Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Waning Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Mercury Retrograde
Sunny and cold

Hop on over to Gratitude and Growth to see my post about the work I have ahead of me in the garden.

Got some work done in the morning, including correspondence and getting out the material for Confidential Job #1. Then, it was de-icing the driveway a bit, and going out on errands — picking up a few things at Christmas Tree shops, going to Staples, the bank, K-Mart — where I bought some metal shelving for the basement. I had some sort of points, and basically wound up getting one unit for free. As I unpack, I’m setting up shelving to store what I don’t need every day in bins, boxes, etc., so I can get at it when I need to without having to move stacks of boxes. Buying a couple of shelving units at a time won’t break my budget and will allow me to unpack slowly without boxing myself in, so to speak.

Headed to the bookstore, where I used up my gift card getting two new books on Louisa May Alcott and a book on container gardening. When I hit the Book Barn next week with Costume Imp, I’ll scoop up as many good gardening books as I can!

Off to Pet Smart to stock up on cat food and treats, and then to Home Goods, where I picked up a few containers and a set of Calvin Klein towels for Costume Imp’s visit. This way, whenever he comes up, he’s got his own set of stuff.

Did some unpacking and rearranging in the writing room — still too many unpacked boxes, but at least the armchair has its corner and its lamp.

My back is really bothering me, but there’s not a whole lot I can do about it.

In a big fight with Metro North and Verizon. Metro North is texting me 20-30 times per day, at all hours, with service updates. I don’t live there anymore. I’ve taken myself “off the list” on their site now a half a dozen times and it never takes. I’m emailing then and emailing them and emailing them telling me to stop, and, of course, they ignore it. After all, it took them THREE YEARS to start texting me after I requested it. Anyway, they are using up my message allotment. I shouldn’t have to pay for text messages I don’t want. There’s no way to block the number on my phone. I tried to do it on the Verizon Wireless site, and kept getting the screen telling me that, in order to block calls or messages, I have to add a special program for another $5/month. I shouldn’t have to do that. I sent them some strongly worded messages. Then, I found a site that tells you how to get around it, so I did. But I only have a 5 digit number for the message, and it won’t block without a 10 digit number. I extracted the email address and tried blocking it with that. According to the site, it’s blocked — but the messages keep coming through. Not only is the usage and money a problem, being woken up at all hours of the night is also a problem. If I turn my phone off, I don’t have it for an emergency, and when I turn it on, the mailbox is completely full of messages. And they are duplicates. It’s not like they send a message and the next one is different. They send 15-20, one minute after another, that are identical.

And Verizon, of course, has no interest in helping unless I pay them. Last time I checked, that was called “extortion.”

I hear New York is still in a terrible muddle with unplowed streets and people dying because ambulances can’t get through. Glad to be out of that mess. My drive and walk are still a bit icy, but I’m using ice melt and, as soon as it gets mushy enough to move, I’ll use my regular shovel and clear it. I went to the edge of the drive to meet the mailman yesterday so he wouldn’t risk slipping and HE was worried about ME. They’re so nice here.

According to the mail carriers, I get the most mail of anyone on this route, which I think is pretty funny.

Iris and Violet spent most of yesterday chasing each other around the house, which was pretty funny. They play tag. One chases the other, swats her bottom, then turns and runs away as the other wheels around, chases her, swats her bottom, and they reverse.

At night now, we do “bedtime snacks” (because I got tired of them waking me at 2 AM because they were hungry). I say, “Who wants a bed time snack?” and they sit down in front of me like a pair of puppies (Felicia would be horrified). And I give them some snacks, and up we go to bed. It’s pretty funny.

I think I’m going to make a run to Target today to pick up a few things. I don’t know if I’ll make it to Chatham for that lecture, but I’m not booked and promised, so if I don’t, I don’t. I might just try to get some more unpacking done, polish the lectures, and polish the post that’s due tomorrow.

Devon

PS At the bank, the cashier asked me what my New Year’s Resolution was and I said, “Have more fun.”

And I mean it! 😉

Monday, December 27, 2010

Monday, December 27, 2010
Waning Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Mercury Retrograde
Snowy and cold

The weekend’s been an adventure, that’s for sure, and the week promises to be just as . . .interesting.

Christmas Eve was great, pretty quiet, nice big meal, opened the presents, read, played with the cats, etc. I was up late waiting for the bayberry candle to “burn to the sprocket” for the tradition of “a bayberry candle burned to the sprocket brings food to the larder and gold to the pocket” on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Well, this was a really, REALLY high quality bayberry candle (from the 1856 shop) and it used every smidge of wax, so it took about six hours to burn down, when I expected it to take one.

Santa came and went, he had a brandy (because let’s face it, you can only have so much milk and cookies), the cats got their new toys and played with them, people came back from midnight mass, and I’m waiting for the candle to burn down . . .

And then I couldn’t sleep. I finally got to sleep a little after three and had to be up by six. We did stockings and ate breakfast and were on the road by 8.

The drive to Maine was smooth, not much traffic. I was going to try a way around Boston so I wouldn’t have to drive through the Big Dig, but I misunderstood the signage and wound up driving through it anyway. It wasn’t so bad; maybe I just have to get used to it.

We made it to Maine in 3 1/2 hours, went straight to my cousin’s farmhouse. It’s a large house, from the mid-1800’s, and he’s restored it himself, keeping the original details, restoring a lot of the things he found on the property and in the barn, but also making things like the kitchen and bathrooms updated and workable, while still fitting within the spirit of the house. It was great. We had 12 or 14 adults at dinner (kids’ table in another room), very nice, lots of fun, lots of actual discussions and laughter.

Left around 2:30, were back by 6. There was more traffic going back, but it still wasn’t bad. I was just tired from all the driving and lack of sleep, so I went to bed pretty early.

Started the laundry as soon as I got up yesterday, baked biscuits, got the newspapers and some supplies from the equivalent of the corner bodega — it’s a local store less than a mile away that has a bit of everything. The weather people said the storm would start at 4 PM, so of course, it was already pretty bad by 8 AM. Stuffed the turkey, got it in the oven, kept turning over the laundry — I figured just because we’re snowed in doesn’t mean we can’t have clean underwear.

I went down to get the last load into the dryer and stepped into about an inch of water covering the basement floor.

Yup, you guessed it, for some reason, the washer threw up, nice, clean, soapy water. I shut it off, shut the valve off, and called the owner. He came over (poor thing was sick),went out to get a pump, and we pumped and then wet-vacc’d the basement. The front line of boxes served as a buffer, so I don’t think I actually lost much (and nothing terribly valuable was in the basement), but I think the old rug still down there may be a loss, unless I can unroll it to air out sooner rather than later, and we’ll see how the edge of the box spring dries out. It’s not enough to put in an insurance claim, and it’s more disruptive than damaging.

So the sheets and towels are hanging on the rack downstairs, too wet last night to go into the dryer, but I managed to get the clothes dried and put away. The floor is really clean and smells Arm-and-Hammer fresh! 😉

I wrenched my back very badly rescuing the crates of LPs (the only thing that I was really worried about down there). It’s muscular, so I’m keeping it warm and keeping it stretched. I’ll be uncomfortable for a few days, but it is what it is. A doctor would send me for a lot of expensive, unnecessary tests and then give me a pain killer. I can treat it with stretching, hot water bottles, hot baths with proper salts, salves, and some Excedrin if necessary, and that will actually not just treat the pain but the cause. I just can’t do anything very quickly.

Did I mention this is a challenging Mercury Retrograde?

I put in a call to the repair place, who swears 7-day, same day service and has an answering service. I have yet to hear back. Now, with the weather as bad as it was and the basement pumped out, I would have told them not to come out in it yesterday anyway, but I would have at least liked the courtesy of a returned phone call.

I’m reading gardening books and all kinds of other stuff, trying to figure out what to do in spring. I shovelled out the drive and the front walk around sundown last night, using my new little electric snowblower. The lousy cord works my last nerve, but the actual machine does a good job. The ice melt is also keeping the drive and the walk fairly clean (supposedly it’s pet-friendly, car-friendly, and lawn-friendly). I’ll have to go out and do a little tidying up later this morning, and shovel out where the snow plow shoved stuff from the street across my driveway — because it is JUST out of reach of the blower’s cord.

Today, I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on, and I have to take care of some other correspondence, a blog post due at Savvy Authors, work on the Stephanie Plum lectures, and deal with the assignment for Confidential Job #1. Hopefully, the power stays on and the repairman shows up — I have a busy week this week, and next week Costume Imp is here and we have the party, so everything has to be in working order.

Metro North woke me up every two hours all night with text messages telling me they weren’t in service. I could have figured that one out all by myself. When I lived in NY and was desperate for service updates via text message, I never got them. I asked to be put on the list THREE YEARS ago. You know when they started coming? The day I moved into this house. And now they won’t take me off the list.

Sums up Metro North right there. Useless.

Love, love, love the new chairs, and actually, sitting in them is the only place where my back doesn’t hurt. Considering how much unpacking I have to do this week, and now checking the boxes and seeing how much water damage there is and if anything needs to be thrown out, this was a bad time for it to happen.

But the turkey dinner was really good! 😉

Onward — want to get some writing in this morning; I’m playing with a couple of things.

Devon

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Waxing Moon
Uranus Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Jupiter Retrograde
Sunny and pleasant

I was very, very lucky yesterday, and I am grateful. I had trouble getting everything I needed together, and was late getting to the train for the city. I knew everything was going to take longer than it should — it was that kind of day — so I had my book and my iPod and whatever.

Once on the train, I get a call from my mom, telling me that there’s a bridge fire between the Bronx and the City, and all train service is suspended in both directions. Meanwhile, I’m on a moving train. I ask the conductor, who swears nothing is wrong. My mom says she’s looking at the Eyewitness News footage of the burning bridge as we’re talking. The conductor then says, “Well, maybe there are a few delays.”

So when the train stops in New Rochelle, I jump off along with a couple of other people who don’t want to risk getting stuck for the usual 8-10 hours it takes for Metro North to get anything done.

A guy who jumped off with me said he just got a call from his dad, who works at the UN, who said the cops received information that made it worth their while to search everyone as they get off the trains in Grand Central. Whether or not that’s connected to the fire, I don’t yet know. Heck, I may never know. I was just happy not to be in the middle of it.

In New Rochelle, I ask at the ticket window what’s going on. The guy looks at his monitor and says, “Everything is moving. There’s another train coming along in 20 minutes. Get on that one.”

I say, “Then why is the news showing footage of a fire?”

He tries to call Grand Central and can’t get through. He says he’ll keep trying and make an announcement as soon as he has some information. I decided I didn’t want to risk going into the city, so I went to the platform for trains headed back home. Almost immediately, the announcement comes on that there’s a bridge fire and service in both directions is suspended indefinitely.

I was very glad not to be stuck on a train. But it also meant there were no trains back in the other direction. And my car was at home. I asked for directions to the bus stop, found the bus headed in my direction, and only had to wait about 10 minutes, which is great, since they only run once every hour. Yes, it took 50 minutes to go 12 miles (we meandered a lot). But it was perfectly pleasant, the same price as a subway ride, I got to see bits of the neighboring towns I’ve never seen, and it dropped me off in front of my building, so it was all good. Better 50 minutes in motion than 8 hours stuck without a cocktail, right?

I called to cancel all of the city-based appointments, and we’ll give it another go today, provided the trains are running. They better run by Thursday — I’ve got to get to Penn Station to pick up the bus!

Anyway, I was extremely grateful not to be stuck somewhere and stressed. It was a lovely day to be out and about. An example of modern technology at its best!

Someone who doesn’t want me to move, because it’s not convenient to her personally said it “meant” I wasn’t supposed to get the paperwork done and things sorted for the move. My response was that, actually, I felt rather cared for by the Universe for finding out early enough to get on the train and not be stuck for hours. It’s all about perspective, right?

Iris is bored and Violet is depressed, which is never a good mix. It’s hard to be without Elsa.

Got about 80 more disks transferred from floppy to flash drive yesterday. I still have one big drawer of disks and one file box to convert — and some of the files are very old versions of Word that need conversion before they can be transferred. But I hope, if I work a few hours every day, I can finish in two weeks, minus my time out of town.

I had a great first writing session of the morning and hated to stop, but I’m trying to get into the city early today (Metro North willing) and get back out by mid-afternoon. I overslept, so that’s putting everything behind.

This week’s deconstruction workshop seems to be going well.

I’m off, and hoping for smooth travel and easy paperwork. I have a migraine, which is a bit of a set back. But there’s no option of lying in a dark room until I feel better.

Devon

Prague Diary: Getting There

Monday, September 14:

Since Mercury’s retrograde, I was determined to give myself enough time to get to the airport with obstacles. I ate a huge pasta lunch to fortify myself (because I am an army that moves on my stomach).

My mom drove me across the street to the train station with my luggage (since it’s uphill). I caught the 1:19 train, which was only three minutes late — a record for Metro North. No problem getting the seat in the front with the little indent for my suitcase, the backpack sitting on top of it. All good.

The train ride was exceptionally smooth. That should have been my first clue that something was going to go wrong down the line! The train even came in on an upper platform. I’m convinced that, whenever they see I have luggage, they radio ahead to say, “Make sure you put us as far away on the lower level as possible — she’s got baggage!” But we came in on an upper track.

The Samsonite bag rolls so smoothly that I kept looking back, thinking maybe the handle had come off in my hand and I didn’t have a suitcase with me.

Got across Grand Central, wandered across the street to the airport bus. Bought a round trip ticket. The bus came a few minutes later, I was loaded on, and off we went.

Costume Imp texted me that he was in the car on his way to the airport.

It wasn’t bad until we got onto Long Island. For some reason, there were cops EVERYWHERE and it was a parking lot. I wondered if there was some horrible accident, but we kept inching forward.

Costume Imp arrived at the airport and checked in. I was getting a bit tense.

In actuality, it didn’t take all that much longer than usual to get from the city to JFK — maybe an additional 15 minutes. But I had visions of not making the flight, in spite of leaving early.

I got there, Imp was waiting for me, and check-in was a breeze. I didn’t have to wait at all. Got the boarding pass, we went through security, and headed for our gate. We bought overpriced water and really bad coffee. I bought a couple of Godiva bars, in case British Air decided to act like a US carrier and not feed us.

We sat in our lounge. My iPod Touch wouldn’t connect to anything, which was frustrating, since I’d been promised everything would now work properly.

We also noticed that there were an awful lot of extra SWAT-types walking around, Feds, and various other guards. They walked through each lounge, making eye contact with every individual. In other words, they were looking for someone specific. But we didn’t know who or why. It was a little disconcerting. I was relieved that they were on top of it, but you could tell they were stressed.

We later learned that a terrorist plot aimed at New York had been thwarted, with several figures arrested, a key figure arrested in Denver, who was shipped back to New York for prosecution. Several raids had happened in Queens, which was why there were so many cops on every overpass, and traffic crawled. Again, disconcerting, but glad that they were on top of it and tragedy was averted.

And, when we got on the plane, there were extra police checking out each individual as they entered the ramp and then again, at the bottom of the ramp, just before we entered the plane.

We got settled in our seats. I had the aisle, Imp was in the middle, and there was a very nice young woman in the window seat, on her way to study for a semester in London. The seats on BA were much more comfortable than on United or American. They also gave us pillows and blankets, and little kits with headset, socks, eye mask, and toothbrush. I felt very pampered, after the US carriers who act like they’re doing you a favor by letting you on the plane in the first place. Imp still didn’t think they were as good as Virgin, but, never having flown Virgin, I couldn’t make the comparison.

We took off only a little late, settled into the air just fine. They served drinks — I had a rather mediocre red wine from California. Dinner was okay — some tortellini, with more mediocre wine and some of the worst coffee I’ve ever had in my life. We weren’t really in the mood to read, so we chatted.

Later, Imp tried to nap. I started Italo Calvino’s IF ON A WINTER’S NIGHT A TRAVELER, which is great, but I wasn’t in the mood to read. I wasn’t in the mood to watch a movie. I listened to some quiet music and tried to rest.

The descent into Heathrow was bad for my ears. Really painful, in spite of the precautions taken.

And then, we were regurgitated into the infamous Terminal 5, the new international terminal that’s supposedly so brilliant.

I loathed it.

I felt like a gerbil in a Habitrail.

We walked through glass-enclosed corridors up and down various levels (Habitrail), went through security and went through the terminal. We didn’t have a lot of time to make our connection. I wanted to get a British newspaper, but there was only one WH Smith close to where we disembarked, and nothing close to our next gate. I got progressively crankier as other people showed up in the lounge with newspapers! We did get some decent coffee, so I somewhat revived.

Our departure gate was A-10, which is another Habitrail maze they put you through before loading you on busses and driving you far out onto the tarmac before loading you onto the next plane.

I took the middle seat this time, giving Imp the aisle. These seats were larger and more comfortable than on the overseas leg. We got into the air reasonably on time. Unfortunately, the entire flight was just at the altitude that causes my ears the most pain, so the hour and change was agony. They fed us a fake English muffin (cold) with some sort of fake salmon spread on it and more bad coffee.

But we touched down in Prague on time. The first thing I saw made me froth at the mouth –all of the runways to the planes are plastered with Citibank logos. Now, we bailed them out with millions of dollars of TARP money so they could paint their logo over the Prague Airport? Needless to say, a letter to the TARP overseer is going out.

Security wasn’t a problem, and there we were. Mid-morning in Prague, up for nearly 24 hours.

I’d assumed we had vouchers to get to the hotel, but we didn’t; it wasn’t part of our package. I later found out hotels in Prague don’t do that. Taxis screw you and the airport shuttles aren’t much better. Fortunately, I had downloaded directions from the hotel’s website. We found an ATM for Imp to withdraw money (I had my first 4 days’ budget already in Czk).

We had to take a bus and then a metro. The ticket machines only had coins and we only had bills, so I left Imp outside with the luggage, smoking, and I went back in to get change. I found a transportation desk, and asked for the ticket that allows us to transfer. He shook his head and said we were going too far out to risk it — the ticket is only good for 75 minutes and one transfer. Praha 10 is far away, and we should purchase a day pass. I said I’d risk it. He also said we had to pay child’s fare for our suitcases. That’s not in any of the guidebooks, but since I know the fine is 900 czk if you don’t have the right tickets, I bought them. I later found out that it wasn’t a scam, that’s actually true.

I gave Imp his ticket and his suitcase’s ticket, and the 119 bus rolled up shortly thereafter. When you enter the bus or the tram or as you enter the metro station, you stamp your ticket. It gives the date and time. The inspectors can ask to see your tickets at any time and then fine you if you don’t have them or if they’re expired.

We got on the bus, punched our tickets, and got our first views of Prague. Out by the airport are still the beige concrete walls with barbed wire and then the block houses built under Communism. It reminded me a lot of East Germany in the 1970s and just after Reunification in the early 90s. Lots of busses, lots of streetcars, so public transport is the way to go.

It was about a 35 minute ride to Dejvickå, the first stop on the Metro line we needed, and the last stop for the 119 bus. We got off, rolled out suitcases into the station. Since it was the starting/ending stop of the line, we didn’t have to worry about direction. We knew our stop was 11 stops in, and the stop before it was a long stop starting with a “Z” — which we nicknamed “The Z stop” for the duration of our stay.

The metros are great. They run underground, are clean, fast, easy to navigate. One has to push the button to open the doors — they don’t open automatically. The metro was crowded, but a very nice woman sat opposite us. She reminded me of my mom’s best friend. She told us what phrase was used to mean the doors were closing (there’s no way I can spell it, so I won’t put it here). She loved Scotland, especially Glasgow, and was a big fan of Charles Rennie Macintosh. In fact, she was on her way to borrow a book about him from the library.

We got off at our stop (only 20 minutes from our starting point, well within our ticket time) and headed in the direction indicated by the hotel map. We saw “Billa”, the grocery store which was mentioned in hotel reviews, and headed in that direction. It was definitely a residential neighborhood, with blocks of flats on both sides of a wide boulevard. We headed towards a street called “Solidarity” — mostly because it was something we could pronounce. We saw a large building sticking up, and when we turned the corner, there was the Hotel Juno, which was to be our base for the coming week.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Saturday, November 15, 2008
Waning Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Rainy and cool

Long and Short Reviews sent me an exciting email to let me know that HEX BREAKER is in the running as “Best Book” for this past week. It’s a poll, and voting is only open today and tomorrow. If you get a chance, please go here:

http://www.longandshortreviews.com/LASR/recentrev.htm
and vote for me! (If you liked the book, of course, if you don’t have a book in the running, or if you don’t have a friend whose book you’d like to vote for).

It was nice to come back to that email, let me tell you, because yesterday was quite a day.

Chase gets yet another Middle Finger Award. ‘Nuff said. I have a distinct feeling it will get yet another of those rewards today, too.

Metro North was late – as usual. And the conductors are too damned stupid to figure out if doors are open or closed, so, please, just send them back to kindergarten and let five and six year olds who have some common sense run the railroads.

Manhattan was full of fashion disasters yesterday. One was a girl of about ten, who can be forgiven. She wore red and black plaid shorts with a red sweater and tights. Okay, not too bad. Except that the tights had a black and white checkerboard pattern that fought with the plaid in the shorts rather than complimented it. Even at age ten, she couldn’t pull it off.

Then, there was the woman in her thirties. Healthy figure, not too big, not stick thin. But she wore a skirt in cobalt blue, black, and yellow plaid SATIN, above the knee, that fell in ruffled tiers. Now, it was just shy of being a mini-skirt, so probably 14-20 inches from waist to hem. And it had FIVE tiers. I counted ‘em. It wouldn’t have suited a beanpole, much less a human being. It was paired with thick black tights, a blunt, flat boot, and a baggy cardigan sweater. And her friend, a few years younger, wore a mini dress in sparkling horizontal blue and gold stripes. Really not attractive. If it was for an evening event, paired with navy sheer stockings, a bit of a heel, and some simple jewelry, she could have pulled it off. But in the middle of the day, worn with clunky black opaque tights, flat UGGS, and a bulky, unattractive man’s varsity-style jacket she probably wore to tell the world that yes, she IS having sex – it didn’t work. I hope they lost a bet or something and hadn’t chosen those outfits! And I found it hard to believe that they were coming home from the previous night at 11 in the morning – if that was the case, they’d be cabbing it, not strolling up Fifth Avenue smoking menthol cigarettes!

They just didn’t have enough individual charisma to pull it off. There are those who could have looked like they were marching to a very unique fashion drummer, but not these two. Individually, the pieces weren’t all that bad (except, in my opinion, the plaid satin skirt), but the way they were put together didn’t work.

Came back home, ran some errands, visited my friend in her new place, cooked dinner, and had a quiet evening.

Woke up around 5 this morning after dreaming that I was doing some work with Vice President Elect Joe Biden. I mean, I know I’m enthusiastic about this new administration and all, but that’s a little ridiculous!

I’m at the struggling point in Nano, which I usually hit between 30-40K. Urgh. A struggle, even though I have a good idea where I’m going. But I just push through.

I heard from my editor and we seem to have worked things out. I’ll know by the end of next week. I’m little leery at this point.

Don’t forget, I’m on the radio tomorrow at 4 PM EST:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/kims

Back to the page.

Devon

Untitled Helena Francis Mystery – 35,044 words out of 50,000 (Nano goal)

35 / 50 (70.0%)

Untitled Helena Francis Mystery – 35,044 words out of est. 75,000 (total goal)

35 / 75 (46.7%)

Devon’s Bookstore:

NEW!Sensory Perceptions: Techniques to Improve Your Writing Through the Six Senses by Devon Ellington. Use the six senses to take your writing to the next level via a series of sense-specific exercises. By the end of seven weeks, you complete seven short stories!. $1.29 USD. Here.

Free limited download
“The Possession of Nattie Filmore: A Jain Lazarus Adventure” by Devon Ellington. If you loved HEX BREAKER, you’ll love spending time with Jain and Wyatt as they try to solve a haunted house mystery. Read an excerpt of the story and download it free here

Hex Breaker by Devon Ellington. A Jain Lazarus Adventure. Hex Breaker Jain Lazarus joins the crew of a cursed film, hoping to put to rest what was stirred up before more people die and the film is lost. Tough, practical Detective Wyatt East becomes her unlikely ally and lover on an adventure fighting zombies, ceremonial magicians, the town wife-beater, the messenger of the gods, and their own pasts.
$4.00 ebook/ $6.00 on CD from Firedrakes Weyr Publishing.
Visit the site for the Jain Lazarus adventures.

Back By Popular Demand!
30 Tips for 30 Days: Kick Start Your Novel and Get Out of Your Own Way. A Nano Handbook by Devon Ellington. FREE!
If you’ve ever wondered whether or not you could survive National Novel Writing Month, this is the handbook for you! Ideas on preparations, setting goals, overcoming blocks, pushing yourself, tips for each day of the process, and ideas for going beyond, this handbook by veteran Nano-er Devon Ellington will help you survive. Best of all, it’s free! Download it here.
Limited time offer

5 in 10: Create 5 Short Stories in Ten Weeks by Devon Ellington. This ebooklet takes you from inspiration to writing to revision to marketing. By the end of ten weeks, you will have either 5 short stories or a good chunk of a novella complete. And it’s only 50 cents, USD. Here.

Writing Rituals: Ideas to Support Creativity by Cerridwen Iris Shea. This ebooklet contains several rituals to help you start writing, get you through writer’s block, and help send your work on its way. It’s only 39 cents USD. (Note: Cerridwen Iris Shea is one of the six names under which I publish). Here.

Full Circle: An Ars Concordia Anthology. Edited by Colin Galbraith. This is a collection of short stories, poems, and other pieces by a writers’ group of which I am a member. My story is “Pauvre Bob”, set at Arlington Race Track in Illinois. You can download it free here:

Monday, November 10, 2008

Monday, November 10, 2008
Waxing Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Sunny and cold

Hex Breaker got another great review, this time from Simply Romance Reviews.

The shows were fine yesterday, Metro North was a nightmare, as usual, and I’m tired. I’m turning around to go back and work this star-studded reading today. Oh joy, oh rapture.

I got my daily quota done on Nano, and the daily email out. I’ve dropped the dead weights in the group and am filling the slots with people from the waiting list, and a couple of people who just found out about the group. Ten days is more than enough time to expect those who were dropped to step up to the plate. They broke the agreement, they don’t have the courtesy to discuss it, they’re out.

Off to shower, have something to eat, and head back to the theatre for another fourteen hour day.

Devon

Untitled Helena Francis Mystery — 25,763 words out of 50,000 (Nano goal)

25 / 50 (50.0%)

Untitled Helena Francis Mystery – 25,763 words out of 75,000 (total goal)

25 / 75 (33.3%)

Devon’s Bookstore:

NEW!Sensory Perceptions: Techniques to Improve Your Writing Through the Six Senses by Devon Ellington. Use the six senses to take your writing to the next level via a series of sense-specific exercises. By the end of seven weeks, you complete seven short stories!. $1.29 USD. Here.

Free limited download
“The Possession of Nattie Filmore: A Jain Lazarus Adventure” by Devon Ellington. If you loved HEX BREAKER, you’ll love spending time with Jain and Wyatt as they try to solve a haunted house mystery. Read an excerpt of the story and download it free here

Hex Breaker by Devon Ellington. A Jain Lazarus Adventure. Hex Breaker Jain Lazarus joins the crew of a cursed film, hoping to put to rest what was stirred up before more people die and the film is lost. Tough, practical Detective Wyatt East becomes her unlikely ally and lover on an adventure fighting zombies, ceremonial magicians, the town wife-beater, the messenger of the gods, and their own pasts.
$4.00 ebook/ $6.00 on CD from Firedrakes Weyr Publishing.
Visit the site for the Jain Lazarus adventures.

Back By Popular Demand!
30 Tips for 30 Days: Kick Start Your Novel and Get Out of Your Own Way. A Nano Handbook by Devon Ellington. FREE!
If you’ve ever wondered whether or not you could survive National Novel Writing Month, this is the handbook for you! Ideas on preparations, setting goals, overcoming blocks, pushing yourself, tips for each day of the process, and ideas for going beyond, this handbook by veteran Nano-er Devon Ellington will help you survive. Best of all, it’s free! Download it here.
Limited time offer

5 in 10: Create 5 Short Stories in Ten Weeks by Devon Ellington. This ebooklet takes you from inspiration to writing to revision to marketing. By the end of ten weeks, you will have either 5 short stories or a good chunk of a novella complete. And it’s only 50 cents, USD. Here.

Writing Rituals: Ideas to Support Creativity by Cerridwen Iris Shea. This ebooklet contains several rituals to help you start writing, get you through writer’s block, and help send your work on its way. It’s only 39 cents USD. (Note: Cerridwen Iris Shea is one of the six names under which I publish). Here.

Full Circle: An Ars Concordia Anthology. Edited by Colin Galbraith. This is a collection of short stories, poems, and other pieces by a writers’ group of which I am a member. My story is “Pauvre Bob”, set at Arlington Race Track in Illinois. You can download it free here:

Monday, October 27, 2008

Monday, October 27, 2008
Dark Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Sunny and cold

Weary. Two shows yesterday. An actress got sick during the first act of the second show, so I had to take care of her and get the understudy on in intermission. That was a bit of a scramble. Other than that, it was pretty smooth.

Had trouble with a drunk at Grand Central. God forbid the conductors bother to open the train at a reasonable time. They just leave us standing on the platform with the rats running around us. So this drunk starts hassling me, and I wasn’t having it. I was even angrier because THREE conductors for the train on the other side of the platform just stood around and watched. They did NOTHING. Finally, a cop walking past intervened, managed to chase off the guy before someone (well, the guy) got hurt, and then reamed the three conductors for not doing anything. I was so angry I wanted to smack the conductors even more than the drunk. Metro North has the worst staff of any trains I’ve ridden anywhere in the world.

But I got home, in one piece, so ended up being fine.

I have so much to do this week to clear the decks for Nano. I’ve accepted more N3s than I meant to, but there were so many who wanted to participate, and I picked those I felt were most in alignment with my working methods and the most serious about seeing this through to the end. I’m excited to work with them, and I think I’ve set it up so none of us burn out.

I have to finish the Breeders’ Cup article this morning and get it to my editor. I completed the reading for Confidential Job #1 over the weekend, and will write it up today. Then, it’s back to everything else that’s on my plate.

Thanks for the header tips. I will try them and see what I can make work.

Back to the page.

Devon

Devon’s Bookstore:

NEW!Sensory Perceptions: Techniques to Improve Your Writing Through the Six Senses by Devon Ellington. Use the six senses to take your writing to the next level via a series of sense-specific exercises. By the end of seven weeks, you complete seven short stories!. $1.29 USD. Here.

Hex Breaker by Devon Ellington. A Jain Lazarus Adventure. Hex Breaker Jain Lazarus joins the crew of a cursed film, hoping to put to rest what was stirred up before more people die and the film is lost. Tough, practical Detective Wyatt East becomes her unlikely ally and lover on an adventure fighting zombies, ceremonial magicians, the town wife-beater, the messenger of the gods, and their own pasts.
$4.00 ebook/ $6.00 on CD from Firedrakes Weyr Publishing.
Visit the site for the Jain Lazarus adventures.

Back By Popular Demand!
30 Tips for 30 Days: Kick Start Your Novel and Get Out of Your Own Way. A Nano Handbook by Devon Ellington. FREE!
If you’ve ever wondered whether or not you could survive National Novel Writing Month, this is the handbook for you! Ideas on preparations, setting goals, overcoming blocks, pushing yourself, tips for each day of the process, and ideas for going beyond, this handbook by veteran Nano-er Devon Ellington will help you survive. Best of all, it’s free! Dowload it here.
Limited time offer

5 in 10: Create 5 Short Stories in Ten Weeks by Devon Ellington. This ebooklet takes you from inspiration to writing to revision to marketing. By the end of ten weeks, you will have either 5 short stories or a good chunk of a novella complete. And it’s only 50 cents, USD. Here.

Writing Rituals: Ideas to Support Creativity by Cerridwen Iris Shea. This ebooklet contains several rituals to help you start writing, get you through writer’s block, and help send your work on its way. It’s only 39 cents USD. (Note: Cerridwen Iris Shea is one of the six names under which I publish). Here.

Full Circle: An Ars Concordia Anthology. Edited by Colin Galbraith. This is a collection of short stories, poems, and other pieces by a writers’ group of which I am a member. My story is “Pauvre Bob”, set at Arlington Race Track in Illinois. You can download it free here:

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Sunday, September 28, 2008
Dark Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Mercury Retrograde
End o’Hurricane Kyle

Yesterday was a typically Mercury Retrograde day. I left early to go to the theatre and the train was over an hour late. They had the trains to Stamford running on the New York track and moved the train to New York on the Stamford track (an hour late) for no discernible reason except, perhaps, the dickhead making these types of decisions was bored, which is the way Metro North works around here.

It was worse for the people on the train – they’d toddled along to Old Greenwich and then the train was taken back to Stamford and just sat there, of course, with no explanation.

Metro North can BITE ME.

There was a mother with two lovely small children on the train. Usually small children on the train are anything but lovely, but these two were hilarious. The youngest boy was maybe three, if that, and the oldest about five or six. She’d brought books with them, and the oldest was learning how to read. So there was a reading lesson on the train and then just plain reading stories. They looked out the window sometimes and commented on what we passed (or didn’t pass, when the train simply sat). The youngest was all excited because they were headed into the city for some sort of family gathering, and he would eat egg salad sandwiches with his favorite cousin, Lexie. They were adorable, and proof that one can bring up children to act like actual human beings in public. This was a strong contrast to the brat on the train home at midnight (why the HELL is a toddler on a train at midnight, instead of home in bed) who SCREAMED the entire ride back, and the parents did nothing. Personally, I think they should have been put off the train. I had my music turned up to the highest decibel level, that hurt my ears and couldn’t hear it over that brat’s screeching. And it’s not like there was anything wrong – the kid simply liked the sound of her own screams.

I wound up working both shows instead of just one last night. Got a bunch of work done on one actor’s costume, so he’s all set for awhile. Had lots of fun kidding around with everyone. These past few days at the show were really fun and relaxed for me. Because I’m in percolation mode instead of under harsh deadline, I didn’t have to stress that theatre time cut into writing time. I could just enjoy being there, and make notes and do stuff for the writing in between. It was a good balance.

A group of us went to a Balinese restaurant for dinner, which was lots of fun, and then kidded around with the boys before the show (I dressed the boys again). It wouldn’t be funny to write what we joked about – it was one of those things that was funny in the moment, and you had to be there. If you weren’t there, you just wouldn’t get it.

I’d gone grocery shopping early in the morning, before leaving for the theatre – today will be about cooking ahead and freeze it for when I return next week.

Blogging will be sporadic this week. I’m in Maine for the first portion of it and Philadelphia for the second half of it. I’m going to start work on The Big Project and The Western tomorrow with the new moon – I had a breakthrough in the plot of the Western that I think will work well. And I’m definitely ready to write a few chapters on The Big Project, and then stop and outline the rest of it in more detail, and go back to it.

I’m going to do some work on ANGEL HUNT today, pack, do some prep work for the other two projects, maybe work on the ghost story and Billy’s story (as in Billy from HEX BREAKER).

But I’ll have a leisurely pace. Tomorrow, the new moon begins a new cycle, and I need to hit the ground running.

I’ll check in when I can.

Devon

Devon’s Bookstore:

Hex Breaker by Devon Ellington. A Jain Lazarus Adventure. Hex Breaker Jain Lazarus joins the crew of a cursed film, hoping to put to rest what was stirred up before more people die and the film is lost. Tough, practical Detective Wyatt East becomes her unlikely ally and lover on an adventure fighting zombies, ceremonial magicians, the town wife-beater, the messenger of the gods, and their own pasts.
$4.00 ebook/ $6.00 on CD from Firedrakes Weyr Publishing.
Visit the site for the Jain Lazarus adventures.

5 in 10: Create 5 Short Stories in Ten Weeks by Devon Ellington. This ebooklet takes you from inspiration to writing to revision to marketing. By the end of ten weeks, you will have either 5 short stories or a good chunk of a novella complete. And it’s only 50 cents, USD. Here.

Writing Rituals: Ideas to Support Creativity by Cerridwen Iris Shea. This ebooklet contains several rituals to help you start writing, get you through writer’s block, and help send your work on its way. It’s only 39 cents USD. (Note: Cerridwen Iris Shea is one of the six names under which I publish). Here.

Full Circle: An Ars Concordia Anthology. Edited by Colin Galbraith. This is a collection of short stories, poems, and other pieces by a writers’ group of which I am a member. My story is “Pauvre Bob”, set at Arlington Race Track in Illinois. You can download it free here:

Monday, June 9, 2008

Monday, June 9, 2008
Waxing Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Jupiter Retrograde
Mercury Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Hazy, hot, humid, ick

Well, it was quite a weekend. There was that huge upset in the Belmont Stakes – my wrap-up will be up later this week on FEMMEFAN.

Yesterday, I headed in to the city early. I’d booked brunch in the dining room of the Morgan Library, on Madison Ave. at 36th St. for myself and a friend in from the UK. Lori, we had lunch in the Café that time – next time, we eat in the dining room – it’s magnificent! Then we wandered around the exhibits for a bit. I want that three-level library for my very own. I headed back out to finish the work for Confidential Job #1 and work on SIDEKICK a bit – not much done on the latter.

There was no air conditioning on the train coming back out, so I was pretty cooked by the time I got back. Unbelievable – they run the air conditioning all winter, when it’s below freezing outside, but half the time don’t have it on in summer. Metro North is the most incompetent train line I’ve ever encountered, in all my traveling around the world. Even “Great Western” , the line that runs to Cornwall in the UK, that I nicknamed “Worst Western” when I was there – better than Metro North.

And, of course, Con Ed lied like rugs, as they usually do. They got an obscene 17% rate hike and SWORE they were prepared for this heat wave. They weren’t. Power outages in the five boroughs and CT. Someone really should set their executives’ pants on fire for all their lying, at least metaphorically speaking. Or, better yet, roll back the rate hike. Make them earn it.

Got more stuff out of the storage unit in the city. I don’t know how I’m going to manage to consolidate everything within this month. But it’s nice to get some of my stuff back. One of the books I pulled out of a box is Christina Baldwin’s LIFE’S COMPANION, one of the best books out there on journal writing.

I have a couple of errands to run this morning while it’s still in the 90’s, before it hits 100. I have a Plan B in case the power goes out. And then, it’s to work on the Belmont wrap-up article, the write-up for Confidential Job #1, more work on SIDEKICK, and finishing the revision on THE MATILDA MURDERS. And a proposal out to a high-paying magazine for whom I want to work. I read several issues this weekend, and have come up with some ideas that I think are within their scope.

Supposedly, I’m short-listed for this Canadian job, but I’m not convinced it’s a good fit.

I have to prep for the NHL Draft that’s happening in less than two weeks.

Good morning’s work on the Adaptation. It’s flowing well again, and I’ve come up with some plot twists that are intriguing to me. I look forward to exploring them.

Off into the heat so I can get back before what’s left of my brain broils.

Stay cool!

Devon

Adaptation: 51,126 words out of est. 90,000

51 / 90 (56.7%)

Devon’s Bookstore:

5 in 10: Create 5 Short Stories in Ten Weeks by Devon Ellington. This ebooklet takes you from inspiration to writing to revision to marketing. By the end of ten weeks, you will have either 5 short stories or a good chunk of a novella complete. And it’s only 50 cents, USD. Here.

Writing Rituals: Ideas to Support Creativity by Cerridwen Iris Shea. This ebooklet contains several rituals to help you start writing, get you through writer’s block, and help send your work on its way. It’s only 39 cents USD. (Note: Cerridwen Iris Shea is one of the six names under which I publish). Here.

Full Circle: An Ars Concordia Anthology. Edited by Colin Galbraith. This is a collection of short stories, poems, and other pieces by a writers’ group of which I am a member. My story is “Pauvre Bob”, set at Arlington Race Track in Illinois. You can download it free here: