Tues. Nov. 3, 2020: Die For Your Employer Day 167 — Election Day in the US

image courtesy of Thor Deichmann via pixaby.com

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Waning Moon

Neptune, Uranus, Mars Retrograde

Mercury goes DIRECT in the middle of the day – when it can really  screw things up

Election Day

Hell of a weekend, and we’re moving into an even fiercer hell.

Friday, I got out the contracted article. It shouldn’t have been as much of a struggle as it was; I know the topic inside out. But trying to keep the balance between personal experience without it bordering onto ego and useful tools for other writers was a challenge. Hopefully, I achieved it.

As I was prepping the email, I got an email from the editor’s personal account – she’s leaving the magazine to be part of another site.

So much for being a regular contributor on playwrighting for her!

I sent the article anyway to the her email at the magazine, then congratulated her on the private email and wished her well. She reassured me that she still wanted the article, and wanted to continue working with me. We’ll see. I’m not counting on anything.

Some fun calls for submissions landed on my desk – but most of them were for November 1. Two days to write a good piece, polish, and submit? With everything else going on?

One of them was only 350 words, and the parameters sparked an idea, so I sat down and worked and reworked a few drafts and sent it off. It felt good to shake off the stuck for something off the cuff.

If it’s accepted, fantastic. Another new-to-me market. If not, I will expand it a bit with some fun details and submit as a flash fiction to other paying markets.

I’m having issues with my landlord. I don’t feel he is being honest with me about something, and I’m not having it. But it adds layers of unnecessary stress and interaction and interruption that I don’t need right now. I think his greed has gotten the better of him.

Six more months, and we’re out of here, even if, at the moment, we have no idea where we’ll land.

Saturday, Samhain/Halloween was cold and sunny. It was housework day with the usual changing the beds/doing laundry, et al. Saturday is my favorite night to go to bed now, because I love snuggling in the fresh flannel sheets.

Instead of doing one big ritual late at night, I did a morning ritual, and then I did my tarot reading for the coming year in the afternoon, and I did the big ritual at night. And, of course, in Tending the Dead, it was the Night of Ancestors.

In the afternoon, I did more decorating outside, especially with the lights, and set up the table, with more decorations, battery-operated candle jars, and the Treat Bags. It looked good when I was done (photos are posted over on Instagram, where I am @devonellingtonwork).

We didn’t have a lot of kids, but the flatbed truck of the little kids came through just before 8 and cleaned out the first batch of Treat Bags. It’s such a great idea – let the kids ride street to street, and then they can get out at the houses they want.

My neighbors on one side set out a Trick or Treat station in their driveway, which was fun, too. But we were the only ones on our street who did anything.

I made colcannon for dinner, which was great.

I took down the lights and the table a little after 9 PM, when it was very quiet, and there was a good chance no one else was coming around. Even though it was cold, the next day was supposed to be stormy, and I wanted to get things in.

Sunday was Day of the Dead. More ritual, and the Tending the Dead ritual for people I know who have died. That ended up being especially poignant, because author Rachel Caine, who was so supportive of me earlier this year when I was sick and scared, died of cancer. It wasn’t a surprise, but it was still sad. Saturday, she was no longer speaking; Sunday, she woke up long enough to smile and then go back to sleep, so we knew it was only hours. By early evening, we got word she was gone. It’s such a huge loss, on so many levels. But the last months and weeks were awful for her, and I’m glad she’s no longer in pain.

During the day, I’d made an early morning Target run. Scored toilet paper, but they were out of paper towels. Also grabbed a bread box. I’d wanted bamboo, but they only had steel. It looks kind of cool. We’re having issues keeping bread healthy, so a bread box seems like a better choice. Although I think that means we can’t buy sliced bread anymore. There will be a learning curve.

I remember when we lived in Chicago, when I was really little, we had a wooden bread box. I don’t know what happened to it when we moved to New York.

Monday, I went to my client’s, and worked there on my own for a few hours. Lots of Mercury Retrograde tech issues, but I got things done. It was difficult to concentrate, because of all the election insanity, but I got through it.

Had to take my mom to the doctor this afternoon for a wellness check. It went well, and the doctor is very pleased with her.

Through all this, my landlord was bugging me about the furnace inspection and the demands from the installation guy. Sorry, I don’t work for the installation guy. He is not the boss, and I don’t care what he says. He’s been a misogynistic dick throughout the entire process. Every interaction smells more of something hinky, and I will not be a party to it. If they’re going to be dishonest to try to scam more money from whatever system they’re trying to scam, they’re not going to use me to do it.

Governor Baker has put more orders in place, supposedly to fight the virus. Insisting on masking – but will there be enforcement? I don’t see any. But instead of closing things back down, which would be, you know, SANE, even more can be open, but they have to close by 9:30 at night. And now we’re on curfew from 10 PM to 5 AM, as though we were naughty high schoolers.

This is not going to stop the virus. Rolling back the re-opening and shutting things down again, and then ENFORCING MASKING MANDATES will do so.

I am so tired of all the dickheads.

Not only are they dickheads, but they’re greedy, selfish, and stupid.

Which is the whole point of today, Election Day, certainly the most important election in my lifetime.

We need to remove the dickheads and put some decent people back into office.

I am so stressed about today and the upcoming weeks that I turned on the coffee maker without putting the pot into it first. I need coffee to make my coffee. So I got to start the morning with a giant mess, which just represents how I feel today.

Last night, The Tending the Dead ritual was for children. Part of that was naming the children we know died in ICE custody. Tonight’s ritual is for animals we’ve loved and lost.

Knowledge Unicorns should be interesting this afternoon. I’m sure the kids are stressed themselves and picking up their parents’ stress.

Today is about trying not to worry too much (at least not until 9 o’clock tonight), get some work done, and fight more with my landlord.

I also have a review to write, and maybe get another book assigned. This one was over 600 pages, and needed at least 200 cut.

We’ve put in a lot of work over the past few years. I’ve marched whenever I could, been in daily contact with my representatives, written, and written hundreds of postcards. Many of the people I like and respect have done the same.

Let’s hope it bears fruit tonight. Blue fruit.

Tues. Oct. 20, 2020: Die For Your Employer Day 153 — Evolving Process, Screw Your Customers, and Cats (not the musical)

image courtesy of Gerd Altmann via pixabay.com

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Waxing Moon

Neptune, Uranus, Mars, Mercury Retrograde

Red-streaked clouds

Evolving Process

I keep feeling like I’m not getting anything done, but when I look back, I actually did a bunch of stuff. The emotional reality and reality don’t always coincide.

Friday was pretty much a lost day. I made raw apple muffins early in the morning, and puttered around some, but I couldn’t get focused on anything. There was nothing in the creative tank. It was as though I spent all my creative energy on the baking, when usually baking fuels creative energy for other work.

I read, I tried to write. I had a couple of stories percolating. One, I think, will be novel-length, or at least novella-length. The other will be a short story. Both are ways of exploring rage I feel at two different situations.

Friday night, I listened to the HAMILTON Broadway cast recording all the way through. There’s a lot of cleverness in it. I’d forgotten that Jonathan Groff, with whom I worked on SPRING AWAKENING, originated King George. He’s a delight, on and off stage. Terrific actor and even more terrific human being.

Awake way too early on Saturday. Wrote the first 1500 words on one of the new pieces, even though there’s other stuff I should be working on. I don’t have a title for it, but the protagonist is Nell Dunbar, so for now, I’m calling it “the Nell Dunbar piece.” It’s part literary fiction, with elements of suspense and romance in it. It was originally going to be straight-up romantic suspense, but it doesn’t want to be stuck in that genre box.

Not sure if it will go under the Devon Ellington byline or the Christy Garnet Miller byline or something completely different.

Once that was done, I felt like I could actually cope with the day. I changed the beds, did six loads of laundry, changed out some of the yoga blankets and batiks for fleece on chairs and sofas. Now I actually have some yoga blankets I can use for yoga over the winter. Vacuumed, mopped, tidied up, did some rearranging in the basement.

Vacuuming always causes Kitty Trauma, but at least there were enough catnip bananas to go around, and everyone calmed down pretty fast.

Spent too much time doomscrolling (and it WAS doomscrolling, not hopescrolling). I need to break myself of that habit.

Read a bit in Hal Prince’s memoir, and also started the book I have to read for review, which has way too much backstory/info dump that’s obscuring the spine of the piece.

A friend and I exchanged the short stories we each wrote and submitted to a contest that a third friend is blind judging (so we’ve been careful not to publicly talk about details, because that’s unfair to the friend who’s a judge). Anyway, each of us fell in love with the other’s story and prefer it to our own! I love the possibilities in hers, and how she turned tropes inside out for something fresh and clever that has legs. I love the simplicity, yet she doesn’t overexplain. She loves all the tiny descriptive details I researched and integrated. So we can cheer for each other to win even more loudly than for ourselves!

Received a check for the two articles I submitted last Monday, which was a lovely surprise. The editor had told me it would be “a few weeks” and I expected at least 30 days. To get it in 5 days was lovely.

Listened to the original Broadway company recording of COMPANY in the evening. I was never as enamored of the piece as many friends and colleagues, but it’s such a part of my theatre history (even though I’ve never worked on a production of it) that I wanted to refresh my ears on it.

Was exhausted and went to bed way too early, which meant, yup, on Sunday, I was up again way too early. Had all kinds of weird disturbing dreams that kept waking me up. Puttered around, letting stories percolate. The longer I do this writing life, the more use I find to sit and percolate before I write. I used to just spit out first drafts – and I can still write the first draft pretty quickly, once I have it set in my head. But I find myself percolating and writing in my head in much more detail now than when I used to. It makes the work more precise earlier when I finally write it down.

But that’s the beauty of process – it evolves as you gain experience and work on craft.

In writing classes, I always find the unpublished writers the ones least open to trying new techniques, claiming it interferes with “their process.” I believe you need to shake up your process regularly, and part of the beauty of taking a class is to learn new ways of doing things. That way, when your process fails and you get stuck (which WILL happen), you have other tools and techniques to pull on to get going again.

Businesses are Determined to Sabotage Themselves, Aren’t They?

Contacted Crystal Bar Soaps for an update on the order I placed on September 26, and got a vague non-answer about how busy they are and how happy they are to have my order. Well, honey, then SHIP IT.  I responded that I hope I receive the order by Oct. 29, for my mother’s 96^th birthday, which is why I placed the order in the first place and ordered it on SEPTEMBER 26. For items that are supposedly in stock. I’m a big fan of their products, and I believe in supporting small business/independent artists. But the shipping delays have gotten out of control with this company. Using the pandemic as an excuse doesn’t work anymore, especially when you announce on social media that you’re hired more employees (which is great).

I’m re-thinking my plan to do holiday shopping with them, because even if I order the day the merchandise goes live, there’s no way to be sure I’ll get in time for the holidays. That’s additional stress on top of the whole trying-not-to-die and keep-a-roof-over-our-heads stress.  

I’m glad they’re doing well, and that their business had grown and not tanked during the pandemic. At the same time, I need to feel confident that my order will be processed in a reasonable amount of time. Because once it ships, then there’s the shipping time involved, which is about a week, except when it’s longer. They use USPS, which is far more reliable than either UPS or FedEx, but it’s voting season, and everything takes longer to get where it’s going. We’re into the fourth week now since the order and it hasn’t yet shipped.  I don’t find that reasonable for items that are in stock. If things were made-to-order, it would be understandable, but then give us a realistic time frame. This is either the third or fourth time I’ve had to chase down shipments, because I ordered – and paid – for something and then heard nothing until I contacted them to find out where it was. I’m tired of it. At least, previously, I got an actual answer on the status of the order, rather than this fluffy “happy” I ordered and maybe they’ll ship it “someday.”

I contacted them AGAIN this morning, asking for specific information on my order instead of platitudes and vagueness, and, once again, reminded them I ordered it back in September, and I need it by next week.

Yesterday, I risked ordering from a local restaurant. The only other time I did this, early in the stay-at-home – the entire household came down with food poisoning and the restaurant shrugged it off. So, I crossed them off my list.

So, yesterday, I ordered from a restaurant of whom I’ve been a regular customer for years, even before we moved to the Cape, and at least once a month, often more, pre-pandemic. I decided to go ahead and spend the money and order several meals’ worth of food. Cut down on my cooking this week, support a local business. All good, right?

I called in the order, REPEATED THE ORDER, had them REPEAT THE ORDER BACK, and set up a time for curbside pickup.

I get there, about five minutes after the agreed-upon time. They hadn’t even started preparing it yet. And it’s not because they were busy. There were three people in the restaurant, and the phone wasn’t ringing. But they greeted me by name as they always did, and said it would just be a few more minutes

Thirty-five minutes later, they bring out a big bag, thank me, tell me it’s good to see me, etc.  They KNOW me there.  I added a 50% tip on top of the order, because, you know, it’s a pandemic.

I had to stop at CVS to pick up a prescription for my mother and a couple of other necessities. There were register issues, but we went back and re-entered and did what we had to in order to process the order and the payment. It took five tries, and I felt so bad for the poor woman at the register. She was so apologetic, and I kept telling her it wasn’t a problem, and we’d just keep trying until it worked. And we did. Patience and persistence. I felt bad for the other people in line behind me, but CVS should have also put a second person on a register when the line got long.

Dropped off books at the library, picked up what was waiting.

Got home, unpacked things, decontaminated.

Find out the order from the restaurant is wrong. Not only is it WRONG, most of it is stuff I can’t eat, because I’m allergic. They KNOW I’m allergic to these things. I’ve been eating there for 15 years. I ordered one appetizer and two meals. That’s what I paid for, along with a 50% tip. I got three appetizers. One of which I can’t eat, because I’m allergic (and yes, I remind them of the allergy every time I place an order).

I call them. Just a “hey, I picked up my order, got it home, and instead of X & Y, you gave me C & D, some of which I’m allergic to, and the prices on these items are less than half of what I paid.” I didn’t mention the tip, because that’s tacky.

They think it’s funny.

No interest in making it right. They deliver, so they could have sent out a corrected order. No interest in refunding even a portion of the order.

The only option was to go back and BUY IT AGAIN.

I can’t go back. It means going out AGAIN (in a pandemic, assholes), after I’ve already decontaminated and put everything into the wash. And why would I go back, since they aren’t interested in giving me a corrected order unless I BUY it again? So I’m now supposed to pay double because THEY screwed up? When I already gave them a tip of 50% of the price of what I already paid for that I can’t even eat or use?  I’m supposed to blow next week’s food budget, too – and I GUARANTEE you they would put in the wrong order AGAIN.

That’s what I get for supporting a local business and giving a big tip.

Screwed.

There’s the food budget for the week gone.  It’s actually more than I would have spent for the week, because it was supposed to be 3 days’ worth of dinners, at a much higher cost than if I bought groceries and cooked the same thing. I’m a freelancer. A fellow small business.  It’s not like I have so much extra cash lying around IN A PANDEMIC. I won’t starve – I’ll live off the stockpile I’ve been putting aside for the next shutdown. But I blew my food budget for the week to support a local business who couldn’t be bothered to fill my order or fix their mistake.

I’m upset. I’m frustrated. I feel betrayed, that this company with whom I’ve done good business with for 15 years thinks it’s funny and okay to screw me.

I don’t want to hear ONE WORD more from the restaurant industry about how they’re struggling when this is how they treat their customers. I talked about this on social media and was surprised how many DMs I got about people telling me stories about how the restaurants can’t be bothered with the customers trying to support them.

As a consumer, I’m frustrated. Businesses are crying that they’re suffering, but they treat their customers like crap and then want them to spend even more? No.

Give us what we paid for in a timely fashion OR communicate that you can’t clearly and why and set a new timeline. OR, when there’s a screwup, work WITH us for a mutually beneficial solution.

Because I am NOT going to continue to give money to businesses – be they large corporations or solopreneurs – who treat me like shit.

Don’t tell me to “support local business” when they won’t fulfill their part of the transaction.

As a consumer, I’m frustrated.

As a marketing person, I am appalled that these businesses think they can keep getting away with screwing their customers.

Maybe, just maybe, some of the businesses that are going under are doing so because they’ve betrayed their customers often enough that the customers have walked away.

It goes with what I talked about for months pre-pandemic. This area has a non-reciprocal economy. I’m a small business, and a skilled worker. But I’m supposed to take a job that’s not in my profession for a fraction of my rate because “we don’t pay for that” meaning my profession.  But when I go further afield to clients who appreciate my skills and pay me for the value I bring to my work, I am told I’m not “supporting the local economy.”

Even though my very presence puts money into the local economy by paying taxes, shopping for necessities, shopping for gifts and whatever non-essentials I can afford at any given time, etc. I put money into the economy regularly, but I am not supposed to receive money for my skills. The only reason I CAN put money into the local economy is because I have clients who live FAR AWAY who pay me for my skills. If I was only earning minimum wage in one of the local shit jobs that aren’t in my profession, I’d have even less to spend locally.

And why shouldn’t it be a two-way street? It’s not like my skills aren’t needed. But they don’t want to pay for them. Yet I’m supposed to pay and pay and pay but not BE PAID.

That’s not a sustainable model.

It’s one of the reasons the local economy was a mess even before the pandemic.

Cats and Stuff

Yesterday, Willa stole Charlotte’s catnip banana, so then Charlotte ran upstairs and stole Tessa’s catnip banana, and then Tessa ran into the other room and stole Willa’s banana. Everyone still had a catnip banana, but it was the WRONG catnip banana, so there was hissing and yowling involved until we got them all switched back.

So much for peace by catnip banana.

Tessa has decided she really likes my grandmother’s rocking chair (which is by the window and the heater in my bedroom).  She has decided she will now reign from there.

The landlord came to look at the newly installed furnace. Now he’s telling me the bank from whom he got the loan wants copies of my utility bills. I think that’s inappropriate. I’m not the one who applied for the loan. On top of that, I had months where I had to give up work to have various “estimates” come in from different companies, and we were supposed to get new insulation, a new fridge, and a new washer as part of this furnace upgrade deal — NONE OF WHICH IS HAPPENING. I’m not giving my financial information to a bank with whom I don’t do business. They’ll get copies of the bill — with my name and information and account number blanked out. They can see the final amount, but not personal details.

Today, I have client work and article work and LOIs to focus on. Let’s hope it’s a productive and creative day. I’m just exhausted physically and emotionally and sick of everyone. I got my check from Llewellyn for the 2021 annual, which was a nice lift to my day.

Normally, in a Mercury Retrograde, these purchases would be easy-peasey. But with the Mars retrograde layered over it, everything is a conflict and a problem. Add the Neptune retrograde (creativity slowed down, especially for Pisces) and Uranus retrograde (the need for economic and political change), and this period of time sucks.

I’d rather just make like a Victorian and take to my bed today, but that is not an option.

Hope you have a good one, friends.

Tues. Oct. 3, 2017: Releases, Writing, Worrying

Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Waxing Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Uranus Retrograde
Sunny and cold

Plenty of links today. First, check out the piece about PLAYING THE ANGLES over on A Biblio Paradise. Don’t forget to order your copy in any of the various digital formats. Links here.

Second, my October To Do list is up on the Goals, Dreams, and Resolutions site. I’ll also post questions to think about between now and the end of the year shortly.

Yesterday, I did promotion for PLAYING THE ANGLES. I also got some new material up on the Nautical Namaste website. I’ll be linking and promoting that site in a few weeks, when SAVASANA AT SEA becomes available for pre-order. Right now, I want to focus on PLAYING THE ANGLES.

Sent out some pitches, did some follow-up on pieces. Sent out two short stories, which had come back from other markets. It’s always a dance, finding the right partner for a piece.

Finished both books I have to review, and the reviews will go out today. My new editor told me I hadn’t acknowledged receipt of the books — but I had, weeks ago, when I received them. I always do. I HATE the “dashboard” system they have us working in.

Started working on the galleys for SAVASANA AT SEA. There are lots of little, fiddly things the copy editor and I have both caught. Also, although some grammatical choices are technically correct according to the style guide we’re using, they look awful on the Kindle. In some cases, the fix is as simple as using Chicago Manual of Style rather than Strunk; in other instances, I’d rather change how I communicate the material. There are a few places where the copy editor and I are working together to see what is correct and still looks and feels right.

I haven’t even had the chance to work on the galleys of SETTING UP YOUR SUBMISSION SYSTEM.

Got a weird idea for what I hope will be a flash fiction piece and wrote about 400 words on it. It’s an odd little piece. It will take time and shaping, but I like the premise. Now I have to add in the craft.

The mass shooting in Las Vegas is both heart-breaking and infuriating. It could have been prevented. Again, the GOP doesn’t care how many people die, as long as it’s those who don’t buy them off. The NRA isn’t about responsible gun ownership, it’s about profit. I have never heard the NRA or anyone who boasts about their association with them, talk about RESPONSIBLE gun ownership. There’s just a lot of chest thumping and “Me have right to own guns.” In fact, most of the people I have met who scream about their right to own guns lack the IQ, in my opinion, to be allowed such ownership.

Every member of Congress who votes against responsible, common-sense gun laws should be prosecuted AS AN INDIVIDUAL for every murder that results in their legislation. They can’t be allowed to hide behind their jobs or use tax payer dollars for defense or if and when they are convicted. The only way it will change is when it costs them more to vote against pro-gun legislation than for it. Because Congress, especially the members of the GOP, don’t care about individual lives. They care about personal profit. They demonstrate this over and over again, with every vote. So make it cost them.

John Scalzi wrote a beautiful piece on his blog about how difficult it is to work amidst all this chaos. You can find it here. I read it at 3:30 this morning, when I couldn’t sleep, and it helps.

Of course, the current administration is anti-art. They WANT us not to be able to create. Artists are the biggest threat to autocracy that there is, because good art makes people see and understand the world beyond themselves.

Keep making art.

Back to the page.

Mon. July 31, 2017: Author, not “Author”, Women’s Memoir Cliches, and Unfair Expectations

Monday, July 31, 2017
Waxing Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Sunny and cool

It definitely smells like autumn. Tomorrow is the first harvest festival, so it makes sense.

The cats and I were up most of the night because a neighborhood dog was crying. We couldn’t figure out where it was, or I would have comforted it. Poor thing!

I gave myself the weekend off, mostly. I needed to recharge; I was mentally exhausted, even more than physically.

I did some yard work. I read a lot, which was hit and miss. I read a mystery that was set “backstage” in a “professional” theatre. Yeah, right. The performers went around quoting the Scottish play without comment or consequence. DOESN’T HAPPEN. DO YOUR RESEARCH. Don’t be an “author”. Be an author or a writer.

I read another mystery, first book in the series, where the characters were okay, but the plot forced to fit into a tight formula that didn’t work for the premise, and the writing weak.

I read Val McDermid’s OUT OF BOUNDS, which was excellent.

At least it was nice enough to read outside most of the time. A little cool, but nice. I prefer cool weather to hot, anyway, which is why I live in a place with seasons.

I’m reading a stack of books and memoirs about the NEW YORKER magazine, as background for a piece. Hit and miss interesting. I’m looking more for the daily-ness of working at the publication set against the historical backdrop, and what made the people tick, not the navel-gazing.

I’m so tired of memoirs by women who spent the whole book “finding” their “independence”, only to get married (or get married again). Basically, they’re just circling back to where they started, but with a different guy. But people buy into all this “I’m now an independent woman” — um, no, you’re still acting like a 1950s college grad with her MRS degree. Leaving one guy, “travelling” mentally and physically, in order to wind up with another guy, doesn’t make you “independent”. It makes you a cliché.

Worked on notes for a couple of projects.

Finished the next book I have to review. I want to get the review out today, and then request the next book. Hopefully, it won’t take them two weeks to assign it this time. To me “steady work” means the next assignment arrives when I turn in the previous one. They still owe me for the last two reviews, too.

I have two essays and two short stories to finish, plus a couple of pitches to get out. I SHOULD have done them this weekend, but the quality would have been crap. I’m still within my deadline, so it was a better choice to give myself a break, and then be able to attack them with fresh eyes this morning.

I already did a pre-tourist grocery run, so I’m doing okay! 😉

Little annoyed with a friend. I didn’t hear from him for about six months; fine, no problem. But I received an email from him late Friday night, and another one early this morning, berating me for not instantly getting back to him. Um, no. This was a “hey, how are you?” email, not an emergency or a question that required immediate response, and taking the weekend off-line is something he KNOWS I do. Not answering until this morning (just over 48 hours later) is not too long, especially since the last contact was at Christmas. I don’t say “how high?” when someone says “Jump”. I’m more likely to tell that person to eff off. 😉

Tomorrow is the cover reveal for PLAYING THE ANGLES. I’m nervous!

July wrap-up is over on the GDR site.

Back to the page.

Fri. June 30, 2017: When the Road Not Taken is Best Left Untrod

Friday, June 30, 2017
Waxing Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Sunny, hot, humid

Two essays and a short story went out the door yesterday. I don’t write many essays — they make me feel too exposed.

Finished the reading for an assignment and got to work on it. Will polish it this morning and send it off.

As of about mid-day, I’ll be offline until Wednesday. I’m looking forward to it. I’m going to a party tonight in Dennis at a friend’s place; the rest of the weekend is about reading, writing, meditation, yoga. Recharging the batteries.

I got an idea for a new short story that I hope to draft; I want to finish another short story that needs to go out; and I want to dig in and finish the draft of FIX IT GIRL. Plus, I have to finish the proofs on “Ramsey Chase”. Cover reveal for the latter will be next week.

I realized, in this morning’s meditation as my mind wandered over roads not taken, that not taking them was the right choice. That lifts quite a load off the worries.

Had to dash out way too early this morning to do errands, grocery shop, pick up my mom’s medication, etc. Even though everything was done before 9 AM, the traffic was still unbearable. The 20 minute drive to Dennis tonight will probably take an hour.

Hop on over to the GDR site and see the June wrap-up. The July to Do list won’t be up until next week, and I’m working on the Mid-Year Assessment.

Have a wonderful long weekend!

Fri. June 16, 2017: Just Keep Writing

Friday, June 16, 2017
Waning Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Cloudy and cool

I finally got the article I’d been working on all week out the door; still waiting to hear back from a pitch I’d hoped was a quick turnaround. Got a few other pitches out.

Consultations on the new cover for “The Ramsey Chase”. There were two possibilities, both eye-catching, but I chose the one set in the graveyard, because the denouement is set in a graveyard. It’s not quite as spooky as the original cover, but I like the image. The byline might be enlarged just a point in the font, but, other than that, I’m happy with it.

I played with some ideas for the next story in the series, and I’ve got a few ideas spinning. We’ll see which ones actually work. I’ll have to write at least the opening scene soon, so it can go in with “Ramsey”. The re-read and the proof-read I need to do on it should help me regain the tone.

It was actually too cool to work outside on the deck yesterday afternoon; I only managed a few minutes. But, I roughed out some article ideas that I will now formulate into pitches, and also found the premise of what could be an intriguing piece of fiction. I need to play with it for a bit. The contrasting POVs would be fascinating to explore.

The exercise bicycle I picked up last week on craigslist is already having a positive effect. I’ve also finally lost the “library weight” I’d put on. Even though I’m sitting a lot for my work, I’m more active and I’m eating better. It seems all I crave lately are apples, cucumbers, peppers, parsley, and the like.

I’m hoping to have a solid writing weekend, although when it’s not raining, I’ll still have to mow. I got the side yard done yesterday morning, so it’s the terraced back area today, and then, tomorrow, back to the meadow. I also have to do some trimming in areas that the mower can’t reach.

Finished a short story that will go out today. I’m getting better at fiction that’s truly short. Which is a good thing, since there are markets for it. It’s also a good contrast to novel-length. I’m proud of myself, because the story came in only one word over the count, and I cut a qualifier, and there I was!

Started a short science fiction story, which is kind of fun. If it works, I should be able to have it submission-ready by Monday.

Still wrestling with the longer piece; I have to dig farther into the emotions, and rework the structure a bit. It should hit just over 3K when it’s done and revised. That needs to go out next week.

Started two more articles, with the basics that I’ll then fill in and use citations.

I have a project meeting set up for mid-week next week. Looking forward to meeting them – I think/hope we’d work well together.

I’d like to take some time off this weekend, but I also have to do the next section on THE FIX-IT GIRL revisions.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Fri. May 19, 2017: Trying to Put It Into Play

Friday, May 19, 2017
Waning Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Sunny and warm

Took my mom to her medical appointment. Found more evidence on the CVS issue, and will turn everything over to the State’s Attorney General.

Finished reading a book by an author whose work I usually like, but this one had sloppy writing in it. Good plot, but one could tell that it was written fast. Sets up a new web of characters for more interconnected books, though.

Started implementing some of the things that were discussed on Wednesday. I have to make sure I break down the lists into do-able pieces, or I’ll get overwhelmed and won’t do anything.

Started working on some formatting changes for another outlet for the Topic Workbooks. The problem with those is that I can only work on them for a couple of hours at a stretch. It takes longer than I’d like to get the material done.

Re-read Arlene Kay’s SWANN DIVE. It’s the first of her Boston Uncommons Mysteries. Every time I re-read her books, I enjoy them more.

Still waiting for my first assignment from this supposed new gig.

Started going over some old short stories, both published and unpublished, to see if there are enough on any given theme for a collection. A collection of short stories is less important than getting on the novel carousel again, but it would be nice to get them out there. Some of them are more relevant now than when they were written.

Wrestling in the FIX IT GIRL revisions. There are a couple of B plot lines and red herrings I feel I should weave in to enrich the story; at the same time, I like the leanness and the pace. So I’m struggling with that. Can I keep a lean, fast pace, while just adding in a few tidbits here and there without it either slowing the piece down or it feeling like I’ve thrown things in there with no follow-up?

Getting some yard work done, but it’s difficult without a working mower.

Hopefully, I can have a solid writing weekend, and figure some more stuff out on my recalibration plan. I want to start implementing a few things, and then step back and look at it all again, make some decisions based on the new implementation, and so on and so forth.

Part of that is that, in the next few months, I want to get some general swag done for the constants: Ink in My Coffee, the Devon Ellington website, the Fearless Ink website, and maybe even the Topic Workbooks. Then, as more projects launch, I can add project-specific swag and mix and match for giveaways.

I also need to get rights back on a book where I suspect the contract expired ages ago. The publisher’s done diddly, in fact, new management wanted its authors to pay a monthly fee for promotion. I’d assumed they’d dropped me, but I found the book still on the website; never gotten any reports from them for years. So I have to dig up the contract, get the rights back, do some rewrites, and get it out in a better format.

I also have to figure out why I’m struggling to get back to NOT BY THE BOOK. It’s a good, tight story with fun characters.

Managed to handwrite a couple of pages on something this morning, but I’m still looking for those sample pages for the play proposal. I guess it won’t get out until early next week. I’ve got the proposal section done and the resume done, and I have the completed play done, but I have to find — and then type and polish — the sample pages to finish it.

Mon. May 15, 2017: Creative Juggling & The Need to Weigh Decisions

Monday, May 15, 2017
Waning Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Rainy and cold

The lilacs are magnificent this year. I could just sit all day and breathe in the scent.

Busy writing weekend. On Friday, I managed to revised six chapters of THE FIX-IT GIRL and get the changes put into the manuscript. I also did 20 pages of revision on WINNER TAKE ALL.

I put changes into three more chapters of FIX IT GIRL, but didn’t get them into the manuscript.

Saturday, another 21 pages of revision on WINNER TAKE ALL. Two and a half pages of new material on the literary novel, five pages on a paranormal Victorian romance. Research.

I worked on the proposal packet for the new play, including sample pages. I wish I could submit ENEMY for development, but that’s not inherently in Boston, and the producer wants something where Boston is a character.

I also found a new-to-me market and came up with ideas for four short pieces for them. I roughed out all four, and now it’s a case of drafting them. They’re short — one is 800 words, one is 1000 words, and the other two can run between 3K and 7K. I figured out where to re-slant and re-send a pitch that I’d sent to a publication and they liked it, but had run something similar in the issue that was about to land. I’m hoping they’ll accept a different idea. I’d like to get all these pieces done and out the door this week, along with finding some markets for some other ideas.

I’m still waiting to receive my first assignment on this new gig I was supposedly hired on.

Sunday was Mother’s Day, and pouring rain. I cut some lilacs (this is a wonderful year for lilacs on Cape), and made scrambled eggs with Canadian bacon for my mom.

I also wrote the first draft of the 800 word piece and did another 23 pages of revisions on the screenplay. I’m just beyond the half way point on it. This morning, I revised the 800-word piece, and it’s ready to send out.

Re-slanted a pitch, typed up a filler, and created another pitch and article outline.

I re-read Meg Wolitzer’s THE INTERESTINGS, which was interesting (I like her writing). I’m in the midst of reading another novel (by a different author) I found among my pile and hadn’t yet read — I’m on the fence about it. Parts of it I really like, and other parts feel a bit pretentious. Tried watching a new-to-me series, but it was juggling too many subplots with no explanations, taking spare dialogue too far, and I got exasperated. I don’t need everything explained (in fact, I prefer it not to), but this was beyond Mamet-ian. And British. Which didn’t quite work for me.

Heard from an old friend I didn’t think I’d hear from again. We have a lot of catching up to do. Drafted back my response. Found out another old pal is only about an hour and a half away — I’ll have to get in touch.

Did more Lavinia Fontana research. I have a feeling her father, Prospero, will be one of the top supporting characters in the play. He strikes me as quite an ambitious rascal.

This morning, I drafted just over 600 words of one of the 3K stories I’m working on this week. It’s taking on a more vibrant life of its own, which is a good thing, but it’s also not something I can just crank out, the way I’d hoped. But the quality will be better without the cranking, and the quality of the work is the ultimate test.

I need to make some decisions on what I want the trajectory to be for PLAYING THE ANGLES and the subsequent books from that circle of friends, and how I want to re-launch the Gwen Finnegan books. Simply sending them to a small publisher who only does POD doesn’t help me. The companies are too small to do adequate promotion, and the POD knocks me out of too many markets. Yet neither series really fits the current traditional publishing trends. They’re good stories, and people respond positively, but they intentionally break traditional formulas. Do I have the creativity, the stamina, and the resources to mount the carefully-plotted out marketing campaigns they would need? More importantly, am I able to keep up with the additional books in each series in a timely manner? Because feeding the monster is important. And Amazon, the Behemoth, is an important market force, but I have trouble with some of the ways they’re doing business. All of this has to be weighed and measured.

I hope this week will wind up being both creatively fulfilling AND financially rewarding. I need the two to balance. I’ve got my mid-month check-in up on the GDR site here.

Have a great week!

Wed. Feb. 17, 2016: Steadily Writing

Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Waxing Moon
Chilly and cloudy

Weather’s been up and down and all around.

Saturday was a busy day at the library. Got quite a bit done, but I was glad to go home.

The mystery is chugging along well — got some good writing done on it Sunday, Monday, and yesterday. This morning, I’m doing some layering, so that I set up my murderer better. I feel pretty good about the end of the month deadline for the first draft. I think I’ll be within a few days of it, one way or the other.

I polished two short stories that will go out this week. I need to polish one proposal, and get to work on another proposal. I have to be careful with the latter — it’s a project I think is exciting, but I refuse to, yet again, ply my VOCATION full-time without compensation. I got the details on judging the radio contest, and I also worked my way through some more contest entries. The last batch should arrive soon, so I want to make sure I’ve finished the first batch before they arrive.

I got in some studio time, when the light was good.

Did some more background reading for several projects.

Wrote a bit on the project that starts in the early 1920s, just to get the characters quiet. I want to deal with the racism of the time — to do so properly will be a challenge. But it’s important.

Grocery shopping on Monday. Tuesday, I finally got the headlamp fixed on the car, ran some other errands. Baked the banana-coconut cake for today’s luau, and a couple of lemon cakes as thank yous for neighbors who helped us in the snow. I also made the base of the tropical punch and chilled it.

I got up at 5 this morning (after a bad night) to make the ham-and-pineapple bites and the crabmeat/avocado/mango spread. I’m not happy with the latter. I expected it to have more zing.

I feel like I’m coming down with something; hope that’s not the case. I don’t want to lose momentum on the mystery, and I have too much else going on right now. Fingers crossed I can take care of myself well enough in the next few days not to succumb.

Wed. April 29, 2015: Excellent Writing Days

Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Waxing Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Pluto Retrograde
Sunny and pleasant

Busy, but good weekend. Excellent writing time.

Saturday, I came back from work, read a bit, cooked dinner, worked on contest entries.

Sunday, I wrote. I wrote nearly two chapters on a book, and I finished the edits on one of the short stories. I realized that the other short story I’m working on has a slower innate pace than what is needed for the intended venue — I can tighten the pace and hurt the story, or I can trust the pace and find a different home for it. I got an idea for a replacement story with a faster pace and more of a noir feel that is more natural to the intended market, so I worked on that.

Sunday night, I was invited to a tango practica in Cotuit — the couple who invited us transformed their basement into a dance studio. It’s magnificent. I learned a lot, and I have some specifics on which to work over the next few weeks. I’ll miss the Thursday lessons and the Sunday practicas, but I’ll also be able to work on a few techniques. If I really put in the work, I won’t fall too far behind.

Monday, I wrote all morning. I proofread the edited story and found some typos. That’s why it’s so important to wait before proofreading — if you proofread as soon as you finish, your brain fixes the typos instead of finding them. Wrote some more on the book. Percolated on the new story.

In the afternoon, I dug into contest entries. My final decisions are due this week, and I want to make sure I give each submission a fair shot. They were created out of love and hard work, and deserve to be given respect, even when the craft is weak. What irks me is when it’s obvious the printed books haven’t been proofread.

Monday night, watched DEATH AT PEMBERLEY. Well done, but the actress who played Elizabeth had poor posture, very modern, and even being in a corset didn’t help. It bothered me. The Empire style of dress shows the shoulder blades and emphasizes the shoulder, so perfect posture is important.

Yesterday, I sent off the completed short stories (typos corrected), ran some errands, and worked on contest entries.

In the evening, I went to an event at the Naked Oyster in Hyannis called “Hobnob”, which was great fun — artists in all disciplines getting together to talk about what they do. I met some very interesting people.

Stopped at the beach on the way home — just love our beaches. I love being near ocean. It’s soothing. In spite of rising sea levels!

Home, am almost finished with the contest entries. I want to go over my top choices one more time tonight.

Also have to finish the noir story tonight and get it out tomorrow.

Today will be a busy day at work, as will tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday. I was lazy when it came to yard work this weekend — the broadcast kept saying it would rain, but it was nicer than suspected. Hopefully, this weekend, I can dig in (literally and figuratively) to the yard, and also do a solid houseclean, in preparation for the upcoming vacation and house guests.

Hope you’re having a GREAT week.

Devon

Tues. April 15, 2014: The Life of 5:30 AM – Midnight

Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Full Moon
Lunar Eclipse
Mars Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Rainy and cool

Tax day and the one year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing. Rain is appropriate.

Busy day. It was hard not to hustle for jobs — that’s become such a reflexive part of my day. But I really can’t take anything new on until late June, so anything that’s quick turnaround just can’t fit in.

Caught up on some stuff for the library, worked on client projects, wrote a review, wrote an article going live later this week, got the contest entries for the next contest, checked them in, read the series bible for the scripting job, took notes, had a meeting on that job, interviewed potential stage managers, worked on a prop I need to be able to put onto another prop and remove after each show. Still not where I want it. Took care of some correspondence. Hunted down a couple of stories I have to read for Thursday’s short story group. Got my instructions for Thursday, when I’m in charge — a little intimidating, but I plan to step up.

Today, I need to finish a draft of a client project, run some errands in Falmouth and Sandwich (preferably before the torrential rain begins), get some groceries and cat food into the house, continue the search for a stage manager, research my two articles due at the end of the month, finish another book for review, read two short stories for an event at the library on Thursday, and work on the storyboard for the scriptwriting job.

In other words — I better get going!

If you can’t come and see Seal Tides in person, I hope you’ll support it by donating to our indiegogo campaign here. Even $10 makes a huge difference (and you get a program mention, a signed program, etc.).

Devon

Wed. May 22, 2013: Trying to Clear the Desk

The beach down the street

Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Waxing Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Cloudy and cool

Want to see how my garden grows? Hop over to Gratitude and Growth to check out the new photos.

Monday, I worked flat out, and was exhausted. Part of that is a new playwrighting opportunity dropped into my lap, and I worked on the proposal. I have to proofread and tweak it today, and get it out. Then, I have to massage a different playwrighting proposal and get that off my desk, too.

Got material out for Confidential Job #1, and got my next assignments. Working on my appointments for the trip next week. Having trouble settling back into the Cape Cod theatre novel. Did some work on the adaptation. Roughed out a few articles, a couple of which I need to get off my desk this week. Pitched. Followed up. Worked with students. Got some reading done. Sketched out ideas for a couple of short stories. Did five loads of laundry. Worked in the yard — the meadow is finally mowed.

My heart hurts for the people in Oklahoma devastated by the tornado. I remember, back in the 70s, they talked about coming up with chemicals that planes could spray into hurricanes and tornados to make them dissipate (something that was being worked on). Whatever happened to that? Did it not work? Did it lose funding? Did they realize the chemicals would kill more people than the weather?

Started my schoolwork for the Climate Literacy class I’m taking over the next ten weeks, from two professors at the University of British Columbia. A LOT of information (and maybe they can answer some of the above questions). But I think it will be a fascinating class, and certification in this and the one I got in Sustainability last fall certainly make me more hire-able in the eco-friendly fields.

Meeting last night was good. I have work to do in connection with that — again, most of which has to get done before I leave on my trip next week. I have a feeling I’ll be working flat out all weekend. I’ll sleep on the bus, right?

Lots to do and not a lot of hours — Mermaid Ball meeting in Buzzards Bay late this afternoon.

Better hop to it.

Devon

Wed. Nov. 28, 2012: “Just Jump in and Fly” — a fun twist on Yuletide Myths!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Full Moon
Uranus Retrograde
Cloudy and cool

Here’s the cover for “Just Jump in a Fly” a romantic comedy/fantasy re-working of the Yuletide Myths that went up yesterday under the Ava Dunne name.

Blurb:
Samantha Wright has a problem. The attractive Kris Teague crash- landed his sleigh and eight not-so-tiny reindeer in her driveway. His uncle Nick happens to be THAT Nick – as in Claus – and they need Samantha Wright’s help to turn back the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse at one of the Universal Gates not only to save Christmas, but keep Earth turning. A fresh, romantic comedy turn on Yuletide myths and traditions!

For an excerpt and Buy Link, go to the Ava Dunne page. It’s only 99 cents!

I love this story — I had such a great time playing with the myths of the season. I’m planning to do more with these characters for each turn of the wheel. Which means the next piece has to be released by February1!

I figured out how to do better covers in Pages. I realized, for the PDFs, I don’t have to work in .doc. I also learned how to save into PDF and transform that into a JPG. Unfortunately, the back cover fill doesn’t convert from Pages to PDF, so, while the stand-alone cover I’m using to promote the book has the background color I want, the download is in simple black and white.

I tweaked the cover for “Tumble”. I think it looks much better. Again, I can’t replace the cover in the PDF, but it’s close, and this looks better for promotion. It’s much easier to work with photographs than anything else, so I need to go find some mistletoe and re-do the other cover. The Nina stories are too much fun to suffer from poor covers!

And yes, I’m hiring a cover ARTIST for the Nina Bell book release on April Fool’s Day! 😉

My bio’s up on the Indie Book Award site, and I look forward to being one of their judges this winter/spring. Exciting!

Had a good writing session in the morning, both yesterday and a little tougher one today. Ran errands — had to find a new tree topper — it’s hard! Finally found one that I think will be pretty.

Got some raking done in the back — the terraced back area and one side of the house. That’s all we could get done before the sleet started. Took seven bags of leaves to the dump. Most of the day was about getting “Just Jump in and Fly” done.

Good meeting in the evening. I’m going to change the way we handle the mailing list, and set up a gmail account for the organization, which will make more sense and give us more flexibility. I’m also going to set up a WordPress site for them. We need to have an internet presence, and be able to link to other sites in the town, etc.

Started packing for the NY trip this weekend. Worked with tarot students. Set up a Tarot Lounge on the workshop board so that we can continue the conversation once class ends, and set up a Yahoo loop called “Myth-Drunk Writers” so we can continue the conversation once the Greek/Roman Mythology class is over.

I’ve got an article to write today, and I’ve got to prep “That Man in Tights” to upload, and get the lights on the darned tree — I finally found them. Tessa spends a lot of time playing with the tree — it makes her feel like outdoor kitty! Also have to go to the local library and Sandwich, and find mistletoe to photograph!

Busy times. But happy ones.

Devon

Don’t forget to sign up for Flash 7 — Write, revise, and submit 7 flash fiction pieces in 10 Days! Info and registration here.