meditation, then typing up the short plays from yesterday, doing some work on Legerdemain (the next episode drops today), doing the usual promotion rounds. But the bulk of today and tomorrow are blocked off to work on the article, which I want to get out either end of day tomorrow, or (more likely) first thing on Monday. Working in bits and pieces on it isn’t working for me, so I want to give it hours of full attention and work in full drafts. It’s a fairly long piece, and has a unique rhythm and flow because of the subject matter that I want to weave into it. That means big chunks of uninterrupted work time.

Have a good one!

Thurs. Feb. 2, 2023: Blessed (Cold) Imbolc

image courtesy of NoName_13 via pixabay.com

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Waxing Moon

Bitterly cold

Imbolc

Hop over to Gratitude and Growth for more on the garden.

Yesterday was kind of all over the place. I had a bunch of admin work to do in the morning. Then I did the social media rounds to promote Angel Hunt, Ink-Dipped Advice, The Process Muse posts, and the day’s #28Prompts.

I got an email from Barnes & Noble stating I had to update payment information for an upcoming order. Which I did. And they WOULDN’T – not couldn’t, but WOULDN’T, due to ‘security reasons’ —  connect the updated payment information to the order. I have never worked with a company where, once I updated payment information, the order wasn’t simply put through with the new payment info that’s now default on the account and that was that. I’ve done with every account I have, from the storage unit to Amazon to the webhost, because Greylock issued new debit cards last fall for no damned good reason, and no one has a problem. I put in the new information, it’s confirmed, it’s marked as “default” and then we’re good to go. They get their money; I get my order. Basic business. I argued back and forth with them for TWO HOURS, and they finally said the best they could do was to cancel the order and have me put It through again, with the new information. Which also meant additional shipping charges.

No, mofo. Your antiquated system that won’t update from my end and then you REFUSE to update it on your end is not my problem. Cancel the order and lose me as a customer.

I will put the order through elsewhere. It’s for books by a friend of mine, and I just told her I’d pre-ordered them ages ago (which I had). So I want the damn books.

But I won’t be ordering anything from B&N anytime soon (if ever). I’d used them as an alternative to Amazon (along with Bookshop.org), but now it’s Bookshop, even though I don’t like the shipping fees.

And there was my morning, lost, without the writing I needed to do on Legerdemain or anything else. Because they wouldn’t tie the updated credit card information on the online account to the actual order. I’d cancel the whole account, but there’s no function to do so.

I switched over to reading some pitches and scoring sheets. And then I remembered Spoutible launched today, so I went over to get that all set up. I pre-registered MONTHS ago, and don’t like that we didn’t get any immediate link launch information. Signing up/in was a pain in the butt, because the server kept crashing (people are excited to be there). Then they want to verify my phone number. Let me be very clear – NOTHING about 2-factor verification using the phone is about security. EVERYTHING is about collecting data. I resent having everything tied to the phone. I wouldn’t even have a phone if I could get away with it. And the authentication wouldn’t go through, it kept saying it “couldn’t verify” my phone number.

I was about to tell them to bite me, too, but then it went through and everything was settled.

The server is running slowly because so many people tried to sign up all at once (rolling the launch over a few weeks like Post did would probably have made things smoother).

So many people are raving about how good it is, and how similar to Twitter it is and I’m like, meh? Probably because of the initial crush, but it’s very hard to move between screens. For instance, if I search a topic, I then have to wipe it from the search bar after I’ve dealt with it, because going back to “timeline” only gives me the search results again, instead of the overall timeline feed. I’m hoping things will smooth out, but with all the hype, especially the way they were talking in the live session yesterday, I expected more.

But I’ll give it a chance. I’ve already found some old writer pals and made some new ones.

I also think it’s ballsy that Spoutible does so much of their admin on Twitter, when their goal is to get people to leave Twitter for them.

I managed to get the prompt for the day even up on Hive, although that was another way-too-much-wasted-time event.

But I’m telling you, I was In A Mood by the end of it all. Not in the mood to do the one short coverage I had, but it wasn’t due, so I put it off. I want to give the script and the writer  full focus and solid attention, not grumpy pants attention. I’ll go back to it today. Writers put their hearts and souls into the work, and I want to make sure to give every piece I read, whether it’s coverage reading or reviews or contest entries, a fair shake.

On a happier note, answers to the interview questions started to come in, and I have to make an appointment over at MassMOCA next week or so to get some background for the article.

I’m getting very excited about the article.

I found some interesting submission calls for plays that I sent off to a friend. There’s one, at a playhouse I know, that I might also send something in for. There was another one that interested me, but the deadline is today, and I’m not sure I have the right material for it. Some residency application deadlines hit my desk – and were due yesterday or today. I wish they’d let people know about them earlier.

I did a quick revision on one short play I thought would be good for one organization and got that in. So we’ll see. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I still have time for the other.

I also signed up for the Dramatists’ Guild “End of Play” event in April. I will write one of the full-lengths I started developing in the workshop sponsored by Williamstown Theatre Festival last year.

I forgot to mention that, on Tuesday, I spent some quality time with the virtual alumni book group, talking about THE READING LIST, and it was a lot of fun. And a local theatre’s moved to a new space, inviting me to their open house at the end of the month. If the weather is okay, I think I will go.

Later in spring, I think we’ll do a day trip to Hobart, NY, which has a ton of second hand bookstores. A friend sent me an article about the place. It’s about two and a half hours away, which means it could be a reasonable day trip, when the weather is nicer.

The stores sound luscious.

I considered renting a place for a few days as a change of scenery to write, but honestly, if it’s not a residency with a private studio and meals provided, I might as well stay home and work, where I have my pots and pans and magic coffeemaker. Because if I have to do my own cooking in a different space (which, I admit, can be fun), I will be taking crates of equipment with me and spending more time in the kitchen than on my work. Especially since I’m not doing indoor dining yet.

I had the Black Screen of Death on the computer this morning, but managed to get it up and running. Told ya they hadn’t fixed it properly. How much do you want to bet it will have to go out again soon for repair?

Meditation this morning, then off to pay some bills before the weather turns too brutal. Then, I’ll spend some quality time on the page, finish off the coverage, and switch over to contest entries and the books for review. I’ll also do the social media rounds promoting today’s episode of Legerdemain, #28 Prompts, etc.

The Chewy delivery didn’t get here yesterday (which is fine, I always try to order early enough so it’s not a problem). The Midnight City Tarot is supposed to arrive tomorrow, and I’m very excited. I’m hoping to do some work later today with the Rackham Tarot on recent dreams, and I plan to set out and post a tarot spread for Imbolc.

I did some candle work last night, and today I will do the first planting.

Have a good one!

Wed. Feb. 1, 2023: Hello, February!

image courtesy of tlparadis via pixabay.com

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Waxing Moon

Grey and cold, turned to sunny and colder

Yesterday’s weather was all over the place. One minute it was snowing, then it was sunny, then there were flurries coming down in the sun. Pretty, though. We’re supposed to get a wave of absolutely brutal cold Thursday night into Saturday night, and they’ve advised people not to be out. I cancelled my weekend plans, although I still hope to get out Sunday for a big grocery shop.

There’s a tough love post over on Ink-Dipped Advice about how to follow your dreams, and a post over on today’s Process Muse about plots and subplots. Check them out when you have a minute.

I drafted another episode of Legerdemain and figured out the next few episodes (within the context of the larger outline). I did the social media rounds promoting Episode 55. I uploaded/scheduled the promotions for this week’s episodes of Angel Hunt and adjusted the graphic sizes on the Legerdemain episodes for the Instagram posts.

I did my errands: drop-off/pick up at the library; coffee, eggs, and bread at the grocery store; a bottle of wine. The people I encounter on this regular round of errands are really very nice, and I’m grateful.

I was feeling tired and grumpy, though, anyway, although I made sure not to take anything out on the people I encountered on my errands.

I put through the Chewy order for cat litter.

I attended the pre-launch live Q&A for Spoutible on Twitter (which is just weird to me, but whatever). Some of their policies are creating red flags for me. We’ll see. It’s supposed to launch today.

I honed and tweaked interview questions for an article and sent them off. I’m looking forward to this piece.

I created a new logo for The Process Muse. This one feels more like me. I’ve even updated it in the sidebar for this blog!

I started writing up the notes/scenes on the Urban Fantasy romance and hit an issue with the character names. The names that I’ve been using have meanings contrary to themes in the story (because who the fuck knows what the plot is at this point). But when I tried to change the names, I got stuck. So I guess the names are the names, at least for now. Again, trust the subconscious. It knows what it’s doing, even when the rest of me doesn’t. However, writing scenes when there’s no plot to hang it onto is difficult. I think I’ll add notes in parentheses about vaguely what should happen and then, the character interactions that are clear in my head, I can write as scenes.

A fantastic opportunity showed up on my desk in the afternoon, but I don’t know if I can put something together to take advantage of it by February 12^th. But it is totally in my wheelhouse and would be hella fun if I could pull it off. Plus lucrative. Plus good for my career.

Worked on contest entries yesterday afternoon and evening, since I didn’t have any script coverages. The cat litter order from Chewy should arrive today, and the Midnight City Tarot shipped and should be here by Friday.

The third episode of ANGEL HUNT drops today (the last free episode). I hope you enjoy it. I’ll be making the social media rounds today to promote that, to promote The Process Muse and Ink-Dipped Advice. I’ll also be doing the rounds to post the first of the #28Prompts (it will drop on Twitter at noon EST). I’m hoping I can upload them to Hive via the tablet, but who knows?

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.

Wed. Jan. 18, 2023: Trying to Move Past the Lethargy

image courtesy of David Mark via pixabay.com of a painting by Franz Winterhalter

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Waning Moon

Uranus Retrograde

Mercury goes Direct today

Rainy and cold

The week’s post is up on The Process Muse, and it’s about building the ensemble. It was hard to write, and it still wasn’t where I wanted it when I ran out of time. But it’s there. I have to finish the Ink-Dipped Advice post and get that up this morning.

Because it was sunny, once I got The Process Muse post up, I pulled myself together and did the errands: library drop-off/pickup, pharmacy, grocery store, liquor store. People were cheerful for a brief respite of sun in between storms, and soon after I got home, the sky darkened, and it began to rain again. I bought two small pots of primroses, which made me happy.

Home, got everything unpacked, realized I forgot to get potatoes and orange juice, so I guess I’ll be going out later this week again. Finished the book I’d been reading the previous day. It’s pleasing the writer’s fanbase, but it’s a little too formula for me, in spite of being a page turner. I respect what she’s done, but some of her other books have had a much stronger impact, both for pleasure and in engaging my emotions.

Turned around two scripts and some scoring. One is missing materials, so I can’t finish the coverage and submit until I get the missing material, or am told not to worry about it.

Did the social media rounds to promote Episode 51 of Legerdemain.

I’m spending less and less time on Twitter, because it just makes me sad. The feeds are all screwed up. I’m tired of people whining about the feeds being screwed up and demanding everyone else provide free administrative labor on their timelines. Do your own damn work. If you have “too many followers” to be able to deal with it, maybe you haven’t earned them. I have my hands full adminisrating my own feed. I’m not working on other people’s because they think they’re so important. There are also too many right-wing trolls. My time is better spent elsewhere.

I’m skipping spending time on Cohost until February, when I’ll put up, daily, the #28Prompt posts. And then I’ll probably stop spending any time there. Tried navigating Hive on my poor old tablet (which now has a cracked face) and it’s just so frustrating.

I did not work on any of the scripts, because everything else took too long. Nor did I draft on Legerdemain or adapt any of ANGEL HUNT. Which is frustrating. I was logy and frustrated all day.

Started the next book for review. The premise is interesting, but so far, I’m less than thrilled with the execution. Put it aside to read a book for fun, the second in a series by an author I like, and it’s fine, but I couldn’t concentrate at that point, because I was too tired.

Fell into bed, tired. Slept decently, but was busy in the Dreamscape, everything from attending a writer’s conference to redecorating a house, so I woke up tired. Well, Tessa and Charlotte woke me up, once the coffee started burbling.

Wrote a couple of pages in longhand on a project, and then came up with a working title for the piece whose outline I started (eleven pages’ worth) on Saturday. Went down a fun research rabbit hole about women writing speculative and science fiction in the so-called “golden age.”

We’re under all kinds of weather alerts today, it will switch between snow and rain, although we don’t get much accumulation until tomorrow, where 3-6 inches are predicted. I’m hoping I can sneak out between the switch tomorrow morning to get potatoes and orange juice.

Today, I have to shake off the lethargy and focus. I have a lot on the agenda, both for myself, and script coverages.

I’m glad Mercury is going direct today, but the transition day is always a slog for me. Plus, tomorrow is the day before dark moon, always a low energy day. Still, needs must, and I needs must get my act together and get to work.

Have a good one!

Wed. Jan. 11, 2023: Steady Progress

image courtesy of Piyapong Saydaung via pixabay.com

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Waning Moon

Uranus, Mars, Mercury Retrograde

Cloudy and cold

Over on The Process Muse today, I talk about “Getting Back on Track” with my writing.

With Mars stationary, preparing to go direct tomorrow, it’s like wading through molasses while furious. Not fun, and I constantly remind myself that reacting rather taking a breath and a step back is an unwise choice right now.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I did about 1K in longhand while at the laundromat. After breakfast/putting everything away, I drafted another episode of LEGERDEMAIN. A character who was supposed to be rather one-dimensional and start as a comic red herring is turning into someone more complicated. I guess that’s a good thing, fully developed characters are always a better choice, but I have to make sure this character still works, in the plot, the way I need him to.

I adapted another chapter of ANGEL HUNT into four episodes. I then “created” the story on Kindle Vella, uploaded the series logo and the blurb, and polished, uploaded, and scheduled the first 16 episodes, which gets me through St. Patrick’s Day in March. I updated the Episode Tracking Sheets as I went, to make sure I know what’s going out when. I wrote the episode log lines.

But the more I think about it, the stronger the instinct NOT to do episode-specific graphics. LEGERDEMAIN episodes drop on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with episode-specific graphics. ANGEL HUNT episodes will drop Wednesdays and Fridays. The series logo is striking. I’m worried that too many different graphics will get confusing to potential readers. The episodes are short, by intent. Few are over 1K words. The narrative drive of this piece is narrower, without the sprawl that makes all those LEGERDEMAIN graphics both necessary and fun.  Individual graphics don’t make sense, unless I was good enough to draw original art, or rich enough to commission an artist. The style of graphic that’s been working for LEGERDEMAIN won’t work for ANGEL HUNT, and, frankly, along with not having it in the budget to fairly pay an artist, I’ve left it too late to commission. I would like to get ahead on promotion, but Kindle Vella doesn’t give me the link until the story goes live on launch day. They really sabotage their authors, between not allowing gift cards used as tokens, or allowing authors to put tokens in giveaway packages, or allow authors to put the serials on their author pages. I don’t think BookBub allows the serials on their author pages either, which is annoying. I know it’s because Amazon wants authors to buy ads on the Amazon platform, but I mean, come on, give us some support over here.

At least for the first few months, I’m going to continue with episode-specific graphics for LEGERDEMAIN (along with increasing the general graphics, as I expand the website), but use a consistent graphic for ANGEL HUNT. It’ll give me a chance to compare promotional styles, although the two serials are a bit of apples and oranges.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted, with a blasting headache from it all.

I didn’t work on the script, although I was trying to figure out how to write myself out of this corner. Then, I realized, that I really don’t need to. This is a first draft, and I plan to cut the scene anyway in the next draft. I can make a note to that effect in the “Action” line and just move on. Duh.

I finished reading a book by a new-to-me author, recommended to me by an author colleague I like and respect. The book understands the genre and puts interesting twists on it, although I did manage to get ahead of the plot a few times, and had to wait for the characters to catch up. I like the writing. But then, a minor character used the term “witch” as a derogatory against other women, and I felt slapped in the face. This author, particularly, knows better. I was also a little thrown because the flap copy has incorrect character names. In other words, I’m on the fence about whether or not to read any other books by this particular author. I may try the first book of one of the other series, and see if I encounter the same type of issues.

No scripts in the queue, which has me worried, but I have books to review and will get on the stick about that. Plus contest entries, which I need to start. And I’m behind in reading the book for NYU’s virtual book club.

I did the social media rounds to promote the episode of LEGERDEMAIN that went live yesterday. I’m definitely seeing where I want to scale back on some of the platforms over the coming weeks.

An “offer” landed in my inbox to ghostwrite. $15 for 1500 words, minimum requirement 10 chapters per week (meaning 15,000 words). Yeah, no. Not worth it to work on someone else’s ideas for so little money. If I’m going to write 3K a day for someone else, it’s not going to be for a penny a word.

Slept reasonably well, woke up to coffee. Only got about 500 words done in longhand. I’d lost the thread of that particular story, getting wound up in the other stories on which I worked yesterday. By the time I got back into it, the time I had to work on it was up.

The morning plan is to take some Excedrin for my headache, draft another episode of Legerdemain, adapt another chapter of ANGEL HUNT to serial (it’s so weird, going from serial to chapter back to serial format), promote the new post on The Process Muse, work on my article, hopefully get some scripts in my queue, work on the next book for review, start contest entries. I’d like to work a little ahead on Process Muse and Ink-Dipped Advice, too, but that may get pushed off until the weekend.

Next week, I have to look at the short stories that do not have a home and the plays, and decide where to submit. I need everything out the door by early March (I will wait to start submissions until Mercury goes direct). I looked at my submission and pitch logs for 2022, and I was lax. Time to make up for it this year. If it’s not out there, it can’t find the right match.

What’s on your agenda today?

Thurs. Jan. 5, 2023: Crafting My Own Schedule

image courtesy of  StartupStockPhotos via pixabay.com

Thursday, January 5, 2023

First Day of the Full Moon

Uranus, Mars, Mercury Retrograde

Rainy and cold

There’s a new post over on Gratitude and Growth about the garden.

If you’re interested in the first part of my experiments in social media, I have a post about that up over on Ink-Dipped Advice.

I spent the bulk of yesterday working on the new screenplay, and wrote an additional 24 pages. So, in less than 24 hours, I wrote 36 pages, almost to the end of where I’d outlined. It definitely needs work, but I like the flow, and I’m telling the story I want to tell. Making it work for the chosen format will come in the later drafts.

I love working in the Drama Queen software, though. I really, really like it. Whereas every line indicator was a fight with Trelby, Drama Queen does as I ask the first time.

As I progressed on my day, I wondered WHY I was berating myself for working on this. I’m on top of my deadlines. I’m not as far ahead with Legerdemain as I’d like, but I’m also not behind. So, what’s the problem?

There isn’t one, except for an outdated concept of what I “should” be doing.

I have the gift of (mostly) creating my day as I see fit. Why not go with the flow?

One frustrating thing was that I’m almost out of ink on the new printer THREE DAYS after I set it up. Yet another reason to get the laser printer fixed. I can’t buy new ink every three days. I can’t afford it. I’m going to track the ink in my calendar.

The cartridges on the laser printer lasted usually around 6 months.

I did the social media rounds. I printed out the contest sheets (they didn’t send me an inventory) from the judging dashboard. I turned around a couple of scripts.

I read the next book for review. I will write up both reviews this morning and invoice this batch. I’ll start the contest entries this weekend.

Episode 48 of Legerdemain drops today, and I hope you enjoy it.

I have meditation this morning, and then I’m off to the grocery store, before the bad weather moves in. Once I get back, I’ll do promotion for the new episode of Legerdemain, work on the screenplay some more, and, hopefully, write another episode of Legerdemain. Or I might to the Legerdemain episode first. We’ll see where the energy flow is, and work with that.

Tonight is the last night to put on the tree and all the lights. Tomorrow, they start coming down. I have a feeling it will take us all weekend to take everything down and put it away.

Have a good one, my friends!