Tues. Feb. 21, 2023: Incoming Storms, Literal and Figurative

image courtesy of Hans  via pixabay.com

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Waxing Moon

Mardi Gras

Cloudy and cold, incoming storms

I hope you had a lovely weekend, and I’m looking forward to our usual Tuesday catch up.

Friday, I finished, polished, and uploaded tomorrow’s Process Muse post. The plan is to get all of the March posts written, polished, and uploaded this week, and hopefully get April’s done next week, because April will be a very busy month.

I did a library pickup/drop-off, a quick grocery shop, swung by the liquor store. Picked up a couple of African violets. Ours didn’t recover from the move – but then, they’d survived nearly a decade, and that’s unusual.

Most of the day was devoted to the article, building it like a symphony, stepping back to let the voices of those interviewed shine. I hate it when interviewers try to make it all about them. I have more material than I can use, so it was a case of building, then tightening for flow.

I stayed up far too late reading MADLY, DEEPLY: THE DIARIES OF ALAN RICKMAN. I never had the honor of working with him, unfortunately, but we’ve worked with some of the same people, and it was fascinating to get his take on some stories I’d heard via others. His commitment to the truth of the work and the complexity of the work is always something I admired. Some actors want a lot of room to do whatever they want; he wants to know the director has actually done his job and prepared, but at the same time doesn’t micromanage every emotion. Emma Thompson wrote the most beautiful foreword to the book, which is worth reading all on its own.

Had a few moments of fun on Twitter, and then someone who should know better started making misogynistic comments, and I am just done.

Set up a Lnk.bio that I can use on Instagram, et el. I like their setup better than Linktree’s. I have the serials, the websites, and some other stuff up there. That will help driving traffic from Instagram to the various projects. Pleased that the metrics on traffic are up from both Post and CounterSocial, at least when it comes to Process Muse.

Put in the Chewy order, because those little monsters like their meals on time.

I didn’t sleep well. The fluctuation temperatures and barometric shifts are doing a number on me. But the day was bright and sunny, always good to lift the spirits.

We headed for The Plant Connector on Main Street. No easy feat, since the street was closed down for a WinterFest. I hope all the stores did well. I found a philodendron and a spider plant to replace the ones that didn’t survive the move; I will transplant them this week to more permanent pots. I might put them in my bedroom, although I have to check the Feng Shui on that.

It was such a nice day, we didn’t want to go home right away, so we headed up to Bennington, VT. Nice, clear drive. It’s nice to be up in this corner, with easy access to our own MA, to NY, and VT. And no bridges to worry about. I feel bad for people near the Sagamore Bridge, who are losing their homes to eminent domain for the new bridge, and glad we are not there (and hadn’t moved closer to the Sagamore Bridge; we looked at a few places before we moved here).

Found a lovely, deep red satin runner in one of our favorite stores, and, on the way back found a dark-wood-finished compass rose folding table at another favorite store. Someone scrawled on it with a sharpie, so it needs a little TLC, but it’s a lovely piece. Add that to the chips-and-dip dishes in the form of oversized playing cards that I picked up on Friday, and I made a quirky set of purchases this weekend.

I decided that I needed to take Saturday off completely. Saturday was the day before the dark moon, which is always my lowest energy day of the month anyway, and I need to work with that, instead of planning to get things done and running out of energy. I read, some for pleasure, some for research. I’m re-reading POEM CRAZY, a book I bought a long time ago in the shop of the main NYPL. My copy is in storage down on the Cape, so I ordered it from the library, and am enjoying it. I got a chance to work a bit with my new Midnight City Tarot deck and love it.

I went through the research books for Malta that have to go back to the library, as background for the big section of the Heist Romance script that happens there. But first, we have sections in Corsica, Sardinia, and then back in the UK (London and York, specifically).

I hunted down some research books via Boston Public Library (I have an e-card) and WorldCat. Turns out one is right across the street in the college library, so I will trek over there this week to see if I can get it. The other, so far, is only available in the UK, but maybe I can get a digital copy.

The only thing I did online was the #28Prompt for the day, and read an email from my best friend from NYU days. We’ve stayed close through the years, and are navigating this stage of our lives, and helping each other figure out possibilities. He and I have been through a lot together over the decades.

I played with some ideas, without pressure. I have to see what form they choose to take, if any of them do.

Sunday had a nice, slow start, which is fine. When I was putting together information for a residency proposal I submitted a week or so ago, I came across information on Anna Katharine Green, who was the first woman in the US to publish detective fiction and set up the “serial detective.” Her work inspired writers like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, and Mary Roberts Rinehart, and we still use a lot of the tropes today. She was a prolific and successful writer in the novel and short story formats, and even wrote a few plays. She was married to an actor who was eight years younger than she was – unusual in the Victorian/Edwardian era. Her father didn’t approve of his career, so he gave it up (temporarily, because, you know, theatre) to design cast iron stoves and, later, furniture, before returning to the stage now and again. They sound like they had a lot of fun together over the years, with their various interests, and raising their children in Buffalo. She was a fellow introvert, which makes me feel even more connected.

She is peripheral to the project I proposed for the residency (although a part of it), but I’m interested in her and her work. I wound up ordering a copy of the book for myself, because I can think of at least three projects on which I can use it as background. I’d love to write one of my Historical Women plays about her at some point, so we’ll put that into the hopper and see when the opportunity comes up (or when I have to create that opportunity). It won’t be any time soon, although I did manage to snag a complete collection of her work for Kindle for 99 cents, and can read it in my travels this summer.

I turned around a coverage for a series treatment, did the rounds for #28Prompts, and received another bit of info I needed for the article.

I was saddened to hear about the death of Richard Belzer. I was acquainted with him, briefly, while working on a LAW & ORDER spinoff back in my NYC days, and being loaned over the other L&O shows on occasion, or doing drop-offs and pickups at that studio. I liked and respected him a lot. I was also saddened to hear about President Carter in hospice. Would we had more like him and fewer like Reagan/Bush/Trump.

Read the third book in a series where I loved the first book, was frustrated by the second book, and am even more frustrated by the third book. Complex motivations for some of the characters feel like they’re being twisted to actually support misogynistic, conservative points while masquerading as progressive, and that irks me. I also loathe the central female protagonist even more in this book than in the last book. Another issue I’m having is that these characters have been together over a period of years, in a series of life-and-death situations, always coming through for each other. But instead of those relationships building, they don’t talk to each other. The relationships are static, with the characters making same mistakes from book to book instead of learning from them and growing, and it annoys me.

I’ve shifted, a bit, how I start and end my days (I wrote about it over on the Goals, Dreams, and Resolutions site yesterday). The opening of the day isn’t that different, but adjusting how I end the day is helping, and helping with better sleep.

Monday dawned a bit Hitchcockian.

I was awakened by crows.

Charlotte and Tessa tried to roust me out of bed at 4:30 in the morning, but I wasn’t having it. However, around 6, I was awakened by the call of the crows. I went to the window. Thousands of migrating birds were passing through, from south to north. The crows herded them toward Windsor Lake (about ¾ of a mile up the nearby mountain) rather than letting them use our street as a rest stop.

It was fascinating, beautiful, and a little terrifying to watch.

Started reading the fourth book in the series I’ve talked about. The corporate publisher had dropped the series after book 3, and this is with a different publisher. Its energy and tone and much more like the first book in the series, but better, at least so far. The complexities aren’t diluted or shied away from here, and the central female character isn’t as much of an idiot (at least so far).

Which begs the question: did the corporate publisher water down and edit those two middle books to be more conservative, and, when wishy-washy didn’t hold the audience, then drop the series?

Something to think about.

The individual who made the insulting remark and whom I called out on Twitter last Friday apologized, I accepted, and we’re all good. That’s a relief, at least.

But cutting back social media time and getting it more balanced as part of my business that still builds individual connections is still a good choice.

Uploaded and scheduled next week and the following week’s episode graphics for Legerdemain, and this week’s for ANGEL HUNT. Set up the expense tracker file for what’s covered by the grant so I can just enter information as it happens and it’s all set for the reports and other paperwork that have to be filled out, both for the grant, and next year for taxes. Did the social media rounds for the blogs and #28Prompts. Had to fill out a report with Amazon, because I got a suspicious text message pretending to be from Amazon. I’m not dumb enough to believe it or click any links, but I sure as heck reported it.

Pleased by Biden’s trip to the Ukraine. Also pleased that he has a team around him that knows when to keep its individual and collective mouths shut.

CLARKESWORLD shut their submissions down because they’re being flooded with AI-generated short stories. As usual, the dilettantes ruin it for everyone. Professional writers do the actual writing and use their unique creative process to build their careers.  I can see this evolving into a situation where you’ll only be able to submit to a magazine if they know someone who can vouch for you, and, once again, too many good writers will be cut out of the process. I’m glad that magazines are taking a stand against AI, that’s for sure, but there will be a period in the course correction that hurts a lot of legitimate writers. As usual.

Zuckerberg is monetizing scammers now on FB and Facebook, huh. Not surprising, but disappointing. He lets scammers scam, and charges monthly protection fees to verify accounts. How Mafia-like. I was also disturbed with the lack of grace Spoutible had in handling questions about their TOS. The cultists immediately piled on harassment, screaming that those questioning wanted to allow porn on the site. No, they were asking what this site’s definition was for “adult content” because a lot of romance writers include various levels of sex scenes in their books, and they wanted to know the boundaries of promoting their work on the platform. My interpretation of the TOS fit what I’m looking for in the platform, but others asked for clarifications, and that needs to be valid. There was a lot of discussion, pre-launch, about supporting individual artists and creators, and encouraging debate. And yet, this is how the situation was handled. Big red flag. Several writers and artists for whom I have the greatest respect left the platform. I heard of others being banned, although I did not directly see that. Rumors now circulate that if one even criticizes them on another platform, one is banned for life. Spoutible claimed it banned only harassers; but I saw plenty of the cultists harassing yesterday without any consequences. If I’m banned, I’m banned. That’s the way it goes. It’s not like I’m important enough to impact their numbers, one way or another. It would just be about control. Every platform has its positives and negatives. I’m wondering if social media, in general, has shot its wad and is spent.

And those people panicking “how am I going to build community without social media?” Oh, come on. We built community for centuries without it. We went out there and DID THE WORK. The internet makes it both easier and harder, but, for fuck’s sake, use a little imagination and stop expecting other people to do your work for you. No wonder so many wanna-bes are using AI for stories and novels. They’re too damn lazy to create their own work.

Found out for certain that someone is muting me, except for the one hour each week she wants me to contribute to her numbers. All I can do is shake my head, laugh, and move on.

Worked on the article. It’s not quite where I want it yet. I think I need another day or two. You see why I don’t take on assignments where I’m supposed to generate a dozen or so articles a week. That doesn’t work for me. This is taking more time than usual, but that’s because I want to make sure the individual voices in the article sing, rather than just being support material. It’s more of an experiential piece than an instructional piece.

Did some small tweaks on a play I wrote a few years back, and that holds up well. Got it out the door. Got another play out the door to another market. I really need to build some more full-length plays into the roster. I have plenty of one acts of various lengths, but I need more full-lengths. WOMAN IN THE SHADOWS, FALL FOREVER, and FROZEN AT THE PALACE THEATRE should take care of that this year. I’m not sure where I’ll fit WOMAN in yet (that’s the full-length play about Kate Warne, the first female Pinkerton, about whom I’ve written several one acts), but FALL FOREVER is up in April with Dramatists’ Guild End of Play event, and FROZEN AT THE PALACE THEATRE is a piece I used for a residency application in winter, so we’ll see.

Dreamed I was researching in a big, beautiful library, which was a lovely dream. But I woke up with a post-research headache, made worse by the pre-storm headache. Another series of storms comes in, starting today, for the rest of the week. Hadley already has a couple of inches of snow.

This morning is work on the article. Around mid-day, I have to take my mom for her regular doctor’s appointment. Hopefully, the storm won’t be too bad by then. When we get back, it’s social media rounds for today’s episode of Legerdemain and #28Prompts, and then I hope to either do more work on the article, or work on those very short radio plays. I need to rebuild the beats from scratch, not try to re-assign lines from three characters to two.

There we go, lots going on. Hope you had a great weekend and are starting a great week!

Fri. Jan. 14, 2022: Incoming Storms

image courtesy of SeagullaNady via pixabay.com

Friday, January 14, 2022

Waxing Moon

Uranus, Venus, Mercury Retrograde

Cloudy and cold

We have two big storms barreling toward us. One will start later today, bringing the temperatures down to -35F by tomorrow. We get walloped again Sunday night into all day on Monday.

Meditation was great yesterday. Then, after breakfast, I layered up, got the rolly cart and some bags, and headed to Big Y. I bought more than I planned (yeah, I’m sure you’re SO surprised). Shelves were empty of big-name brands, and they were out of ground turkey, but local brands and produce were in plentiful supply.

Hauling it back through the snowy, icy streets was not fun, and I was wiped out by the time I got it home and up the stairs and put away. A hot shower partially revived me, as did some time on the acupressure mat. But then, the 66 pounds of cat litter showed up, and I had to unpack the boxes in the bottom foyer and haul them all upstairs.

I’m not in my twenties or thirties anymore, and it’s getting harder.

But, cat food, litter, and treat-wise, we have about 11 weeks’ worth of supplies. Human-food wise, we could make it for about 6 weeks, although running out of milk, oat milk, eggs, and butter. I’m still going to go to the store when I can for perishables, but we are okay.

Today, I restock some liquor.

SCOTUS betrayed us all again by not upholding the national vaccine mandate for big businesses. No surprise there. Sinema proved her loyalty to her handlers rather than her constituents, and voting rights is dead, so it doesn’t matter how hard we organize. Sinema and Manchin need to be destroyed. Completely and utterly destroyed. They were sent in as a Trojan horse, pretending to be Democrats, but working on a GOP agenda, funded by GOP money. While the more openly, obviously crazies are out there pulling focus, they destroy things from the inside.

And therefore must be destroyed. Take them off all committee assignments, no more financing, primary them. GET RID OF THEM. Anyone who hires them? Boycott, picket, destroy the company. They must be completely nullified.

Remove Manchin’s wife from her cushy appointed gig. Charge the daughter with negligent homicide for raising the prices on EpiPens. Stop faffing around and remove these cancers.

WHILE taking down the insurrectionists.

On top of that, the amount of people who should know better tweeting photos about their reckless behavior going to in-person conferences, indoor dining, parties, gatherings, etc., completely disgusts me. I’ve lost respect for a lot of people in the past couple of weeks.

On the positive side, I got a lovely note from someone for whom I’d done a script coverage, on how much it helped focus and polish the script. I’m so glad. This particular writer is extremely talented, and I hope will get representation/optioned quickly. Those stories need to be filmed.

With Mercury retrograde for the next three weeks, virus numbers off the charts, bad weather, and all the rest, I’m thinking about approaching the time a little differently than usual. Not sure how I can pull it off yet, but I’m going to try. I’m worried that if I talk about it too much/too early, I won’t be able to implement it, so my apologies for being vague. I hate it when people are Online Vague. But we’ll see. I’m going to try something for the next few days, a little different, and see if I can keep it going for the length of the retrogrades. Talking about it may interfere with the doing, so I’m going to try the doing, and talk about it after.

Knowledge Unicorns was fine. The kids are doing well. Some of them will not go back to regular schooling, because they’re learning much more in this environment. A couple of them are now talking about taking what the Brits call a “gap year” between high school and college to travel (should the virus ever settle down enough to allow it), and almost all of them want to do at least one semester abroad (something I deeply regret not doing).

I would like to start learning Italian, because I want to travel to Italy next year or so (provided it’s safe so to do), and because, in my research, I’d like to be able to read some of the material in its original language, not in translation. I’ve looked into courses, but, honestly, I don’t have the intellectual or emotional energy to commit and really learn right now. I’m hoping by midyear, I’ll be in a better position to start.

Read two scripts last night, which I will write up today. I’d like to get one more coverage in before the pay period ends tomorrow, but there hasn’t been anything worth grabbing (on a pay scale). Have to write up the book reviews, and enter the scores on the contest entries I read.

But first, time to finish/polish the short story. That is my absolute priority.

Over the weekend, I have unpacking/rearranging to do, I want to work on the Big Project and on THE KRINGLE CALAMITY, and also rest. My soul is tired, and I need to rest.

With storms raging outside, let’s hope the power stays on so I can do just that.

Have a good one, and I’ll catch you on the other side.

Wed. Oct. 27, 2021: Focused Writing

image courtesy of Sitthan Kutty via pexels.com

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Waning Moon

Neptune, Chiron, Uranus Retrograde

Cloudy and chilly

It rained here all day yesterday, but that was it. The other side of the state got pounded by the nor’easter. Power outages, closed schools, the works. I’m glad we’re not dealing with all that.

Yesterday morning was spent finishing/organizing/polishing the outline for CAST IRON MURDER, so that it can marinate, and I can jump in next Monday. It took a few interesting turns, especially for my work. But it’s organic to the story, while still meeting genre expectations, so I will see how it goes. The outline will get me through the first draft; after that, we’ll see what changes need to be made so that it’s the best it can be. Anything I write during Nano usually takes five or six more drafts and a couple of years’ worth more work to get submission-ready than anything written outside of Nano.

It felt good to spend a concentrated period of hours (instead of just one hour or an hour and a half) on my own work. I have to build more of that into my schedule.

After lunch, I planned to take just a short break and clear my mental palate by reading Susanna Clarke’s PIRANESI, which I’d started the day before. But I couldn’t put it down, and read it until I was done. It’s a slender book, but with big ideas and beautiful writing. It’s sad and uplifting and works on multiple levels. It’s a book that one can’t really talk about, except with others who’ve read it, because it’s experiential as much as it is about ideas. If you want a captivating read that will also make you think, I highly recommend it.

I have nine packages in varying states of transit with the USPS. I hope they start showing up soon. Four of them, are, of course, cookbooks.

I got some script coverage done in the late afternoon, but not enough, so I’ll have to make up for it today. Also got a script read.

Knowledge Unicorns was fine. We got a lot done. As one of the teens put it, “When you don’t have to worry you’re going to get shot every day, you can put that energy into learning.” Unacceptable our kids have to live like that. On top of it, the relief that the younger kids can get vaccinated is huge (the youngest kid in the group is now 8). The next discussion then will be if any of them will go back to in-person learning after the winter holidays, or if they’ll all just stay out of school until next year. But let’s get them all vaccinated first.

On today’s agenda is some of my own writing, on another outline and on “A Rare Medium”, script coverage, Remote Chat, and I have to run some books back to the library, and get some stuff from the co-op. The big grocery shop for the weekend happens tomorrow. I also have to get the last of the lights up today, and put together the Halloween treat bags for the trick or treaters.

Tessa let me sleep until 5 AM, and didn’t even howl. I woke up on my own, which was great.

So it’s back to the page now, and then on to the rest of the day. Have a good one.

Tues. Aug. 17, 2021: Frustrating Start

image courtesy of Pexels via pixabay.com

Tuesday, August 17, 2021

Waxing Moon

Pluto, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Chiron Retrograde

Cloudy and humid

Mid-month check-in is up at the Goals, Dreams, and Resolutions site.

It was a good weekend, although I had a late start to it. In the hot weather, I’ve been taking a break during the worst heat/humidity in the middle of the day and focusing on the reading portion of my job(s). But that means I have to get back to the writing in the evenings, when it’s cooler and I can actually think. I wasn’t finished on Friday until about 8 PM, which I hate. (Which is why when someone approaches me with the line, “Must work PST hours” I refuse).

Also, too much of Friday was spent trying to open the new account at Greylock Federal Credit Union. It shouldn’t take three hours to open an account, and it shouldn’t take two weeks before the account is up and running. Seriously wondering if we made the right choice. Well, if we hate it, there are a ton of banks around here, and we’ll just change over again.

Tons of email to get through; I’ve been waiting too late in the day on Fridays with the admin. Hopefully, that will change now that it’s a little cooler.

After dinner on Friday, we had the lights off in the kitchen and sat, watching the thunder and lightning roll around the mountains. It was really cool.

Saturday was heavy with humidity, and it was hard to concentrate on anything. A friend is visiting for Labor Day weekend (yes, vaccinated), and booked her train ticket. I’m going to pick her up/drop her off at the train station in Albany, which will be an adventure.

Put away the holiday decorations we brought up in this last storage run. Winter on one side of the shelves, autumn on the other. There’s still plenty more coming up, but we will figure it out. There’s still room.

Got Mother’s prescriptions transferred up to the local CVS. The one on Cape said they’d do it, but, of course, didn’t. Everything is set up – only when we came home, there was a letter from Tufts that they are dropping her from their health insurance because she moved. They supposedly cover the entire state (one reason we wanted to stay in MA), sent her four volumes of statewide doctors and a list of local ones (none of whom were closer than 18 miles away), and now they’re dumping her. During a pandemic. After raising her premiums while doing less. This is not acceptable. Hey, I’m all for her having a better health plan, but Tufts needs to be bitch slapped by Health & Human Services, Maura Healey’s office, and Elizabeth Warren’s office for this type of behavior, and I am damn well going to make sure that happens. I’d like to bitch slap the Tufts CEO myself. In person.

Wrote up my book review and got it in on time. I always drag my feet when the book is a disappointment. This one needed both a developmental and a copy edit. It was a meandering mess.

Sunday was a lovely, sunny, cool day. We checked the local Goodwill, which is huge and has a lot of stuff, but nothing we needed. Then, we headed over to The Spruces, just over the border into Williamstown. The Spruces was a planned senior community of trailer homes, begun in the 1950’s, with its own mayor and city council. It was flooded out permanently in either 2011 or 2012, and now the town owns it and turned it into a community park. It’s filled with wildflowers and trees, and there are still ghostly outlines of some of the properties. The entrance has two white lion statues on very tall pedestals. It’s beautiful and a little creepy all at once.

The news of the earthquake in Haiti is sad, and what’s going on in Afghanistan was completely predictable. It was never about independence for the country, but about how much money our military contractors could make, Of course, the same GOP who doesn’t want to support those seeking asylum are the ones screaming about what’s going on there. Not to mention it was a Republican who got us into the mess in the first place. Typical hypocrites.

Read Peter Ackroyd’s short biography of Wilkie Collins, which gave me some ideas, especially when it comes to the Victorian actors Squire and Marie Bancroft. Put aside the book of letters between Yeats and Maud Gonne – that research is not leading where I’d hoped so I’m putting that project aside for now.

Worked on unpacking and setting up the sewing room (which also doubles as a guest room. Still more to do, but we’re getting there.

Wrote steadily all weekend, and that felt good. Writing steadily first thing every morning.

Monday started as a cool, lovely day. Good writing session, caught up on email. Went to the post office to mail a stack of bills and letters. Went to both libraries.

Got Mother’s social security deposit information changed to the new bank. No luck with the insurance. The Medicare “help line” who’d sent her paperwork promising to help passed her from person to person to person, NONE of whom helped. I have to contact Health & Human Services, copying Maura Healey and Elizabeth Warren.

Only the Brother laser printer needs a new yellow ink toner, and won’t let me override to print in black and white. Staples won’t ship the regular cartridge. It has to be picked up in store. The store in Pittsfield doesn’t have it – I’d have to drive to Albany, and they won’t guarantee it’s still there, even if I purchase it for in-store pickup. I had to order, online, the more expensive cartridge to be shipped. It’s supposed to be here by tomorrow. They sent me a “driver’s release” form so the driver just leaves it at the door – but the link doesn’t go anywhere.

Can’t ANYBODY do their fucking job?

I’m so sick and tired of losing hours and days of work for stupid people. They’re costing me too much money.

Tried to fill out the paperwork so my mom’s pension goes into the new bank account. But because I couldn’t print it out for her to sign, I don’t know if they’ll accept it. She signed a statement. They also wanted a void check – only we don’t have checks, so the bank gave us a letter of authorization, stating the account was open. Let’s see if they accept that. If the pension goes into one account and the social security goes into another, it will be a hot mess.

None of this should be difficult, nor should it take days to “process.” You have the information electronically. Fucking type it in and save it, and then use it.

It was faster when NONE of it was electronic.

Read the second Wonky Inn book, which was fun. Got my next book assigned for review, so I’m looking forward to it. Read one of the scripts I have to cover – turns out it’s about an historical even into which I’ve done extensive research. So that’s fun.

It’s getting humid again.  We’re supposed to have showers on and off throughout the week. High humidity, although the temperatures won’t be that bad. I think we’ll get smacked with a bit of Hurricane Fred at some point, although nowhere near as much as the coast will.

I have to head over to the laundromat to get the laundry done. Big pile of it, since I didn’t go last week (we did the storage run instead).

Script coverage, almanac articles, starting the book for review, LOIs. Just another day in Freelance Life.

There was a beautiful rainbow stretching over the mountain, when I was on the front porch doing my first writing session this morning. The camera in the phone couldn’t capture it, but I enjoyed watching it until it faded away.

Have a good one, friends.

Tues. May 28, 2019: Hit The Stress Running

Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Waning Moon
Jupiter Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Pluto Retrograde
Cloudy and cool

So much for having five days off. When the best laid plans go awry, and all that.

Wednesday morning, I’d had a brief conversation with a potential new client. This would be a big deal. Good money. The conference went well, and the person with whom I spoke wanted the next steps up the food chain to happen on Thursday morning, via Skype, and Friday, in person in Boston.

Only I never got the necessary information by end of day on Wednesday.

On Thursday morning, I let her know that I hadn’t had any information, and I would not cancel my Friday and go into Boston, on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. That’s just nuts. I said I could arrange to go up next Thursday or Friday, but I needed to know by next Wednesday noon. I’m getting a little tired of this attitude that I’m supposed to be at their beck and call when they’re not paying me.

I got a message back stating that the Thursday morning conference couldn’t happen, could we do it in the afternoon?

Good thing I hadn’t booked office space at Cape Space, as I originally planned. Or I would have had to pay for it, even if I canceled. They seem to have difficulty understanding that I actually work for a living; I’m not lounging around the house in pajamas waiting for their summons.

The Skype meeting went well, although it was 45 minutes, longer than I expected. I haven’t heard anything about whether or not the meeting in Boston is on for next week. If I don’t hear by my deadline, it won’t be.

They requested writing samples, which I provided from my portfolios. On top of it, they want me to do a project-specific “assessment” — which, if they weren’t such an established company with a good reputation, I would refuse to do without pay. But again, I’m losing billable hours for AN INTERVIEW. Red flags going up.

In the meantime, I had a very, very busy Wednesday with a client, and was exhausted by the time I got home in the afternoon. But glad that I had five days away from clients. We have a big project coming up that’s more difficult than it needs to be, because the other party responsible for organizing it is clueless.

I was supposed to have five full days off. However, once the Thursday Skype meeting was moved, I got some other work out of the way in the morning, and then mowed the front yard in the afternoon before my meeting. It looks pretty darn good. The push mower does a far better job than the gas mower ever did.

I finished the final polish on “Intrigue on the Aurora Nightingale” and sent it off to the producer.

Started plotting the next Frieda/Lazarus radio play, which will take place on the Brighton Pier — provided I can get the research in. I’ve been in Brighton, but I need to do some of the historical research. It’s hard to find books in the MA library system on historical Brighton, England.

Working on the stage play that’s due next week.

Friday, I ran some errands, including stopping by the mechanic to make arrangements for the rest of the car repairs, which are happening today. Downloaded the materials for the “writing assessment” and did a couple of other things.

Managed to get some decent work done on ELLA BY THE BAY throughout the weekend. I find it relaxing to do a few pages with my morning coffee, even before I do yoga and start the rest of the day.

Finished a chunk of research on forensic psychology, so I can draft Sam’s professional scenes in GRAVE REACH.

Mowed the side yard.

I’m taking as much time as possible to enjoy being on the deck. I rubbed the wooden furniture with teak oil; I’m starting to put out the garden ornaments.

I managed to get a lot of reading done: MURDER AT OCHRE COURT and A MURDEROUS MARRIAGE, both by Alyssa Maxwell, although each is from a different series; THE LOST CAROUSEL OF PROVENCE and LETTERS FROM PARIS, both by Juliet Blackwell. Started reading a serial killer novel, but the cat was murdered, so I’m done. I’m tired of pets and women constantly brutalized in fiction (not to mention real life).

Saturday, I ran some books back to the library, and got out a pitch for an opportunity that landed on my desk late Friday night.

The stage play I was writing took a turn to the more dramatic; I started another, more comic play that I think will work better for the piece I have to submit at the end of the week.

Mowed No Man’s Land and about half of the terrace back part of the yard. An enormous tree limb crashed down in the meadow, and I’m not sure if I should be worried about the rest of the tree. Not to mention that I don’t think I can move the tree limb by myself.

Cooked a lot and ate too much on Saturday. Complete indulgence. A Spanish-style tuna with relish, olive, and tomato along with an Italian anti-pasto plate, French bread, and French wine for lunch (and a sponge cake with whipped cream and strawberries). A French bistro recipe for chicken, shallots, tomato, and tarragon for dinner.

The hordes of tourists have descended and Cape Cod is a nightmare. They are rude, they are arrogant, they drive on the wrong side of the road while texting on their phones. They are sloppy and they litter.

Sitting on the deck on Saturday afternoon, it smelled like Cape Cod, but with the noise of traffic and sirens, it sounded like New York City, and I felt claustrophobic.

A thunder storm woke me overnight Saturday into Sunday, but it passed quickly. It was the first night we left the plants out, and they seem to have survived.

Up early on Sunday, reading and writing. Especially on ELLA BY THE BAY. It’s got a nice, steady pace. I need to transfer some of that pace to GRAVE REACH, and up it a bit.

I should have mowed, but I didn’t. Instead, I tried to enjoy the day.

I am, however, worried about a tree in the backyard that’s leaning. Only I’m not sure if it’s on my property or my neighbor’s. So I will have to ask the landlord. But I’m worried that it will come down and hurt someone or something.

Wrote and polished an article which will go out today. Worked on the “assessment” assignment for the potential new client. Read Tami Hoag’s DUST TO DUST, which was quite good.

Noodled with some ideas for stories and for plays (different ideas). We will see which ones work and which ones don’t.

Got an idea for a short play, which I think will work better for the play on deadline than either of the ideas with which I’ve been playing.

Monday, morning, up early. Worked on ELLA BY THE BAY. Worked on the new play, called “Qualified Personnel.” Got the first draft done. Will let it simmer for a day or two before I revise it and then I want to get it out by Thursday, if possible.

Got more stuff out on the deck, to build our enchanted garden there. Put in the solar stakes. Started mowing the meadow, which is a nightmare, because it’s uneven. Wondering if I’ll have to get in someone to do it for me, at least mow it down the first time.

Reading about the history of Havana. Fretting about the “writing assessment.” I should have simply stated I was away for the weekend, and had the initial interview, etc. this week. It’s my own fault, but I didn’t get the rest I needed, and am still feeling cooked, instead of revived and ready to face the hell that is summer on Cape Cod. It should be wonderful because it’s so beautiful, but it’s not.

Just when I hit a low point, a friend sent me a link to his new song, which is quite beautiful. That cheered me up.

Thought I’d bought ground lamb for dinner, but it was beef. Made burgers for dinner. They were very good, but the last few times I’ve eaten beef, I’ve felt awful, and this wasn’t much different.

Up early today, stressed, and off to get the car fixed. Hope it stays within the estimate and can all get done.

Exhausted and out of sorts, when I should be renewed and ready to face what’s coming. Not a good way to start the coming months.

Fri. April 26, 2019: Headed for the Conference!

Friday, April 26, 2019
Waning Moon
Jupiter Retrograde
Pluto Retrograde
Rainy and chilly

I’m on the road today, headed to the conference. The most stressful thing about it will be driving the dangerous stretch of road full of dumbass drivers texting between here and the conference. It’s two of my least favorite roads in the area. It’s pouring down rain, and there’s already street flooding, so it will be a nightmare.

But that’s life.

I’m feeling a little under the weather. I have some errands to run this morning before I leave, some things to take care of. If one more person asks for something — everyone’s known FOR WEEKS I’m presenting this weekend, and yesterday a half a dozen people had questions that they think have to be answered RIGHT NOW. Just get over yourself. It’s going to have to wait until I get back.

I’m going to take it easy once I get to the hotel tonight. I may nip down to the signing and meet a few people. I have another meeting scheduled later in the evening. But I need to put together the rolling rack and unbag/hang the clothes, go over the presentation again, check the packets, etc.

Since I’m presenting at the end of the day, the lowest energy point of my day, I have to pace myself and conserve energy, so I can leave it all out on the floor during my slot.

Saturday night, once I’ve taken everything back up to the room, broken it down, and repacked it — I can hang out! 😉

Remember, most of us are a combination of nervous and excited about a conference situation. Seeing old friends, making new ones, meeting new people. Just be kind, smile, and invite someone to pull up a chair.

We’ll all have fun, learn from each other, and come back richer for the experience.

See you at NECRWA!

 

Thurs. April 4, 2018: Brief Sun Before More Snow

Thursday, April 5, 2018
Waning Moon
Mercury Retrograde
Jupiter Retrograde
Sunny and cold

They’re predicting another snow storm this weekend. Enough!

Tired, on many levels right now. I’m struggling.

Onsite work with one client was quiet, but busy this week. I’m behind where I want to be on SPIRIT REPOSITORY, but that seems to be a theme for the book. I’m working on the outline for the serial, and need some more time for it. I’d like to get it out at some point next week.

Hop on over to Gratitude and Growth for the latest.

Working on next week’s post for Ink-Dipped Advice, next Monday’s #Upbeat Authors post, and for a guest post over for Writer’s Worth month on Words on the Page.

Need to get back on track with MYTH AND INTERPRETATION, too, although we’ve come up with a potential cover image to start building its cover. We also found some great stuff for the cover of RELICS & REQUIEM, and possibly even GRAVE REACH. SPIRIT REPOSITORY will have its cover reveal tomorrow. My newsletter subscribers got it first!

Working on the updated media kit for TRACKING MEDUSA (since the one I’d worked on dumped last week, and I’ve had to start from scratch). I still have a good deal of work to do on the Jain Lazarus site.

The main focus right now is finishing SPIRIT REPOSITORY so it can release on schedule, and get back in gear with both MYTH and RELICS & REQUIEM. I have to get started on DAVY JONES DHARMA pretty soon, too, to keep that on track.

I read Alice Hoffman’s THE RULES OF MAGIC. It’s about the early life of the aunts in PRACTICAL MAGIC, which is one of my favorite books. I loved a lot of this book, but I got frustrated with the characters sometimes, their refusal to learn more about what they are, the lack of curiosity. It also made me think about the thread throughout many books, of the healers in a community who are shunned by day, but people creep to the door for their help at night. Not just in this book, but in literature in general, across genre. It makes me wonder why characters and authors allow characters this type of hypocrisy without consequence. Yes, it happens in life. But I would also like to see some characters, sometime, somewhere, refuse to condone and enable it. It’s gotten me thinking, in a good way. Which means the book touched on something deep in me, even if every reaction to it wasn’t positive, and the book did its job of getting me to think, to feel, and to ask questions. So my final response is positive.

Today, I have to run some errands and go grocery shopping, do some more research on ANCESTRY, do some yard work (if the weather holds), and, most importantly, WRITE.

I feel like I’m juggling two-ton dictionaries right now.

Back to the page.

Wed. June 24, 2015: Blasting Through the Solstice

Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Waxing Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Pluto Retrograde
Neptune Retrograde
Sunny and cool

Busy few days. By Friday afternoon, I was cooked. We moved books over to Liberty Hall for the book sale. We were short handed, so in between, I had to handle the desk myself in the afternoon. By the time I locked up on Friday afternoon, I was wiped out.

Tried to relax on the deck, but it was hard. Got some reading done — I’ve read a few books of a fairly well done cozy series, except the female protagonist of the pair makes really stupid mistakes. It’s one thing for an intelligent character to make a mistake based on mis-information or mis-interpretation of information. It’s quite different to make a mistake when you know better — and keep making that type of mistake, more than once per book and in multiple books. It shows a character who doesn’t learn, and that’s not someone with whom I choose to spend time. Even though a lot of the writing is lively, that is such a huge character flaw and shows a lack of growth that I can’t accept in characters I spend time with.

Next!

Cats loved having house guests. They got even more spoiled than before.

Prepped for the wedding Friday night and some of Saturday morning. Also got some research done on Saturday morning, and spent time with houseguests.

The day was gorgeous and the wedding was wonderful. It was at a church in Cotuit –the place was packed. The wedding was full of joy and laughter and beauty — the best of what one of those public rituals should be.

The party was fun, although I only stayed a couple of hours. I was worn out.

Tried to sleep in a bit on Sunday, fed the guests, got them on their way. The weather was dreadful — storms, thunder, lightening, pelting rain. Caught rainwater to use for plants. Spent most of the day doing research.

I’ve got two plays to work on, and I don’t want to lose momentum for BALTHAZAAR. There’s another idea percolating — I’m working with characters and situations, but I don’t quite have it yet. It would be contemporary.

And there’s another idea that’s taking shape, form, character, that would start in 1938. If it works, it has the potential to go all the way to present day. The backdrop is, of course, theatre, and it combines some of the other ideas and research I’ve done over several years, trying to find the right format.

Believe it or not, Agnes DeMille’s biography of Martha Graham provided the missing piece of inspiration to pull those years of playing with ideas together, and I did ten pages of notes for the overview and, specifically, for the first story.

Something else that is interesting about DeMille’s biography of Graham is that it is as much about DeMille as Graham! It shouldn’t be titled MARTHA GRAHAM, it should be MARTHA GRAHAM FROM AGNES DEMILLE’S PERSPECTIVE.

Read SPINSTER: MAKING A LIFE OF ONE’S OWN by Kate Bolick. The writing is good, and while there is a lot I like about it, I disagree that she’s “making a life of one’s own.” Yes, she remains unmarried. But she’s a serial dater, always involved in a relationship, always dating frenetically, as though she has to prove that, although she remains unmarried, she is still attractive and desired. She has no idea what it means to be alone — especially since she’s always running to her therapist. She’s unmarried, yes, but solitude is something she avoids. Being home alone one night to read a book and enjoying it is not “being alone”. It’s having a night off.

Read MUSE by Jonathan Galassi. Liked a lot of it, loved a lot of the writing and phrasing. However, stylistically, it was too narrative for my taste. It was like reading a book-long profile in THE NEW YORKER. I don’t want to hear ABOUT all these interesting people — I want to learn about them through active scenes. So, while I enjoyed the book and the writing a lot, I didn’t love it.

Lovely Summer Solstice celebration that will hopefully ground me well for the next cycle. I can’t believe the days are starting to get shorter! In a week or so, we’ll really notice.

Monday was an excellent writing day: 16 pages (just over one chapter ) of the mystery set on Cape Cod in 1938. The reading I’d done over the weekend fed the story and characters. While this mystery follows formula in some ways, it unfolds a little differently and a little more slowly than the current fashion. The title tells you the type of character who will meet a bad end, but, for the first couple of chapters, there are several possibilities. Also, setting the book in this time period, while Europe is in turmoil and America tried to stay out of it, sets up interesting conflicts between the more insular world the characters inhabit and how world events affect it — and how they try to fight it. It’s also a good way to explore various prejudices. I’d originally planned to start the book in the Midwest (my protagonist is from a small town outside Chicago) and have her receive a letter that is the catalyst to moving to New York. However, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to start building the relationships during a summer stock season on Cape Cod to set the stage (so to speak) for her break with her hometown and childhood sweetheart in active scenes. In other words, this first book will be here, on Cape Cod, before she makes the move to New York. She’ll move to New York in Book Two. I’m also taking some time to develop the first murder victim. I want the reader to know the individual and feel genuine sorrow at the death. It fits more the formula of some of the books written in the actual era, instead of starting in the midst of everything or giving us background we don’t need. Every scene has relevance to the plot, even the ones that won’t seem to until the murderer is revealed.

When I’d written myself out, I got gas for the car and the mower (prices have gone up AGAIN — I’m tired of the way gas prices are manipulated). I mowed the side yard and part of the front, although a big new crop of dandelions sprang up almost immediately.

The cats missed the house guests.

Read Barbara Delinsky’s LAKE NEWS last night. I enjoy her writing.

Up early Tuesday. I have more mowing and repotting to do today, hopefully before the next storm hits, but I also want to get some work done on both BALTHAZAAR and the 1938 mystery.

I’ve also been doing background reading for the one hour pilot. The research reinforces the more jaded view that people basically suck.

However, it was an excellent writing day on BALTHAZAAR TREASURE, a total of 22 pages, finishing up one chapter and writing another completely. I was exhausted by the end of it, but it was worth it. I have the research books spread out all around me, and I keep referring back and forth. The constant fact-checking slowed me down, and I still have some more to do when I do the next draft, but I was able to at least make this first one work.

Bad storms came through, with both tornado watches and warnings. The cats were upset and all sat in my lap. We were lucky here, though: thunder, lightening, heavy rain (which we needed). But no tornadoes.

Tried to read a mystery on the Kindle with an interesting premise, but the author or copyeditor didn’t know the difference between a regular plural and a possessive plural, so, after four pages’ worth of mistakes, I gave up. That’s third grade level English, and there’s no excuse for those types of errors in a published book. Read another book on Kindle that was pleasant, but no great shakes. Needed brain candy, but, ultimately, that one left me unsatisfied, too.

Upped the yoga practice to more intensity. I want to try adding another yoga session at night. I used to do that, when I first moved here, and yoga twice a day was great — in the morning, it focuses me and gets me ready for the day; at night, it unwinds me.

Today will be a very long day at the library. We’re short-handed today, and there’s something that needs my full attention that HAS to get done (I started it, but the rest of the information won’t have arrived until today). That means I’ll be putting in extra hours, after the building is closed. I’m working tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday, and then I have Sunday and Monday for intense writing. Tuesday, next week, I have appointments.

Worked on BALTHAZAAR again this morning, before I left for the library, but after the intensity of the past few days, it didn’t feel like enough. It was a solid 1500 words, though, so I shouldn’t kick myself about it. There are so many great stories-within-the-story in BALTHAZAAR that I’m tempted to do some chapters set back in pirate days. However, as a reader, I don’t like that convention — having the reader get far ahead of the protagonists — and it doesn’t fit with the way I’ve set up the structure of chapters in the series. Maybe a tie-in novel set there in the future? Or would it be too much like CUTTHROAT CHARLOTTE? I don’t think so, but one never knows. We’ll see what happens. Maybe I’ll do a book with Balthazaar, Sybilla, and Charity as the focus, rather than the catalyst, at some point in the future.

The weather, however, is gorgeous, and a wonderful reminder of why I live here.

I have a bad headache which I hope won’t develop into a migraine.

Have a great week!

Devon

Mon. Feb. 24, 2014: A Writing and Researching Weekend

Monday, February 24, 2014
Waning Moon
Jupiter Retrograde
Mercury Retrograde
Sunny and cold

Good news! My western novella, ELUSIVE PRAYERS, has been accepted by Amber Quill Press. This is a tie-in novella to my previous WIDOW’S CHAMBER serial. It had been accepted by the WC publisher, who went out of business on release day. I’ve rewritten it substantially in the interim, and it will now come out in late July. Re-working it, I liked the characters, situation, and depth of research, so I’m excited.

I have four releases coming out between the end of March and the end of July. So I’m pretty excited. It means I’ll be gearing up for some serious PR soon — watch out! 😉

Busy weekend. Friday was frustrating, but I got through it. Saturday, I worked on the novel I’m going to write in tandem with a friend who’s also working on a novel. We’re brainstorming and exchanging chapters, which is fun. I’ve read her outline and the first three chapters; she’s now got my initial fragment, my character notes, and the ideas for some major turning point scenes that I have to flesh out into my Writer’s Rough. In two weeks, I’m going to give her the first chapter. That’s longer than I usually take to write a chapter (I usually have to cough up one or nearly one a day), but this is a different kind of book and is not on a contract schedule.

I also wound up my course work for the Environmental Law and Policy Class. Got 100% on my final quiz, and 100% on my research exercise. I love, love, loved this class, and definitely want to get more involved in this type of work. It also made me understand some of the policies in place at the National Marine Life Center more completely.

I did some reading over the weekend. My next two books for review arrived, and I’m excited to dig into them. I started a couple of novels from the library, was frustrated with them, returned them. I read one novel I really enjoyed, THE TWISTED THREAD, by Charlotte Bacon. I wanted to shoot her an email to let her know how much I enjoyed it, but couldn’t find contact information online, and realized how spoiled we’ve all become at being able to locate anyone we want instantly! Good for her for not playing the always-available game!

Did a lot of research for the Sparkle & Tarnish series on Victorian dining. Since food plays a big part in the books, I want to make sure I get it right. I found THE SECRET GARDEN COOKBOOK filled with lovely historical tidbits, and I’m reading FANNIE’S LAST SUPPER, about a chef researching and recreating a meal from Fannie Farmer’s 1896 cookbook.

The current Garrett POV chapter I’m working on in TRUE HOME is set in Boston in 1886, so I’ve also been doing extensive research on geography, et al, of the time in order to properly write the chapter. Now, I have to cross-check some information, because I’d like to use some food info that is in books about Boston at the time, only I want to use them in NY chapters, but have to find out if similar places were in existence in NY at the time.

I see a trip to the Massachusetts Historical Society in the not-so-distant future for a day’s research.

Saturday night, I stayed up way too late watching NOW YOU SEE ME. The movie got lukewarm reviews, so I wasn’t expecting much, and I was pleasantly surprised. I liked it a lot. I figured out the big twist, but then, that’s what I do. I understand structure, and that choice made the most sense within the structure and the clues dropped in. I watched it again on Sunday, to pick up some details I’d missed.

Sunday, I researched, wrote, and scheduled articles for the wine blog all the way into mid-March. Took a break for more research, and then spent the afternoon at the Osterville Library, at a talk by author Paul Kemprecos, who writes a detective series set in this area, and also wrote several books with Clive Cussler. A colleague from the Writers Center was there, and they had a nice spread of wine, cheese, etc. It was a fun, lively afternoon.

Watched the closing ceremonies of the Olympics — pretty, but I didn’t have the context for much of the symbolism. Although I appreciated the tribute to writers, the performance didn’t make much sense, and where were the women writers?

This will be a very stressful week for me, not to mention that I have to finish the revisions of the play.

Got an intriguing job offer that I need to investigate more closely. I think it would be fascinating, if we can work out the time/money part of it.

The expected overnight storm missed us, and now they’ve downgraded Wednesday’s storm from a foot of snow to only four inches. Phew!

Back to the page.

Devon

Wed. Feb. 19: Errands and Storms and Low-Quality Writing

Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Waning Moon
Jupiter Retrograde
Mercury Retrograde
Sunny and cold with yet another storm coming

I realized I didn’t blog yesterday. Oops. Not much worth saying, so neither one of us missed much.

Hop on over to Gratitude and Growth for seedling progress and the February Mid-Month Check-in for other progress, if you’re interested.

I had to run some errands before yesterday’s storm hit. The roads were awful. But I got in and out safely and then tucked in for the storm – plenty of snow, then switching over to rain, and we’re supposed to get another storm later today. I’m storm-weary at this point.

I lost all of Monday having to work on a particular document, but it’s done and out and let’s hope for the best.

Tuesday, I worked with students, got some pitches done, did some rewrites. I’m not happy with the quantity or the quality of my writing these past few weeks, and that’s very frustrating. I could live with a lower quantity if I was happy with the quality.

Did a bit of work on TRUE HOME and had to order a bunch of research books through the library to find out yet more stuff before I can write the current chapter. That’s why I usually prefer to research BEFORE I draft, but this is an entirely different process. Don’t get me wrong, though, I do love the research process.

Had errands to run this morning, as well. The driveway froze over and was a sheet of ice, in spite of shoveling, sanding, salting. Seriously, we could have run a few competitive events.

But I drive a VW, and the car handled it well. I ran my errands and then took the garbage to the dump. I only have to go every few months with household garbage. We recycle about 80% of what we create, so while we take recycling and yard waste about every ten days, the household garbage bins in the garage take a long time to fill and we don’t need many of those trips. Still, it always feels good to get it out of the house.

So, I’m late getting to the desk and getting the day underway.

I want to take my yoga practice deeper and more challenging. In these winter months, I tend to sleep in, but I’m going to start getting up earlier so that I can spend a longer time in my morning yoga and meditation practice.

My knee is healing well, but my back is still in bad shape, unfortunately. I hope the yoga can help with that, too.

Read a very disappointing novel. Great premise, but when your protag is an editor, the book damn well better be edited properly, and not full of structural, grammatical, and punctuation errors. Plus, the central love relationship had an undercurrent of nastiness to it (that was supposed to be humor) that made me uncomfortable. Add the lack of logic and plausibility, and not having the protagonist participate in the climax, and it was a disappointment.

Now, time to focus and get something worthwhile on the page. I’m feeling discouraged, and the only way to get out of the downward spiral is to do some good work.

Devon

Mon. Nov. 4, 2013: Writing, THOR, & ROCKY HORROR

Monday, November 4, 2013
Waxing Moon
Mercury Retrograde
Sunny and cold

Busy weekend. Working on the project that I’m developing. Trying to type up the material for the first three chapters I did in the development notebook, but layering in the details so it makes sense. Amazing how much detail I need to HAVE in order to pick the right details.

Bad storms and high winds on Friday made it difficult to get things done in a timely manner, with power wonkiness and all, but I got out a project, eventually, and then had to school the so-called “editor” who questioned the correct punctuation usage. Honey, if you are actually an editor, you should either know it or have a shelf full of style guides to look it up. If you can’t do either one, you don’t belong in an editor’s chair. So glad to be done with that client. Lowest paying client, biggest pain in the ass, insults me on a regular basis — um, no. If you were paying me six figures, I might put up with some of your shit, but for these rates . . .no.

Lots of reading — I’m reading a best selling author’s interconnected novels to deconstruct them — and I watched, finally THOR. My response was, “that’s it?” Seriously, with all the hype, I expected so much more. Chris Hemsworth does his Chris Hemsworth thing (which he does very well), Tom Hiddleston is terrific, Jeremy Renner has a sequence-stealing cameo, but for the most part, I was disappointed. The first 45 minutes could have bee handled in 17, and given us more of the growing relationship between Thor and Jane. It happened too fast and there wasn’t enough there. Thor has his big realization too quickly without enough to back it up. I would have liked more character interactions and less fighting. The character interactions that were there were good (Kenneth Brannagh directed, of course they were), but the film, as a whole, was out of balance. There was a lack of development in too many of the supporting characters that made them far too interchangeable. I should know why someone is there by what they say and do, not have only the costume as the scorecard.

Saturday, I got some work done in the morning, and then, in the evening, met friends at Lindsey’s in Wareham for drinks, and on to see the husband of one friend in THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. The friend’s husband was very good, and there was a lot of good stuff in the piece, but it was also rather uneven, and the tech needed work. Scene changes too long and awkward, sound mix weak. The band, however, was great I’m glad I went, it was a fun night out.

Sunday, I stayed offline all day, which was wonderful. Did exactly what I wanted. And did home-and-hearth stuff like taking the garbage to the dump, taking the leaves to the dump, grocery shopping, taking down the Samhain decorations, and doing laundry.

Today, it’s back to work, on a variety of projects. Some errands, over to Osterville Library to do a drop off/pick up. It will be a busy week.

Devon

Wed. Sept. 4, 2013: Writing Frenzy and Neuro-Ethics

Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Day Before Dark Moon
Sunny and cooler

Flat out yesterday. 4707 words (18 pages) on one of the two priority projects I’m juggling. Just over 1200 words this morning, and nowhere near stopping, although this morning’s work was more of a struggle. I was fighting a scene in a different POV, because I don’t like switching POVS within a chapter. But I didn’t want this whole chapter in this second POV. But I needed the scene. I tried to do without, and it didn’t work. So I went back and added it in, and now the chapter is smoothing out a bit.

Also invoiced some articles, wrote, polished, invoiced, and sent off two reviews. Pitched a couple of jobs. Responded to some emails. Worked on the book proposal, but couldn’t finish it. I’ll have to finish it and get it out today.

I had to stop work for a few hours yesterday because of severe storms, and I didn’t want to blow out the computer. Thunder, lightening, torrential rain. Refilled the jugs with rainwater for the plants, though, but it was still a lot.

Sat down and watched THE BOURNE LEGACY all the way through last night. Hey, I pay for On Demand, I might as well use it. I liked it a lot better than I expected. Structurally, it’s astonishing. I mean, the action sequences are spectacular, too, but the way it’s written and edited, the structure is one of the strongest I’ve seen in a long time. I’ll have to watch it a few more times and break it down, really get inside the structure, live in its skin, and I’ll learn a lot. Renner and Weisz were excellent, and I love how, with Weisz’s character, every time she’s pushed beyond her limits and one thinks she’ll totally lose it, she steps up and comes through. Some of the supporting cast were a bit cardboard, but I figure those character developments were sacrificed for pace. I would have liked the assassin in that final chase to have been a threat from earlier on, but that’s just me wanting more development in antagonists in work — heck, I teach a class on antagonists. There were a couple of places where I wanted just a single beat of stillness — both these actors can use stillness to positive effect, and, especially in a movie where pace is so important, there were two or three scenes where I just wanted ONE more beat of stillness, especially between them. I felt the full connection was cut short in those particular edits.

What I found interesting in the plot was that it reminds me of research I did on various Super Soldier programs a few years ago – I wonder if the screenwriters and I read some of the same source material. Somewhere, still packed, I have the book on the program that I tracked down, after finding it at the library and knowing I had to have it as part of my research materials for a project. I remember working with Vietnam Vets years ago, and they were already talking about that kind of program. So it’s interesting to see how these theories and possibilities are creatively explored. And the question asked over and over again: Can you keep your moral compass, your integrity as a human being, and still participate in war? If you don’t participate in war, is the only choice being conquered? Do some have to hang up their moral/human integrity in the name of keeping the many safe? Where do you draw the line? I don’t think we have easy answers to that. I don’t think there have ever been easy answers to that, no matter what we want to think and believe on an individual basis. Warfare has always been about cruelty and dehumanization, and advances in technology and genome science have created new questions, not solved old ones.

That’s why I signed up for the Neuroethics class that keeps getting postponed. These are some of the questions we explore in regard to programs like developing Super Soldiers. I want to take that class, because I want to dig deeper.

Then watched LUTHER on BBC America, which is just so character-oriented that it’s always a terrific ride. I think it’s running four consecutive nights, so that will be good.

Lots of work today,and a blazing headache, so I better get to it.

Devon

Thursday, June 2, 2011

ASSUMPTION OF RIGHT releases in 4 days from Champagne Books!

Thursday, June 2, 2011
Waxing Moon
Saturn Retrograde

Pluto Retrograde

No idea what the weather is, because I’ve scheduled this to post. I’m headed for Martha’s Vineyard today, way earlier than I would have liked. Since the garden needs 1 hour of attention before I leave, I need 1 hour for yoga/meditation and 1 hour for writing — I’m up three hours earlier than normal.

Got some work done yesterday. Decided I wanted to mow the terraced back before it got too hot, so around 9:30, off I went. Just as I finished, thunderstorms broke out. Talk about timing! Took grass clippings to the dump, going a different way due to paving on Rt. 28. I found my way there and back without getting lost.

Hit the post office, hit Verizon, went to Home Goods and found three awesome planters in which to transplant the witch hazel, the Big King Eggplant, and the lilac. All one sale, for about 70% off. Also found a Ganesh-type statue for the deck. Looked at a couple of leaf-shaped birdbaths — that might be a better choice than the traditional basin-type. I have to think about it.

Stopped at Shaw’s to get in some supplies for tomorrow’s breakfast, since I have friends stopping by on their way further into the Cape. It also meant I had to dash around cleaning. I mean, I’ve been keeping up with the basics, but because of the unpacking and projects, I’ve scattered stuff around. So it was about tidying, wiping off the counters, etc. I’ll vacuum quickly tomorrow morning, clean the bathroom and the litter boxes shortly before they come, and it’s all good.

I was advised to take an overnight bag to the Vineyard in case there’s ferry trouble. Let’s hope there’s not, and I can get back this afternoon and do a few last-minute things for tomorrow!

Got out another article. Didn’t spend enough time on SPIRIT REPOSITORY or the article meant to start.

I’d pitched to be a guest poster, as Annabel Aidan, on The Writers Vineyard (which features Champagne authors) and . . . a slot opened up and I’ll be blogging there about once a month. My first post is on June 16. Don’t worry, I’ll remind you!

Good meeting for NMLC’s Mermaid Ball. Interesting mix of characters on the committee. We’ve all got different strengths, so as long as we let people do what they’re good at and not try to force them where they’re not, I think we’ll be in great shape. The chair of the committee and the head of the publicity committee are excellent, and I’m excited to work with them. I’m going to rough out some of the ideas over the weekend about what we discussed, in time for next week’s meeting.

Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final! Game still going on when I set this to post. Of course, one of the guys most vital to the evolution of CLEAR THE SLOT (the hockey novel) now plays for Vancouver and is in the playoffs. How can I not want him to do well, even though I’ve got to root for Boston?

Tornadoes did a good bit of damage in central MA. On the radio, driving back over the bridge, we were warned about severe weather and maybe even hail. I stacked the deck furniture and protected the plants as best I could. Fingers crossed it didn’t come to pass.

Lots to do when I came home. There’s no way I’ll get to bed early, but I still had to get up at 5 AM on Thursday! I’m looking forward to a meditation session before bed. I need to sit and just BE.

Iris keeps trying to dig open the door to the basement. I hope she’s not telling us we have to go down due to an incoming funnel!

I’ll have lots to tell you tomorrow, and lots to blog about!

Devon