Another snowstorm is set to come in tonight, and yet another one early next week, which could well derail plans. But that’s okay.
Did the social media rounds early, and got some other stuff done, including getting my email box down to something manageable on at least one account.
Had trouble settling into meditation. The leader was late, and I got caught up in something while waiting, and was distracted.
Someone I’ve known for a long time showed (again) what a misogynist he is. I shouldn’t be surprised. Not my problem. I don’t have to engage. Disappointing, but hey. When someone shows you who they are, pay attention.
I have to say, I’m optimistic about Saturn in Pisces (and I hope I don’t get my ass kicked for that optimism). The last time that happened was 1993-1996, which were years of huge positive growth for me. I look forward to taking what I learned then and since, and applying it to this period.
In the afternoon, I pulled myself together and headed to Pittsfield. It was a lovely day to be out and about. The sun had come out, and warmed things up.
Even though I was early, the place was packed, and parking was a nightmare. I played a hunch and went down a street in a different direction and made it work. I parked under the parking sign, so there was no mistake I was in a legal spot, and hiked a couple of blocks to the library. I paid my membership, got my number, and in I went.
It was packed. Just as packed as if I’d come in with the regular population. I found a few things, some CDs, some books for my mom. The cookbooks were ones I either had or didn’t want. I found two old books (from the 20s, I believe) that I have to do some research on provenance, that I picked up because I thought they were nicely made.
I couldn’t get near the art books or the history books because dealers had set up boxes blocking regular people from getting to the shelves and were just shoveling books in.
Dealers shouldn’t be allowed in the member preview, at least not if they’re preventing people from getting to the shelves. I get that they need to make a living and it’s hard, but if they can’t behave with grace, they should have to wait until the end of the sale.
I realized I didn’t want to be in a crowded room full of pushy people (even though I was masked). So I took what I had and checked out and came home.
It took me longer to find a parking spot than I spent at the sale.
But it was a nice drive there and back, and nice to be out.
The seeds came from Eden Brothers, so I will do some planting this weekend. I ordered mostly medicinal herbs, but also zinnias.
I went to bed very early last night and slept for nine hours.
Today is bright and cold, in spite of snow predictions. I will run out this morning to pick up my cake and a few other things. Later this morning, we’re headed to the Clark Institute. I’ll do the social media rounds probably in the afternoon, promoting Episode 14 of Angel Hunt.
According to a notification, today is my Twitter Anniversary. I joined in 2009, so it’s been 14 years. That’s centuries in tech time. What a shame it’s such a dumpster fire lately. But I’m grateful for the fun I’ve had there in the past.
Tomorrow is my birthday. It will probably be a fairly quiet day, especially if it’s snowing. I’d hoped to bring in dinner from a local farm-to-table restaurant, but if the weather’s awful, I’ll wait a few days.
Have a good weekend, and I’ll catch you on the other side!
Time for our Tuesday catch up. Pull up a beverage and let’s get to it.
The bright sun on Friday meant everyone was cheerful as they ran around getting things done before the storm. I dashed down to Big Y to get coffee. Really, that was in the interest of public service, because being around me if I’m without coffee causes unnecessary pain to all. I grabbed a few other things, just in case they were right about 14 inches of snow and I couldn’t dig out by Sunday to do the early month Big Grocery Shop.
Did the social media rounds to promote the day’s episode of Angel Hunt, and to visit the blogs that are, once again, part of my regular rounds. Those of us who’ve never believed the blog is dead and steadily kept at it have built steady readership. I was amazed when a stat report came in, at how many people follow the various blogs, even if they don’t often comment. Thank you! I am grateful for the support, and I hope my mistakes save you pain, and that sharing my experiences make you feel less alone.
I struggled to settle into the page in the morning. The piece I was noodling with yesterday will work; I just have to figure out some of the points so that the structure fits its chosen genre. The piece (meaning my subconscious) chose the genre; I did not intentionally aim for it. But the structure is tight and unforgiving, and I want to make sure I hit the necessary points so I don’t just dive in and flail.
The Heist Romance script was calling me and demanding attention. I knew I had to re-read what I’ve done so far to get back into the voice, and I didn’t want to start that until I’d finished the deadlined work for the week.
I didn’t want to do script coverage in the morning, because then it would be too hard to switch my headspace back into the creative landscape, rather than the critical one. I managed to do a polish, upload, and schedule on the next couple of weeks’ worth of Process Muse posts.
I checked the plants out on the front porch, and it was so nice I sat out there reading the latest issue of THE NEW YORKER, joined by Tessa and Charlotte. There’s a great satiric piece on the pay-for-checkmarks at Twitter in the issue.
I did the necessary coverages and was done for the week, which was nice, I could relax in the evening.
Busy dreams, Friday into Saturday. Not bad, just busy.
It had started snowing late on Friday night. By Saturday morning, we had about a foot of snow, and it kept coming down until about noon. It was very pretty, and the power held, so I enjoyed watching the snow from the living room couch and reading.
I noodled with some ideas for poems. I have themes, ideas, image that I want to explore, although I’m not sure yet how. I have a notebook just for this type of noodling. Part of the notebook is similar to a commonplace book in that I write down quotes which resonate.
I finished reading POEM CRAZY, and started reading Mary Oliver’s book about the craft of poetry.
I was thrilled, on Saturday, to be offered a slot in this autumn’s Boiler House Poets Collective’s residency program at MASSMoCA. A weeklong intensive in the museum’s studios, with the other poets in the collective. It’s such an unexpected honor. I accepted, of course, and I am thrilled and slightly terrified. I will learn a lot and grow in new directions. It also gives me time to figure out what I want to work on. I think I want to write about shattered dreams around the Cape Cod experience (and Chiron will be in retrograde, so it makes sense); at the same time, it has to be more than catharsis, and stand on its own wordy feet. But I can play with themes and ideas and forms, and have something to actually bring in and work on with the Collective, while also creating new work while I’m there.
I started reading Tara Laskhowski’s ONE NIGHT GONE. Author Greg Herren had recommended it over on his blog, and it sounded interesting. It is. It’s very well done.
The Goddess Provisions box arrived, and it was lovely, as usual.
In the early afternoon, I went out to dig out the car. I was highly irritated because the guys who have the spots on either side of me – who are half my age – shoveled the snow behind their cars and dumped it behind my car instead of walking the five steps across the lot to put it where it was supposed to go. So instead of having a foot to shovel, I had three feet. Not a happy camper. They can bite me.
I don’t expect them to shovel my car clear. But it’s unacceptable to add more work to my slot because they’re lazy.
I used to always conscientiously shovel the space between the cars on both sides, but I don’t do it anymore, because I was the only one who ever did it and neither of these guys – young, strong, strapping guys – can ever be bothered.
I grabbed scripts for the week, and then was requested for a coverage, so now I have too many scripts for the beginning of the week (I’m only reading the first three days). But I’ll get it done.
Heard from the extended family up in Maine. They are all down with COVID (because they stopped being careful). They’re annoyed that we haven’t had it yet. Annoyed because we keep following protocols to remain as healthy as possible for as long as possible. No time for that. Makes me glad I started keeping a distance after the whole issue around the move, before we found this place, when they told us I’d have to put my mother in a nursing home, get rid of the cats, get rid of my books, and rent a room and work a minimum wage job. Nope. That’s not my life.
More busy dreams Saturday into Sunday. The good thing about having Tessa sleep on the bed is that she lets me sleep through the night, while Charlotte wakes me up every two hours.
I did a lot of ironing on Sunday, on various fabric that I’ve handwashed over the past few weeks and that has stacked up. It stores better when it’s ironed. I set out the board and plugged in the Rowenta and got to work. I enjoy ironing. It was part of the prep as a wardrobe person I found soothing.
Did some tidying up, broke down some boxes. Got some paperwork done. The chop wood, carry water part of artistic life is just as important as the rest of it. It keeps one grounded.
Worked on contest entries. I’ll have to do that every day for the next two months, to make sure I give the entries their due.
I re-read what I have of the Heist Romance Script. It holds up, in spite of knowing it needs work. Back to the research on Corsica and Sardinia, so I can sneak work on the next sections in around other work.
Sunday night into Monday, I dreamed about creating art pieces out of layered tissue paper that resembled stained glass (my uncle used to work in actual stained glass). It made sense in the dream, and looked pretty darn good, but I have no idea how to pull it off on this side of the Dreamscape.
Monday was sunny. Yeah!
Did the social media rounds early, took care of administrative stuff, then it was off to the library and the grocery store. Of course, as soon as I got home, another slew of books showed up at the library; I’ll pick them up tomorrow or so.
Did the big early-in-the-month grocery shop, hauled everything home and put it away.
Turned around three coverages and started on a fourth before I ran out of steam. Got requested for another that has to be done this week, so now I’m really overscheduled. However, I’m also grateful that writers find the feedback helpful and get excited to create more, and that they want my take on it. So I will get it all done.
Soup class was fun.
Worked on contest entries after.
Cancelled my subscription to Tamed Wild. I’ve gotten some beautiful things from them the past few years. But last year, they upped the shipping cost, so it’s an extra 40% on top of the cost of the box. They claimed it was “temporary” but we all knew that was a crock. However, since then, the shipping has gotten completely erratic. They can blame the post office all they want, but the post office can’t forward what hasn’t been given to them. The box that arrived yesterday was paid for on 13 Feb and supposed to ship by the 18. It shipped last Friday, 3 March. So much for a ritual meant to be specific to February. On top of that, the quality of the box contents has gone down and become repetitive. And, for instance, with the jewelry, now the pendants and chains aren’t put together, and when one tries to put the pendant on the chain – it doesn’t fit. Which means I have to go out and buy findings to adjust it and spend time trying to make it work. I’m not a jewelry artist. I don’t know how to do it and I shouldn’t have to for something I’ve purchased. Now they’re talking about going quarterly with a bigger box at more than double the cost with the shipping being an additional 25% on top of the cost of the box. No. Just no. So I cancelled. I’m grateful for the good months, but the direction they’re taking isn’t working for me.
Goddess Provisions has much more consistent quality, pricing, and on-time delivery.
But a new moonstone was part of yesterday’s box. Tessa loves moonstones, and she’s kept it close.
Slept decently, although the feline shift change at 4 AM woke me. I had trouble getting back to sleep after, going down negative spirals. I kept reminding myself, that’s not reality. I can choose that not to be reality. On a couple of points I realized the irritant was either none of my business or a situation I could choose to remove myself from, so why fret?
Today I have at least three coverages to turn around, and I will try to at least get started on a fourth. I have yoga this evening, so that will help me reset.
I have some pain-in-the-ass-but-necessary admin work (again, cleaning up the mess of the inept), but I’ll get that done, and hopefully write a bit, too. I took the writing pressure off myself early in the week because I knew I was only doing client work M-T-W, so I’ll gear back up on writing Thursday and Friday, along with the other stuff planned, and get back to a more stable writing-in-the-morning-client-work-in-the-afternoon schedule next week. I’m still writing in longhand first thing in the morning, so I’m still writing every day, and that keeps me on an even keel.
I had an epiphany about another layer for the play FALL FOREVER that will be written in April, so I’ll jot those notes down in my outline. It gives deeper motivations to several of the characters, and makes it more nuanced.
I also realized I haven’t scheduled the promos for this week’s episodes of LEGERDEMAIN and ANGEL HUNT, so I’ll have to do that first thing. Hint: Episode 65 of Legerdemain drops today!
We’re supposed to get another foot to fourteen inches of snow, starting tonight through tomorrow. I hope they are wrong again.
Wrote about a thousand words after meditation, which was a nice start to the day.
I paid bills and made the official request, in writing, to extend our lease another year. Picked up books from the library and got wine from the liquor store. Of course, as soon as I got home, I got the notification that more books arrived.
They have to wait until Monday.
Started working on the grant application. It took several hours, and there’s some intense writing in it, but it’s off. Either it’s what they’re looking for or it’s not, but if I don’t try, I don’t have any chance at landing it.
Last week, I got a notice stating my health insurance was all sorted out (except for, you know, having an actual doctor). Today I got three different missives all contradicting each other. Whatever. I’ll look at them and deal with them when I’m less exhausted. Plus, my mother’s supplementary insurance, which was supposedly all sorted out? They now claim they’ve lost the paperwork. Twice. Because, of course, they want her to enroll in a more expensive plan. They can fuck right off.
I got confirmation that the paperwork I had to re-send earlier in the week arrived and was accepted. Phew.
I did the social media rounds to promote the new episode of Legerdemain that went live yesterday. Dropping three platforms shaves off 30 minutes of those rounds, and makes a huge difference. Time there wasn’t paying off in terms of driving traffic to my site, sales, or having fun hanging out. So they’re dropped.
NYU’s Alumni Book Club hosted a virtual talk with Sara Nisha Adams, who wrote THE READING LIST, which we read over these past few months. What a delightful hour that was! I’m so glad I made the time to attend. I’m excited to read her new book when it releases.
The script coverage was rough going; I only got one and a half completed, which means I have two and a half to do today. Plus, I kept thinking it was Friday yesterday (even though I was at meditation, and that happens on Thursdays).
I’m re-reading Susan G. Wooldridge’s POEM CRAZY and enjoying it. I want to read her books of poems now, too. She mentions that poet Michael McClure suggests making a “personal universe deck” and I really like that idea. I think I may do it a little differently than they mean, but the idea appeals to me, even though I don’t know how I will do it yet. I know his work as a playwright, but now I want to read his poems, too.
I started reading THE QUARTER STORM by Veronica G. Henry. It’s really good. It was recommended by a colleague over on Mastodon, and I’m really enjoying it.
The second shipment of contest entries arrived, and has to be processed. So now I have to dig down deep, every day, to do them justice. I’m looking forward to it, especially with all that snow coming in.
I’m invited to an art opening this evening and another tomorrow. I’m not sure I can make either one of them with a Nor’easter coming in. The storm is supposed to start at 7 PM tonight and continue until 9 PM tomorrow.
I miss working on the Heist Romance script, and I hope I can do at least a few pages on the Corsica section this weekend, in and around working on contest entries, Legerdemain, and Angel Hunt.
Episode 12 of Angel Hunt drops today. I hope you enjoy it.
After breakfast, I’m going to run out to the grocery store to get more coffee (how could I be out of coffee already?), and then, it’s back to the page.
I ran out of ink again on Friday morning. I really need to get the laser printer fixed. Finding someone who is qualified to repair it AND who will come to the house is challenging. But I can’t keep buying ink tanks every couple of weeks. And the printer needs two people to carry it, so it’s not like I can toss it into the back of the car and take it anywhere.
I did some work on the outline for one of the April projects (and even did a temporary logo for it). The premise is there, and the central conflict, but I need to develop it out, without making it too complicated, because it has to hit 15,000 words pretty exactly. Whether I can pull it off is something else, but at least I have enough to put on a burner at the back of my brain and let it percolate.
I did some work on the FALL FOREVER outline. I know the opening now, and the end. It’s all those bits in the middle that I have to figure out. Some of them I can do as I write; but I have to figure out the major points I want to hit in each act, so I have something to work toward as I write. I haven’t written a contemporary, naturalistic play in quite a while, so this will be interesting.
I finished revising the next “batch of four” episodes of Legerdemain, gave them a polish, uploaded and scheduled them. That gets me through mid-March, which is a little too tight working for me. I need to dig in these next few weeks and finish this arc, polish it, and get it uploaded. Then I’ll work on the third big arc, and decide if I want to keep the serial going past that, or end it. I’m going to run some ads for both serials in April and May, and that will have something to do with it, too. I also need to do more work on the Legerdemain website.
Did the social media rounds to promote Angel Hunt and 28 Prompts. Today is the last day of 28 Prompts. It’s fun, and I have a bunch of new material, and it’s gotten a strong response across several platforms, but I’m glad it’s done. After tomorrow’s “thank you” post about it, I’m dropping three of the social media platforms from my daily rounds.
Post changed its look when you go on it to read and post. I think, in the long run, it might work better, but I was in a rush, and it jarred me. Having to learn how to navigate all over again irritates me.
Turned around a pitch coverage in the afternoon.
Sat down to do work on The Master Plan for both Legerdemain and Angel Hunt, with possible alternatives, depending on sales figures. Having an idea of “if this happens, I can do that with it” gives me options, so that I don’t have to make a rushed decision which might not serve me or the work. One of the reasons I’m working Legerdemain in large arcs is that it’s structured as an open-ended serial, and I want to make sure there are natural end points for it along the way, should it need to end, or should readers need to pause during its duration. I mean, it will end at some point, but I have a very long range plan for it, and it’s not meant to be a novel or set of novels released in chapters.
Did not dig out the car, because it started snowing heavily again, so there was no point. Dashed down to Cumberland Farms at the end of the block for a few necessities.
Wrote two more Process Muse posts, and started the background reading for another, which is the re-read of Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own.” Started reading the two books for review (one is a book that’s better read with breaks in it, so during those breaks, I started reading the other). Caught up on VANITY FAIR and NEW YORKER issues that have stacked up.
Tessa slept on the bed most of the night on Saturday, and there was a feline shift switch around 4 AM on Sunday, when Tessa left to Do Things and Charlotte jumped up. I dreamed that I’d been bitten by a spider, which supposedly means betrayal.
Sunday I found out that essential, deadlined paperwork which had been sent by Certified Mail had not been delivered and was waiting back for me at the post office. It’s infuriating. Makes the spider dream make sense – betrayed by USPS.
An article I wrote early in the pandemic for WOW – Women on Writing was finally released: “Keep the Series Fresh.” For it, I interviewed Alyssa Maxwell, Lucy Burdette, and Yasmine Galenorn. At the time of the article, my own series were in a different situation than they are now. It reads like a different person wrote it. I can tell I was sick – the flow is off. But I was paid (back when I turned it in), it’s up and out there. I did a clean PDF file copy of the piece, and sent it, along with the link, to the three gracious, lovely writers who were interviewed. And I put the link up on the Fearless Ink website.
It took about an hour to dig out the car. There were layers of ice amongst the layers of snow. When it came to the windshield and front of the car, I had to make like climate change attacking an iceberg. But eventually, I got it all off. The ice was stacked behind the wheels, frozen to the ground so I couldn’t shovel it away. I rocked the car back and forth a few times, then put sand on the ice to get traction, and managed to get out. I left the car with the back wheels perched on top of the ice bowl until I needed to get out. Several guys passing by offered to help push or lift, which was sweet of them, but not necessary. Very different from the Old White Men on the Cape, who only stood around telling one that they were doing wrong, instead of offering actual help or solutions.
Tried to set up the Libby app on my Kindle, but it keeps telling me that it can’t set me up, because either my card is expired or I have overdue items (neither is true) and I have to go to the library to get help. I’m trying to set up an appointment, but with all these storms coming in during the week, it better be next week.
Came in, showered off and read for a bit, then got dressed and headed to yoga. Last night was Yoga Nidra. Very different from previous classes I took in a different studio in the previous location, where it was treated like a pajama party instead of mindful work.
This was mindful, relaxed but AWAKE (and everyone paid attention instead of just falling asleep). When it was over, I felt more refreshed than after 8 hours’ sleep (something I never felt in the pajama party situations). We took some time to ground before leaving, because our instructor wanted to make sure we were okay to drive.
I’d like to say I came home, cooked a healthful meal, etc. Nope. Went through the Burger King drive through. I don’t think we’ve had red meat since about October, but I was craving Burger King and fries.
It was delicious.
It didn’t make us sick this time around, either.
I finished reading the two books for review before bed.
Tessa slept on the bed again, all night, until nearly six Monday morning. I slept REALLY well. It took me a bit to get to sleep, because between the Yoga Nidra and the meat, I was feeling perky. But once I went to sleep, I stayed asleep, and woke up feeling great.
I wrote the two book reviews and sent them off, with the invoice, before breakfast. By 8:30, I was out the door: gas in the car, ink for the printer, to the Post Office to sort out the issue with delivery. Two postal clerks helped me, and none of us could figure it out. I brought the instructional sheet – it was sent where they told us to send it. So why was it refused and returned? We sent it again, 2-day priority. Let’s hope someone actually accepts it this time.
Off to Big Y to get necessary groceries before the storm, including a chicken to roast. Then, off to the library to pick up the stack of 8 books that arrived. They were very busy, with everyone trying to get books before the storm.
Of course, as soon as I got home, I got notification that 3 more books showed up!
I had everything done by 10:30, and then did the social media rounds for the article, the February Wrap-up, and #28Prompts.
Got paid for the reviews, and assigned more books.
Did the social media rounds for the article and #28Prompts. Turned around two scripts. The editor for the article I submitted last week sent me changes, so I’ll take a look at those today and turn them around.
Roasted a chicken (yummy). Leftovers will get us through the week, in case the weather’s awful as predicted. Made stock.
Soup class was fun, even though it was a twist on Borscht, and I am not fond of beets. But it was pretty, and a soup a vampire would love.
Still re-reading Anne Truitt’s DAYBOOK. There are ideas in there I can talk about in The Process Muse.
Tessa slept on the bed. At 3:30, we were awakened by the snowplows. She decided it was shift change, so she left, and Charlotte came up, until I got up just before 6. It’s been snowing off and on, but not as bad as predicted. There are so many wildly different predictions for the day coming in that I will just look out the window and make decisions from there.
On today’s agenda: Another episode of Legerdemain, upload some Process Muse posts, upload tomorrow’s Ink-Dipped Advice post, looking over (and applying) the editor’s notes on the article, turning around three pitch scoring sheets and two full scripts. A bunch of scripts came in (at 6:30 this morning), so I’m set for the week. I’ll make the same in the first three days of the March pay period as I made in the second February pay period. I hope that bodes well for March, with more scripts coming in next week.
The second batch of contest entries is supposed to arrive today, so I will process them. I might bake cookies.
I have to do the social media rounds to promote today’s episode of Legerdemain, and the final #28Prompts post. I have to upload and schedule this week’s Angel Hunt promotions.
Fingers crossed the power and internet keep working so I can get it all done!
I baked bread yesterday, and, to my delight, it turned out well. It’s one of my favorite recipes, but sometimes it doesn’t work. This time it did, and it was wonderful. The yeast bloomed well, the crumb is good, the taste is delightful.
Worked on Legerdemain. Revised the next set of episodes to be uploaded. They need some more work. Too much passive voice. Some of it is necessary; the rest is sloppy writing that needs fixing.
Wrote the two book reviews, submitted them, got my next two assignments. Did a stack of coverage scoring sheets, and turned around two scripts.
I have an opportunity to put PLAYING THE ANGLES, SAVASANA AT SEA, and TRACKING MEDUSA into a special promotion. Normally, I’d jump at it. But since those series are in limbo at this point, I’m wondering if I should. I have another day or two to think about it, although I’d like to get more attention on all three books.
Did the social media rounds to promote Legerdemain and #28Prompts. As far as writing conversations go, I’m having the best ones over on Mastodon at this point.
The weather was too awful to make it to Open Studios, so I didn’t go. Soup class was moved to last night, from its usual Monday slot, and that was fun.
Ice storm came through last night, and it’s snowing again this morning. I suppose, at some point, I have to go out and dig out the car. I’m not doing errands today; I’ll do them tomorrow morning.
Disturbing, sometimes violent dreams last night. Charlotte pulled me out of them several times, but we are both exhausted this morning.
One year anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine. The West has not done enough.
Today’s agenda: Working on Legerdemain, working on the short radio plays, doing the social media rounds to promote today’s episode of Angel Hunt and #28Prompts, turning around a treatment coverage, starting the next book for review, working on contest entries.
This weekend, I’ll work on both Legerdemain and Angel Hunt, along with doing household chores. I’m hoping to put some time into “Plot Bunnies” to get that prepped for re-release the week or so before Easter. Which means I have to commit to finishing “Labor Intensive” and getting that out by the end of summer, and figuring out the third one (maybe something built around President’s Day) to release in early 2024. I need to do some more prep work on the outline of FALL FOREVER, the script I plan to write for the Dramatists’ Guild END OF PLAY in April. I have the basic idea of it, but I need more specifics, so that when I sit down to write on April 1, it’s there. I also need to work on another piece in March, that experiments a little in format, structure, and the way it’s released, that I hope to have ready for April, but I don’t want to overcommit myself.
Next week, I also need to go through the short stories that are ready to go out, and get them submitted. I want to get back to “13 in Play” where there are always at least 13 pieces out on submission. Because if they’re not out there, they can’t find their best match and earn their keep. I have 7 pieces out on submission now, all plays. I need to mix it up a bit.
Along with re-reading Anne Truitt’s DAYBOOK, I’m also dipping into Doris Grumbach’s FIFTY DAYS OF SOLITUDE (for the umpteenth time). I always learn something new from it.
The weekend is supposed to be pretty nasty, as far as weather goes. I have to dig out the car by tomorrow morning and do a grocery run (and maybe a library run) before the next storm comes in. And I have yoga on Sunday evening, something I am not willing to give up.
I wrote two book reviews on Friday morning, sent them in, invoiced, was paid, did a library run, came home. The weather was yucky. I had some scoring sheets and some pitches for coverage, that was it.
I have to say, these scoring sheets where the instructions are only to read the first page of the screenplay and score on that are teaching me a lot about how to open my own scripts.
I was done by mid-afternoon. My back hurt a lot, so I moved to the couch with the heating pad, and stayed there, reading for pleasure, pretty much all weekend. The weather was gray and icky.
Saturday’s reading was re-reading the 4th book of my own GAMBIT COLONY project and what I have of the 5th, on which I wanted to figure out and rework a few bits. I made some notes and did an insert scene. It’s not traditionally viable, so I’ll have to pitch it to a small publisher, and I have to make sure I have all the ducks in the row for the series. There’s a lot that works in it, and there’s also a lot that pushes boundaries. And there are cuts that need to be made, or information integrated differently, in order to let the focus remain on the large and ever-growing ensemble.
But in the late afternoon/evening, I switched over to reading for pleasure, and basically read all day Sunday.
There were some books that I started and went back in the return stack for the library after a few chapters because they just didn’t do it for me. But I read LAST TRAIN TO MEMPHIS by Elizabeth Peters (another Vicky Bliss), Lana Harper’s BACK IN A SPELL (which is really good), and AN UNKINDNESS OF RAVENS by M.E. Hilliard, which I think I’ve read before, but it was a pleasure to re-read (and order the next books in the series), and an early book by an author whose work I’ve read a lot of under various names; this one was a little on the cutesy side for me.
I should have dived into the books on Malta’s history for the Heist Romance screenplay. I did look through the travel guides and watched some local videos, and decide where I’m putting some of the key scenes, though. I should have worked on contest entries.
But I was in pain and feeling grumpy and unsettled, so I didn’t. I did, early on Saturday morning, dash out to get more ink. Getting in and out of the car was hard. But it had to be done.
Monday I had to get up and actually function, so I did some prep for Imbolcc, blogged, worked on Process Muse posts, and took the car in for inspection in the morning – new-to-me place, in and out in 12 minutes, which is less time than it took to drive there. But I’m all set until next year.
I only had a stack of scoring sheets to do in the script coverage, so I did that, and started working ahead on the Process Muse posts.
I have an idea tickling at the back of my brain. I thought it was going to be historical alt-fantasy or epic fantasy, but the characters have decided it is urban fantasy romance, so that’s what it will be. If I ever figure it out. Because some key scenes basically dropped into my head, and I have the story with the emotional arcs for the two protagonists, but not the plot. So I’ll make notes on the scenes (or maybe write them, there are not many of them), and let it percolate on the back burner of my brain to see if a plot evolves. All of last night’s dreams were in the world of that story, and through those characters’ experiences (rather than me being myself in one of my Dreamscapes), so there’s obviously something in there my subconscious believes is viable.
I ordered the Midnight City Pocket Tarot and am very excited to get it. The artwork is based on NYC locations, so it will have a resonance for me.
Soup class was fun – we did mulligatawny soup, and it was great. I missed the last couple of weeks of class, and missed the camaraderie, as well as the skills I’m learning. Once the food is created, everyone just hangs out and chats, and it’s fun. The best of Zoom (and makes Charlotte so happy).
I did a reading with the Spirit Allies Oracle deck, which came in the Goddess Provisions box a couple of months back. I don’t know why I’m surprised when it’s so accurate. It’s a terrific deck, by the way.
Anthony Lemke talked about a book he read that he really loved. It’s been on my TBR list for awhile, but I’m moving it up, because he’s never steered me wrong when it comes to books or good work!
We had a little snow overnight, maybe just over an inch. We have an ice warning out, and it’s kind of flurrying. I’ll wait until mid-day to do my library-grocery-liquor store run. I need more coffee. And I have to put in a Chewy order for cat litter.
The cats have adjusted to the whole not-being-fed-until-coffee. But the second the coffeemaker starts (it’s set for a specific time the night before) and the smell wafts through the house, all of them are making demands that I Get Up and Feed Them. It’s kind of hilarious.
I need to get my act together and focus today. There’s writing to do, interview questions to create and send off, contest entries to read, a book to start reading for review. No scripts in the queue, at least so far. I’m not in terrible shape this pay period, but I’m under what I hoped, and I’m very, very frustrated at the pressure to “double volume” when there aren’t enough scripts at a decent rate in the queue. So I need to add in other options.
#28Prompts starts tomorrow. I hope you have fun with it. I had fun coming up with the prompts. It will drop on Twitter at noon EST every day, and on the other social media channels (where I can’t schedule ahead of time) whenever I can get on them.
The next episode of Legerdemain drops today. I hope you enjoy it. Be well, my friends.
Whew! Finally, we are done, for a brief shining moment with retrogrades, since Uranus went direct on Sunday the 22nd.
Which was also Chinese Lunar New Year, and we are now in the Year of the Water Rabbit.
Which is why tomorrow was chosen as the launch day for ANGEL HUNT.
Got all that?
Good. Now we can sit down for our usual Tuesday natter.
Friday seems oh, so very long away. It snowed all day. I did the section of the Heist Romance set in Kyle of Lochalsh, Scotland (yes, I’ve been there, too), back in London, and on the Eurostar to Paris. I spent about an hour and a half putting together a list of resources for a close friend of mine, who’s feeling stuck, and sent that off. Heard from a friend of a friend, who recently moved to the area and is now working at Williams College; we will get together when she feels more settled.
In the afternoon, I read both books for review, and then read for pleasure in the evening.
We got closer to 3 inches than six inches of snow overnight, but because of the constant freezing and snowing, digging out the car was not fun. But I did so, and got to the library to pick up the stack of 8 books waiting for me. So at least I have those in before the next storm.
The rest of the materials for the incomplete coverage arrived, so I read them and started the coverage. Did the usual Saturday chores, like changing the beds, etc. Made pasta with sausage for dinner.
Read Evelyn Salter’s memoir of her years working as Edith Sitwell’s secretary, which was very interesting, and relevant to one of the projects with which I’m noodling in longhand. And makes me want to read Evelyn Salter’s crime novels, which I’m having difficulty finding. Time to haul out WorldCat. Between the regional CW Mars network, the Commonwealth Catalog (all of the state), the ILL system of WorldCat, and the Gutenberg Project, I should be able to do it. I managed to finally find Alice Campbell’s JUGGERNAUT on Gutenberg, and order some of her other titles via Commonwealth Catalog. Her work was popular around the time of Agatha Christie’s work, though she was not as well known.
Speaking of Agatha Christie, I joined the reading challenge over on her website (run by her descendants). January’s title is SAD CYPRESS, which I haven’t reread in ages, so that will be fun.
Figured out how to plant a real clue and some red herrings in the section of the Heist Romance script set in Paris, and researched the neighborhood/architecture of the neighborhood where I want it to happen, so I can choreograph the action in a way that makes sense.
Up early on Sunday to make chocolate chip banana bread. The weather advisory shifted to up to 10 inches of snow falling between Sunday night and Monday evening.
So, instead of taking Sunday off, I finished the coverage and sent it off, wrote both book reviews and sent them off, and said I’d be ready for more, hoping the power would hold on Monday morning so I could download them and read them during the snow.
Wrote 16 pages on the Heist Romance screenplay, doing the Paris section, the train to Nice-Ville, and the train to Monte Carlo. Set up clues and red herrings.
Made spicy peanut noodles and dumplings for lunch, so we could celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year. I miss being included in family celebrations for this as I was during my Broadway days, working on shows like MISS SAIGON and FLOWER DRUM SONG.
Treated myself by reading the next Vicky Bliss book, TROJAN GOLD (I love that series so much), and working on contest entries.
It started snowing around dinnertime on Sunday, and snowed all day on Monday. I was glad I’d gotten everything out the door Sunday, although I got my next two books for review on Monday.
I also got a big stack of coverages to do today and tomorrow, for which I’m grateful, but it will keep me busy. Let’s hope the power holds.
I worked on The Process Muse post which drops tomorrow. I’m trying to keep the posts a little shorter than they’ve been thus far.
I polished, uploaded and scheduled the next four episodes of LEGERDEMAIN, which gets me through mid-February. I polished, uploaded, and scheduled the next eight episodes of ANGEL HUNT, which gets me through mid-April.
ANGEL HUNT goes live tomorrow, so I have to block off a few hours to promote, and to upload/schedule promotions on the first episodes, since Kindle Vella doesn’t give us the direct link to the serial until it goes live.
I have to write episode loglines for all 12 episodes, and do the graphics for the LEGERDEMAIN episodes.
Starting this week, people can read new episodes of mine Tuesdays through Fridays: LEGERDEMAIN episodes drop Tuesday and Thursday; ANGEL HUNT episodes drop Wednesday and Friday.
I went out to try and dig out the car once we hit 12 inches. It was still snowing, and I gave up after a bit; it was too difficult, and the plow had pushed large chunks of snow behind the car. I will try again today. We have another storm coming in tomorrow, although instead of the 8 inches predicted, now they’re only saying 4.
One of the few things I miss about living on Cape is the garage.
Worked on contest entries. Got some other reading done.
Chef Jeremy did a fundraising class for No Kid Hungry; I couldn’t attend the session (even though it was on Zoom), but I made a donation.
Frustrating when the premise is excellent, most of the writing is strong, and the protagonist is an idiot one wishes was the next murder victim.
Listened to the HADESTOWN cast album last night. It’s one of my favorite scores, and one of the shows I wish I’d had a chance to work on before I left working backstage.
Busy night in the Dreamscape. Nothing bad, just busy. Work up tired and grumpy. I have a feeling a good portion of the grumps is because I know I have to shovel out the car later, before the next storm hits. The very thought of it is exhausting.
And, somewhere between all the storms, I have to get the car inspected.
I plan to get some drafting done on the next LEGERDEMAIN episodes this morning, and maybe a few pages on the Heist Romance screenplay, before digging out the car and switching to script coverage. I’m grateful for the work, but I’m tired.
Have a good one! Enjoy today’s LEGERDEMAIN episode!
After meditation, I sat down to layer in what I’d come up with in the Heist Romance script to make it more interesting. I usually push through a draft, but I needed to set up a few things to pay off further down the line, and because of the somewhat episodic nature of the piece, building each section properly is important.
Also, this is the opening. It needs to hook the reader/viewer immediately. How often have I received scripts to cover where the instructions were to only read the first page, the question was “does this first page make you want to read more?” and my answer was “No.” In the last few weeks, more often than not. I don’t want to fall into the same trap. And that’s something that’s come up a lot in the discussions I’ve had lately with fellow scriptwriters, analysts, and show runners – the best scripts capture the reader from the first page. If you need more than a page to “set it up” you need to go back and rewrite.
I got it where I wanted it, fixed the first six pages, established two more characters necessary for the rest of the piece. However, when I revised those first six pages, I kept going. By the time I hit a good stopping point, I was 27 pages in. I’d finished the section in New York, done the first section in London, and am ready to send one of my pair of central protagonists to Scotland (I still have to write a section in the British Museum Library reading room before he heads off).
I figured I’d worked for about an hour, until I looked at the clock.
I’d worked four hours.
It felt like nothing, although I was physically tired. It’s not as though the pages don’t need work, but it’s a solid foundation.
I turned around four script coverages in the afternoon, and a quick scoring sheet. There was nothing in the queue to grab, but overnight the missing materials from a script earlier in the week came through, so I will work on that today. And consider the rest of the time a gift.
I didn’t make the social media rounds yesterday to promote Legerdemain (I’m so grateful to the friends who saw the promotional graphics drop and boosted them). So I have to catch up on that today.
When I first woke up, it was barely snowing, and I thought I could do a library run to pick up the big stack of books that finally showed up. But the snow is intensifying, so I think I will just stay put, and hope I can dash out between storms tomorrow. We’re supposed to get 6 inches between now and tomorrow morning, and another storm coming through Sunday into Monday, and another midweek. Winter in New England.
I do have to create the graphics for the next 4 episodes of Legerdemain and get them uploaded and scheduled. I did the loglines yesterday.
I want to do a little more on the Heist Romance, since it’s running hot in my brain, and then switch over to Legerdemain, and maybe upload some more ANGEL HUNT episodes (although I might leave that until tomorrow). I also want to get a jump on the next couple of weeks’ worth of The Process Muse.
Have a great weekend, and we’ll catch up next week.
I did the social media rounds promoting the Process Muse post and Ink-Dipped Advice. I’m enjoying Post more and more, although they are moving to a system of “trust metrics” which just sounds like another version of a popularity contest. So we’ll see. There’s not much interaction there, but there’s a lot of good reading material, and I enjoy my time there. CounterSocial and Mastodon, so far, are the best for genuine interaction.
I drafted a new episode of LEGERDEMAIN, which was a lot of fun. I have to work on the graphics for the episodes for the next two weeks, which are already uploaded and scheduled. I thought I wrote the loglines, and am puzzled that I can’t find them.
I turned around five script coverages. I’m glad I have four in today’s queue because, you guessed it, the rest is blank. I may have to read over the weekend, which I do not want to do. Motivation to get the new Fearless Ink postcard out, and the new brochure designed.
I figured out a way to make this first section of the Heist Romance script more logical, more creative, and funnier for the audience. Even though I SHOULD NOT DO IT, I am going back and rewriting, so that I can move on a few days down the line. Because, over there? In that other corner? The LUCKY NUMBERS script Is Not Happy.
Caught up with some correspondence with friends yesterday, too, which was nice. Did a little reading for pleasure (when I should have been reading for review). But it will all get done, and I need to give my brain rest from critical reading with pleasure reading, or I get burned out.
We’re supposed to get 3-6 inches of snow today. Originally, the storm was supposed to come in tonight and into tomorrow. Now, they’re saying it will start at 11 AM this morning and continue through Saturday morning. Sunrise this morning was a sky on fire. I have the pre-storm headache. And when I stepped outside, I could feel the storm coming in.
Because I pulled myself together when the alert came in, and went to the grocery store at 7 AM, when they opened, to pick up potatoes, orange juice, and toilet paper. Because, you know, priorities.
I’m going to make the stuffed eggplant tonight for dinner, which uses a lot of potatoes. I thought we had potatoes when I went grocery shopping earlier in the week, only to discover that we had ONE potato. But now we have enough for the recipe.
Online meditation this morning, and then, after breakfast, it’s back to the page!
Have a good one, and enjoy Episode 52 of Legerdemain, which drops today.
Time for our usual Tuesday morning catch up. The mid-month check-in is not yet up on the GDR site, but I hope to get that done later today.
Friday was pretty much a lost day. I did some blog work in the morning, made the social media rounds, and then headed out for the usual errands: post office, library, grocery store.
I didn’t realize how bad I felt until I was out and about.
Got things done, came home, unpacked, tidied up the living room (which involved rearranging stacks of books for various projects, and I wound up with a book fort).
I decided to give myself the day off and stayed in the book fort.
I noodled a little in long hand on an idea that started percolating a couple of days ago, and wrote a few outline notes.
I wrote up the two reviews, turned them in, and received my next books for review.
I finished reading THE READING LIST, which I really liked, and I’m looking forward to discussing it in book group.
Started reading another book that was recommended to me, but it was in present tense and lost me at the end of page one, so back to the library it goes, unread.
We were well enough to eat a decent dinner, and relax in the evening, reading and listening to Chantal Chamberland.
Slept reasonably well Friday into Saturday, although I had weird dreams. It was snowing again on Saturday morning (this after the weather reports said Saturday would be a “bright” day and the best of the weekend). Did the usual household chores.
Wrote about 12 pages on the outline I started the previous day. I know what has to happen for the last bit, but I’m not sure how to get there, so that will back burner percolate for a bit.
Roughed out ideas for two future “seasons” of ANGEL HUNT, if this one goes well, although the plot will be tighter and less sprawling. The seeds for both are set in ANGEL HUNT, although that was not my original intention. But we’ll see if it’s worth getting them past “idea” stage.
The damn new little printer wasn’t working properly, and I was ready to drop kick it out the window. I know better than to buy anything Canon anymore, be it a camera or a printer. They used to be a good company, but haven’t been for at least ten years now.
I want my big printer to work again.
Okay, whine over.
I set up the folders for the judging sheets in the three categories I’m judging, and put the correct sheets in the correct folders. I use paper sheets as I read, and then as I finish each book or a few books, I enter the data. It saves work rather than trying to enter all the scoring at the end. This way, I can finish the Batch 1 print in each category, then Batch 1 digital in each category, hopefully before Batch 2 gets there, and then I just have the final decisions to make, once I’ve read and entered Batch 2. I keep the Yes and Maybe piles on the worktable in my office for final decisions, and keep winnowing them down as I go. If it’s digital, I keep the physical sheet in the pile, so I can refer back to it when it’s time to make decisions.
I turned around a script, and started work on contest entries.
Sunday, I was up early, enjoying coffee, cats, and writing in longhand. Made biscuits. Had some sad news from a friend that a friend of hers, with whom I worked, has died of COVID. An online acquaintance is going through a rough time; I’m trying to be supportive, but also wondering if we’re being manipulated. That’s always the risk, when you only know someone online. Still, kindness from afar costs nothing, and can make a big difference.
Had to write a new Episode 56 for Legerdemain, because I needed to plant a character in a specific location to set up a plot intersection, and it needs to happen here. So the next set of episodes is misnumbered in the 1st draft now, and I’ll have to be careful drafting and editing forward. But I fixed a plot hole I knew was coming up, and set up a good intersection, even though it won’t happen for a few episodes. Polished and uploaded the episodes, which gets me into the beginning of February. Writing ahead on the first draft while polishing the second to upload requires intense concentration and specificity. I am grateful for my Tracking Sheets, Style Sheets, and the Series Bible, and I am diligent about adding in new information as soon as it’s created, and then changing it if it changes in the edits.
That process is different than with a series of novels, where I have tracking sheets as I write, but I don’t update the Series Bible until the final galleys are done on the book.
Had to put in more ink in the little printer, because, of course I did.
Turned around some script scoring. The pay for that is insulting, but that’s all that was in the queue, and the pay period ended on Sunday, so there we are.
Yeah, I’m getting on top of the LOIs and the direct mail as soon as Mercury goes direct this week.
Finished reading SILHOUETTE IN SCARLET, the Vicky Bliss mystery, and loved it. It got me thinking about some tropes I want to turn inside out. I ended up staying up until 11:30 writing 11 pages of a script outline in longhand.
Yesterday morning, I wrote another 9 pages, and then typed it up. Basically, the whole day was on this outline, which is really more of a treatment. I think it will be a limited series script, not a single screenplay. And there’s research to be done, and some beats to be fleshed out, even beyond the 10K of this outline. But it’s fun. And because each section needs a different type of research, it will be worked on piecemeal around other projects. I’ll reward myself for finishing work on other projects by doing a section of this piece here and there.
I have scripts in my queue for the next few days, too, so although I’m worried about the small amount of money from the pay period ending on Sunday, I’m hoping this pay period will be better. And I have to get off my duff and pitch for some new gigs.
I turned around two coverages. I was too tired for soup class. I wrote the opening 6 pages of the script on the treatment I’d written. It’s doing what I want it to, at least for this draft, although there will be a lot of cutting and layering in future drafts. I don’t yet have a title for it. For myself, I’m referring to it as the “Heist Romance” script.
It was very difficult to pull myself out of that fictional world (even though some of the settings are places I know very well). I felt disoriented and out of place.
I should have started the next book for review or worked on contract entries. Instead, I started reading a book by an author who’s work I’ve read for years. Her new book is the first of a new series. It’s still a little too predictable, formula-wise (but that’s what her readers want) and I keep getting too far ahead, but I like the central pair of protagonists, so it was worth staying up until 11:30 reading (I hope to finish it today).
I overslept this morning, and Tessa Was Not Amused. I fed everyone and settled down to write in longhand for a bit. Still felt disoriented, and a bit addled. My brain is already rewriting those initial six pages, and I took the red pen and marked up what I printed out.
The priority this morning needs to be the post for tomorrow’s Process Muse. I started it a few days ago, and then got distracted, so I have to get back to it. I need to draft another episode of Legerdemain, adapt another chapter of ANGEL HUNT, and maybe upload the next month’s worth of episodes. I have to create the graphics for the four episodes of Legerdemain I uploaded on Sunday, and draft tomorrow’s Ink-Dipped Advice post. The two posts for tomorrow were supposed to be on yesterday’s work schedule, but the Heist Romance pushed everything else to the side. I don’t regret spending the whole day on it at all, but it means reshuffling the rest of the week’s work. And the other script, that I started a couple of weeks ago, with the working title LUCKY NUMBERS, is standing there, tapping its inky foot, demanding attention. Since I figured out how to get out of the corner into which I’d written myself, I can do so. The question is when? I don’t want to lose its rhythm, or get its rhythm diluted by the Heist Romance.
I have errands I planned to do on Thursday, but we’re supposed to get the 3-6 inches of snow on Thursday that everyone else got the past couple of days. Today is bright and sunny. The SMART move would be to do all the errands today, and then hunker in the rest of the week, and push off some of today’s work to tomorrow. If I do that, I’ll wind up only working on the two blog posts (and the GDR post) and turning around the two scripts in my queue for today.
I like the flexibility of my schedule, but it also calls for prioritizing and rearranging tasks and making decisions, and today, my brain is filled with mashed potatoes, so that is not an easy task. Perhaps the errands will help clear it.
I’m talking in circles now. I’m going to stop yammering and get to work.
Episode 51 of Legerdemain drops today. Hope you enjoy it.
Huh. We were supposed to get a storm coming through with rain tonight. Instead, I woke up to snow. Oh, well. Life in the Northeastern Mountains, right?
Decent writing day yesterday. Although I only got 500 or so words on the novel in longhand, I drafted the next episode of LEGERDEMAIN and adapted the next chapter of ANGEL HUNT into five serial episodes.
I did the rounds on social media, promoting the latest Process Muse post, and spending time on the sites designated for that day. There are two sites I’m pretty sure I’m going to drop soon. I spent some time on Bookbub. Since they don’t allow us to list our serials in our booklist, I put the serials in my bio.
A book arrived for review, and it’s lovely, so lovely. Such beautiful design elements. I’m excited to get into the text. Read half of another book for review. It’s perfectly serviceable for the genre, but lacks sparkle.
Switched to reading some books for pleasure. One of them (I’m not sure how I ended up with it) is just awful. Everything in it is so completely disconnected from each other and a flat trope that I suspect it was run through AI. If I’d paid for the book, I would be angry, but I seem to remember it was sent to me free.
Read most of another book by an author whose work I know well over years. It was trying to fit a market niche, but she’s too much herself to be niche-restricted, and I could see where she was fighting the expectations. I mean, I enjoy it, but other books, where she can just let it rip, work better for me. And for her, since she doesn’t plan on continuing with the series.
Slept well, for once, although woke up after some weird dreams. But I woke up to coffee and snow, so it’s all good. I’ll put off my errands until tomorrow. There’s nothing urgent for today.
In my morning noodling session, suddenly and idea I’d played with off and on since last summer started coming into focus. I took a few notes. It will be a bit down the schedule before I can actually work on it. The idea was prompted by a submission call. I couldn’t make it work within the guidelines within the time frame, but I liked the idea, and hoped I could figure out what to do with it. I think I have, in a format with which I want to play more anyway. I’m playing with some character and plot notes, and then I’ll have to see how it fits into the structure and adjust.
I missed working on the other piece on which I usually work in longhand in the morning, so I may sneak in a few pages later today, between other bits and bobs.
Meditation this morning, then more LEGERDEMAIN, more ANGEL HUNT, making the rounds to promote today’s new episode of LEGERDEMAIN, the start of promotion for ANGEL HUNT, work on the article, finishing up books for review. Still no scripts in the queue, which is a worry, so I’ll also get out some LOIs.
I need to work on the direct marketing post card this weekend and get it to the printer (since my big printer is out of commission, and it would look awful on the inkjet).
I love watching the snow come down. I love even more that it gives me an excuse not to go out!
Curl up with your favorite beverage, because we have a long catch-up this morning, over a wide variety of topics.
If you missed my post on the GDR site about the reminder that holidays are supposed to be fun, you can read it now.
Everything took longer on Friday than I wanted. It was frustrating. But I got my words in, and then we headed out to errands.
I had quite the stack of books waiting for me at the library. Of course, as soon as I got home, I got the notice that there were more. Because that’s how it works. We headed off to the local Toy and Candy shop in Norad Mill, to get ideas for holiday shopping. It’s very cute, and I ended up buying one of my mom’s gifts there, but it didn’t solve this year’s gift-giving challenges.
Then, it was off to Wild Oats. A local coffee company had a tasting, and the guy running it was really nice, enthusiastic, and a fellow French Press enthusiast. So we had a good conversation, and then I got the rest of what I needed.
Hit Stop & Shop on the way back for a few things, and it was disgusting. Hardly everyone masked, and everyone sneezing and coughing all over everything. I stayed about 10 feet away and got out as fast as I could. Ick.
If I end up getting sick, I’ll know where it happened.
Negotiated a contract for a new-to-me publication. It’s still not the fee I wanted, but I really want to do the article, the timeline works, and, while it may be a one-and-done for me, it will also be a good opportunity to get my byline in front of a different audience.
Struggled with the script coverage in the afternoon. I’ve gotten used to the shorter write-ups, so doing a longer one was a challenge. I only got one done, not two, which meant I had to do another one over the weekend.
Gathering contact info and saying goodbye on Twitter is sad. Maybe it will course correct, who knows, but it will never be what it was. Not that it was perfect. There were plenty of times it was a toxic hell site. But it was an important marketing outlet, and a place for people to find each other, and come across fun, weird little pockets of interest. While the positive is that it gives one a chance to build something new, it’s still sad. Recognizing the grief and allowing ourselves to mourn is vital.
The people who are screaming how it negatively affects their income are going to have to buck up and learn other platforms, or lose that income permanently. People can moan that Twitter is similar to a public utility all they want, but the fact is that it is owned by an individual who takes glee in destroying it for his own ego. Either you put in the time to learn other platforms, and see what serves your business best, or you lose your income.
I’m as frustrated as anyone else. The Topic Workbooks were steadily paying the electric bill. Other sales were growing, and filling in other expenses. Legerdemain was gaining traction. A solid section of that audience came via Twitter. Since Yegads Muskrat started destroying the company, my sales took a 75% hit.
I have to absorb that and recalibrate over the next few months, until I figure out which platforms do what the best and can aim my marketing appropriately.
If all I do is scream that I’ve lost sales, I won’t learn what I need to learn, and can’t regain them. So it’s been a case of rolling up the sleeves and getting to work.
Do I “have” time? Of course not. But if I want to sustain and grow my writing business, it’s necessary. It means working even longer hours right now, and too bad for me.
The platform doesn’t “owe” it to me to stay the same because I’ve gotten used to marketing a certain way and making use of it.
There’s a learning curve with these other platforms. I’ll make mistakes, and will pay the price in lost sales. But I have to put in the work and learn.
Even if another company tries to put together a replacement platform, it will be different. This was something unique in its space and time, for all its flaws. We mourn, and we rebuild.
Things don’t stay the same in life. That’s reality. I mean, I was on the platform for 13 years. That’s centuries in tech terms.
Whining doesn’t change it.
I’m sad. I’m angry at Yegads Muskrat for taking glee in destroying something that was important to thousands or tens of thousands of people. I also think the Board shouldn’t be let off the hook. They didn’t HAVE to sell to him. They CHOSE to, out of their own greed. I want their names, and I don’t think any of them should be allowed to ever be in a position of authority over something like this again. Let them live off their spoils of this. Don’t allow them another penny again.
How does that affect my signing up as a beta for Bluesky? Because I don’t trust Jack Dorsey farther than I can throw him, even though he left the company in 2021, and the BOD earlier this year. I want to see what he’s built, and make my decisions from there, knowing that it’s likely he will throw everyone under the bus again. Will it be free? I heard rumors it will be tied to crypto. No, thanks. Will it be a useful marketing tool? Who knows? Once it goes live, I’ll try it out, weigh the pros and cons, and all of it against my opinion of Dorsey, his ethics, and what we know he’s capable of doing.
But Twitter’s demise changes the marketing game for all kinds of companies and creators. Anyone who’s positioning themselves as a transition guru is lying.
Enough about that. In the evening, I read for pleasure, and played with the cats. I finally unpacked the tote bag of toys we brought up from storage. Charlotte doesn’t understand how to play.
Didn’t have a good night Friday into Saturday. Weird dreams, and Charlotte kept waking me up. Saturday was a gorgeous, sunny, cold day, and it would have been perfect to drive down to Great Barrington. But I couldn’t get it together to get it done. I was absolutely exhausted. So we decided not to go.
The words for THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH were a struggle. Not to mention there weren’t a lot of them. 1672, so I hit the day’s necessity with a handful over, but not my personal goal.
I stitched the fleece curtain for the back door. It’s amazing what a difference it makes, between the door curtain and the heavy drapes from the 1950s we put on the windows. It keeps the place warmer by several degrees, which means the heat doesn’t have to work as hard.
I did some stuff around the house. We can’t find what we hoped to find to send out as gifts this season, so we have to figure something else out. We think we have another option; hopefully, I can make it work.
The poor coffeemaker I ordered is shipping out of Buffalo – who had 5 FEET of snow. So that’s not showing up anytime soon. Those poor delivery people. This is why I ordered early. I don’t need it for another month. It’ll get here when it gets here; if it’s late, that’s the way it goes.
There were so many things I should have done, and just didn’t.
I did read IRON AND VELVET by Alexis Hall, which was a lot of fun. How have I missed this series?
I checked into Twitter a few times, but it just made me sad.
I helped a friend set up on Mastodon. I don’t find it the be-all and end-all some do, but the instance on which my friend and I signed up is primarily screenwriters, so we can talk projects together. It’s harder to come across random cool people with different interests, but I am blocking whiners and screamers and bullies much faster on this platform.
I still like CounterSocial for in-depth conversation. There are Twitgees trying to scream and bully. When they scream, they are ignored. When they bully, they are removed. But I’m also quick to block there.
I’m not a muter. I’m a blocker. I’m either all in with someone’s different facets, or all out.
But I spent very little time on SM. I want to try to cut back severely on weekends.
Up early on Sunday, mostly because Charlotte was impossible. I made the cinnamon honey coffeecake with orange marmalade filling from one of the Moosewood Cookbooks. I didn’t have wheat flour, so I substituted rye, which made it a little too dense. I should have stuck with all white flour. But it’s still good.
The day’s words went better with THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH. 1928 words. Still under what I hoped for my own personal goal, but I’m on track. I doubt I’ll hit 50K before Thanksgiving, but I will by the end of Thanksgiving weekend.
It snowed on and off, mostly off, although we kept getting Winter Advisory Alerts. All around us, it was much worse, but in this little bowl in the mountains, we were protected.
Did some hearth and home stuff. Turned around a script coverage (the one I hadn’t done on Friday). We sat down and wrote the overseas cards. There aren’t a lot anymore; so many people have died. I’m still waiting for a couple of requested addresses, but if they don’t arrive, I’ll just let it go. I have way too much to do over the next few weeks to chase people around begging for addresses; if they don’t want to hear from me, that’s fine.
Checked in with Twitter again. It’s glitching like crazy. People are screaming about how “ethical” creators and companies have to pull their ads. Boo, if you’re running around to conferences unmasked and on airplanes (whether masked or unmasked) and eating indoors unmasked, STFU, you ableist hypocrite. You’re in no position to talk ethics with anyone.
I tried to get on in the evening to join ScriptChat, but the glitches were too much.
Death throes.
As far as my own strategy, I’m holding course with the promotions planned/scheduled through the end of the year, and then reassessing. There isn’t a platform that promotes the way Twitter did to the audience Twitter did, so I have a feeling, at least for the first few months, promotions will be piecemeal and staggered across platforms. As I learn what works where, I will re-align as needed. Most of my audience has fled Twitter, but there are still some stalwarts, and they might find something they missed in the noise of a busier platform.
If someone whines it’s not behind a content warning, I’ll just block them.
The whiners tend to fall into two groups: those who have a huge, well-paid marketing machine behind them, and those who can’t get published because they never finish anything, but keep talking about “someday.”
Dianne Dotson suggested Hive as a good platform. They look like fun, and if she’s comfortable there, it means it’s a good place to promote work (she’s excellent at promoting her work). It doesn’t look like I can do them from the desktop, which would knock them out of contention. I don’t have the capacity OR the desire to do all of this from my phone.
I resent having to have a phone in the first place.
I looked at POST, but basically, they want people to create content for them without pay. Which is part of what social media is, but they want long and short form articles on the site itself, not links driving traffic back to one’s work on other sites. I think I’ll pass.
Started reading the next book for review.
Also read MURDER BY THE BRUSH, S.E. Babin’s first Psychic Cleaner Mystery, which was a lot of fun. It’s a novella, not a novel, but I liked the energy and the characters and the plot and the heart of it. I liked it so much I went and bought the second novella in the series, MAID FOR MAYHAM, and read that. Like I said, novellas. Quick reads. The climactic sequences tend to be a little rushed, but other than that, they are a lot of fun. I’d read more in the series, when they release.
It’s interesting that there are so few category mysteries anymore, in the 50-60K range. Most of them are 80K+.
These novellas ran around 135 pages, which brought them in around 33K. So, while I read for fun, I was also learning.
More snow overnight, but nowhere near as much as predicted.
Monday, I overslept because Charlotte kept waking me up. It was the day before dark moon, which is my lowest energy day of the month anyway. I had weird dreams about working on a project with David Tennant (which would be great, I’ve always wanted to work with him) and discovering what an intense listener he is. I mean, that’s obvious from his work, but being on the receiving end of it in the dream was interesting.
Had trouble getting going, but once I got myself to the page, the next chapter of THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH trundled along decently at 1951 words. I broke 48K, so if I keep going the next few days, I can hit 50K and then drop back to whatever the natural pace is for this book, which I think is around 1200 or 1300 words/day. As I said, I’m figuring the sweet spot is around 82K, but this draft might have fewer words, and give me room to layer in details in full drafts.
I’m kicking myself for leaving the box of costume books in storage over winter. I only have a couple up here. Although I took out a bunch of relevant fashion books from the library, I’ll have to get them out again when I do revisions.
Bibliographic notes are a must.
After breakfast and blogging, I headed out for errands. Library first, to drop off and pick up. The one day I’m in a time crunch, they have a line of people who want the librarians to look things up for them, instead of going to a terminal and doing it their damn selves.
But it was fine. I got my stuff and got out of there in longer than usual, but not too bad an amount of time. It was a bright, sunny day. Although it was cold, people were in a pretty good mood.
Big Y next, for Thanksgiving shopping. I was happy to see that almost everyone was masked. It took a lot of stress out of shopping.
Post Office, where I bought more overseas stamps, mailed the cards we’d written, and got stamps for the domestic cards. (The Elves, in case you’re curious).
Liquor store, and then home. Hauled everything up the stairs. Put it all away, made lunch, did the SM rounds. Being on Twitter made me sad.
Turned around two scripts in the afternoon. Another one, that had a problem with additional materials, was cleaned up, and that will be my one for tomorrow. I have two for today, so I’m okay. I have three days in the pay period next week, after the holiday, so as long as there are scripts to grab, I’ll be okay.
Soup class with Jeremy Rock Smith last night. Tons of fun, as always. I learned a lot, and got a lead on where to get my knives sharpened around here.
Got the wonky tablet up and running, because I should be able to run Hive off the tablet, since I don’t want it on my phone. I downloaded the app and established an account, but have to figure out how to get the photos I want on it. I was too tired to do much more than establish an account. And I have no idea how to find anyone. I’ll learn. Enough writers are migrating there that it sounds like it’s viable, if I make the time to figure it out. I still wish it had a desktop option.
I have to charge the tablet through my phone cord, because the charger that came with it no longer works.
Up early, although out the door later than usual to the laundromat, just in case they haven’t yet adjusted to the time change. They had. The washing machines were fine, but the dryers not only ate up double the money, but didn’t dry properly. So we have laundry draped all over everything.
Tessa disapproves. She likes things tidy.
I managed to get a good chunk of edits done on the next section of Legerdemain, which as to be uploaded and scheduled this weekend (or, at the latest, early next week).
It was later than usual when I sat down to work on THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH, but it went pretty well, the chapter coming in at 2287 words. That brought me over 50K, which means I’m an official NaNo22 Winner, a nice boost to my ego. And a relief, because I can do the remaining 30K at a slower pace. And I hit my personal goal of hitting 50K before Thanksgiving.
So this is up late. There will be a whacky little piece of Thanksgiving flash fiction up later this afternoon on Ko-fi.
Don’t forget, the latest episode of Legerdemain drops today. Enjoy!
I talk in detail about my process for the Writer’s Rough Outline over on The Process Muse. I hope you enjoy it.
I’m always grateful having control of my schedule, and yesterday was another day for it.
I got my Nano words in first thing. I started to do the social media rounds, promoting Legerdemain and doing all the rest. The snowstorm wasn’t set to hit until late at night. But the pre-storm headache got more intense, and the clouds got thicker.
So I stopped what I was doing, and made the store run to get a tarp and some bungie cords a few hours early. On a whim, I stopped at the thrift store and found three more cute Santas and some more adorable Christmas mice for my collections. Because I love them.
When I came back, we brought in the rest of the plants and decorations and shelves and stuff from the back balcony. I’ll go into that in more detail in tomorrow’s garden post over on Gratitude and Growth. We tarped down the big bench and the bistro chairs folded on it which will stay out all winter. And rearranged what we had to in here.
I got out all the garbage before the snow started. And then started the social media rounds. Mastodon was down most of the day, which is no big deal. They’re doing the best they can. CounterSocial has a lot of Twitgees coming over, trying to cause drama, and nobody’s giving it to them. Some are flouncing back off to Twitter; others are getting blocked or banned. I’m pretty sure I’m going to dump Cohost before the end of the year. I’m not enjoying it, and the focus/interests of most of those I’ve encountered are very different from what I want and need from a platform.
Turned around two scripts. I’d almost finished with the book for review, and got an extension. I will get that out today. I also have three script to turn around today, so it’s a good thing I’m home all day. I did well for the pay period that ended yesterday, a little higher than my goal. Hopefully, there will be enough in the queue over the coming weeks to make my nut AND take the week between Christmas and New Year’s off.
Angry that the Narcissistic Sociopath gets to make another run for President. Merrick Garland has failed the country. He had the chance to defend it, and he chose not to. I’m disappointed in him as a professional, and as a human, and enraged that these traitors keep getting away with it.
This whole “oopsie, Russia hit Poland by mistake” is ridiculous. Russia is testing NATO. And these new reports it was a Ukrainian missile gone astray? I don’t buy it.
The snow was lovely. I spent a chunk of time sitting at the window, watching it. But during the night, it turned to an icy rain. Tessa woke me up around 4 so I could put a bucket under the leak on the front porch. Then, Charlotte didn’t want me to go back to sleep. We battled until I finally got up a little after 6. Miss Thing is, of course, fast asleep on the bed again.
I’ve been playing with the idea I had in a dream a few nights ago that would make a good novel or novella. The premise is strong, the characters work, but I’m not sure how to make the plot work. Something to play with, probably in longhand, after Nano.
This morning’s Nano went well. Chapter 17 of THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH, coming in at 2461 words. I was worried the chapter was a tangent, but I found a way to make the subplot echo certain elements of the plot and tie together. That was a relief.
If the temperatures hadn’t risen and it changed over to rain, we’d be in a serious snow day by now. But it’s hovering around freezing, so it’s yucky, but not snowdrifts.
GWEN FINNEGAN MYSTERIES
Archaeologist Dr. Gwen Finnegan is on the hunt for her lover’s killer. Shy historical researcher Justin Yates jumps at the chance to join her on a real adventure through Europe as they try to unspool fact from fiction in a multi-generational obsession with a statue of the goddess Medusa.
Buy links here.
When plans for their next expedition fall through, Gwen and Justin accept teaching jobs at different local universities. Adjusting to their day-to-day relationship, they are embroiled in two different, disturbing, paranormal situations that have more than one unusual crossing point. Can they work together to find the answers? Or are new temptations too much to resist? For whom are they willing to put their lives on the line? Available on multiple digital channels here.NAUTICAL NAMASTE MYSTERIESSAVASANA AT SEA
Yoga instructor Sophie Batchelder jumps at the chance to teach on a cruise ship when she loses her job and her boyfriend dumps her. But when her boss is murdered, Sophie must figure out who the real killer is -- before he turns her into a corpse, too. A Not-Quite-Cozy Mystery.
Buy Links here.COVENTINA CIRCLE ROMANTIC SUSPENSEPLAYING THE ANGLES
Witchcraft, politics, and theatre collide as Morag D’Anneville and Secret Service agent Simon Keane fight to protect the Vice President of the United States -- or is it Morag who needs Simon’s protection more than the VP?
Buy links here.THE SPIRIT REPOSITORY
Bonnie Chencko knows books change lives. She’s attracted to Rufus Van Dijk, the mysterious man who owns the bookshop in his ancestors’ building. A building filled with family ghosts, who are mysteriously disappearing. It’s up to Bonnie and her burgeoning Craft powers to rescue the spirits before their souls are lost forever. Buy Links here. RELICS & REQUIEM
Amanda Breck’s complicated life gets more convoluted when she finds the body of Lena Morgan in Central Park, identical to Amanda’s dream. Detective Phineas Regan is one case away from retirement; the last thing he needs is a murder case tinged by the occult. The seeds of their attraction were planted months ago. But can they work together to stop a wily, vicious killer, or will the murderer destroy them both?
Buy link here.
Full Circle: An Ars Concordia Anthology. Edited by Colin Galbraith. My story is “Pauvre Bob”, set at Arlington Race Track in Illinois is included in this wonderful collection of short stories and poetry. You can download it free here.
Archaeologist Dr. Gwen Finnegan is on the hunt for her lover’s killer. Shy historical researcher Justin Yates jumps at the chance to join her on a real adventure through Europe as they try to unspool fact from fiction in a multi-generational obsession with a statue of the goddess Medusa.
Buy links 
When plans for their next expedition fall through, Gwen and Justin accept teaching jobs at different local universities. Adjusting to their day-to-day relationship, they are embroiled in two different, disturbing, paranormal situations that have more than one unusual crossing point. Can they work together to find the answers? Or are new temptations too much to resist? For whom are they willing to put their lives on the line? Available on multiple digital channels 
SAVASANA AT SEA
Yoga instructor Sophie Batchelder jumps at the chance to teach on a cruise ship when she loses her job and her boyfriend dumps her. But when her boss is murdered, Sophie must figure out who the real killer is -- before he turns her into a corpse, too. A Not-Quite-Cozy Mystery.
Buy Links 
PLAYING THE ANGLES
Witchcraft, politics, and theatre collide as Morag D’Anneville and Secret Service agent Simon Keane fight to protect the Vice President of the United States -- or is it Morag who needs Simon’s protection more than the VP?
Buy links 
THE SPIRIT REPOSITORY
Bonnie Chencko knows books change lives. She’s attracted to Rufus Van Dijk, the mysterious man who owns the bookshop in his ancestors’ building. A building filled with family ghosts, who are mysteriously disappearing. It’s up to Bonnie and her burgeoning Craft powers to rescue the spirits before their souls are lost forever. Buy Links 
RELICS & REQUIEM
Amanda Breck’s complicated life gets more convoluted when she finds the body of Lena Morgan in Central Park, identical to Amanda’s dream. Detective Phineas Regan is one case away from retirement; the last thing he needs is a murder case tinged by the occult. The seeds of their attraction were planted months ago. But can they work together to stop a wily, vicious killer, or will the murderer destroy them both?
Buy link 
Ink In My Coffee 