Tues. Feb. 28, 2023: Yup, It’s Snowing

image courtesy of Alain Audet  via pixabay.com

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Waxing Moon

Snow and cold

I hope you had a lovely weekend. We can curl up and have a nice natter now.

The February wrap-up is posted over on the GDR site.

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!

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. June 16, 2020: Die For Your Employer/Die for Tourist Dollars Day 29 — Bone Weary

Tuesday, June 16, 2020
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Venus Retrograde
Jupiter Retrograde
Sunny and cool

It was cool enough last night for the heat to kick on.

There’s a post over on the Goals, Dreams, and Resolutions site, “Just Rest”, which I have to take to heart this week.

Up and down weekend. Not as productive as I wished, but I got work done. It just wasn’t what I needed to get done.

I felt as creative as wilted lettuce on Friday, so I concentrated on admin tasks. Cleared out a couple of inboxes, dealt with things, got out some LOIs.

I can’t remember if I made the new curtains for the bedroom on Thursday or Friday. Sheers with small roses on them, a little out of character for me, but they’re nice.

Saturday morning, geared up and went to Star Market early (after dropping my library books in the bin). People were masked, and there weren’t a lot in there, so it wasn’t bad, even though they don’t always follow the arrows.

On the way home, I saw lots of people out and about. All unmasked. All acting like nothing’s happened.

Basically, we stayed home to give the powers that be time to come up with solutions to keep us alive, and they did nothing. Now, they just want us to go back out there and die for their profit.

Still getting daily emails claiming my package will be delivered that day (whatever day it is). Of course, it’s not. Now, UPS marks the excuse as “emergency or natural disaster.” Um, no. There haven’t been any emergencies or natural disasters in the 11 miles between the facility and the house in the past ten days. It was either Friday or Saturday when the UPS truck drove right past the house, but didn’t stop.

Absolutely unacceptable.

If my package isn’t important enough for them, then they should hand it off to USPS, like they did the last one. At least USPS can be bothered to deliver.

UPS seems to forget that the only reason they exist is to deliver packages. If they can’t do that, then they need to be broken up.

Most of the weekend was taken up by GAMBIT COLONY revisions. I planned to spend an hour or two in re-reads. That piece is my favorite stress reliever. But I got caught up in it. I revised books 3 & what I have of 4. Book 4 is nearly finished. Book 5 is an interlude book, and I have bits and pieces of it done, and Book 6 is in basic outline.

Once all six books are done, I will do a big pass over them for continuity and hand them off to the editor. As we do the editor-based revisions, I will do the Series Bible, which is complex.

The plan, once the first six books are edited, is to release one a month over the course of six months. Although I have ideas for a few more books in the series, whether or not anything will come of them remains to be seen, and will be contingent upon how well the first six books do. They are of a piece; while they don’t act as cliffhangers, each book is a specific part of the journey.

I’ve been joking about the series being a “creative soap opera” since it deals with the behind-the-scenes filming of a television show. But, really, that’s what it is. And not your typical, clichéd, bitchy idiocy. But an exploration of creative process under pressure; some of it is a creative utopia I wish existed, some is about the actual conflicts that come up.

We’re looking at a 2022 release, but it could get pushed back, again, because of other contracts that need to be finished first.

If there are further books down the line, they will have to deal with the pandemic and how it affects the show. Maybe by then, I’ll have a better idea of how things actually work out.

Providing I survive. Which, when your government and your bosses are doing what they can to make sure one doesn’t, becomes a challenge.

I got a bit of yard work done. Not as much as I should have. Cut back some invasives. Did not get the front finished, which is something I need to do this week if the weather holds.

A lot of this week is getting in what I need for next week’s surgery and recovery. I think I have most of it; will get a few last things at the end of the week, and then play it as safe as I can until I have my COVID test next week, and, if it comes back negative, the surgery.

At each phase of the process, depending on what happens, there are different sets of protocols to follow, so it’s just one step at a time.

I decided, since GAMBIT COLONY is my stress-relief project (as complex as it is), that it will be my carrot. If I finish what I need to write that day, I get to spend some time on GAMBIT COLONY. If I don’t, no GAMBIT.

That should motivate!

Had weird dreams all weekend. Sunday night into Monday I had a good one, which was working on a Shakespeare production with Peter Dinklage. That would be great, but I don’t see that happening any time soon.

Decent first writing session on THE BARD’S LAMENT on Monday morning.

Headed in to the office. It was quiet for most of my stint, and I was on my own. A bit of overlap with a stressed out co-worker. There’s nothing I can do to help her. I’ve tried. I attempt to lend a sympathetic ear to her venting, but I leave feeling bruised from the negativity.

Home, got out some LOIs, had a really nice preliminary online interview with a company based in Australia. I don’t have enough expertise in their field, so I doubt they’d hire me, but the actual process was a pleasure. That is so rare when so many of these recruiters and application places either bait and switch or are so demeaning in the initial contact that I stop the process right there.

I’m so weary, weary all the way into my bones, running deep. Having a migraine didn’t help, either.

I took a two hour nap (I’m not a napper). It didn’t help.

Slogged through making dinner. Read a bit, went to bed early. Felt no better after nine hours of sleep.

The UPS package finally arrived. It wasn’t delivered for so long because it was small (smaller than I expected). Therefore, not important enough. They should have just handed it off to USPS, and not lied every day that it was going to be delivered.

I already decided NOT to buy a couple of things in the past few days because the companies use UPS to ship.

Ron Perlman taking Ted Cruz to the woodshed was funny as hell. Cruz behaved completely inappropriately for a sitting Senator – especially one who allowed the Sociopath to publicly trash both his wife and father. Perlman is smart, talented, and has integrity – everything Cruz does not.

The Supreme Court decision saying the Civil Rights Act protects LGBT was important. I was not impressed with Gorsuch’s opinion on it, and Alito’s disagreement was appalling and from the past century. But it passed, and the Supreme Court actually served justice and our population, which it hasn’t always done.

I’m hoping to have a good day both on the fiction front and the client front today, and mentally prepare for a difficult day onsite tomorrow.

But I still have a migraine, I’m weary unlike any exhaustion I’ve ever had before, and it will be a struggle. Hope it’s all better on your end.

June 11, 2020: Die For Your Employer/Die for Tourist Dollars Day 24 — Trying to Get the Week Back on Track

Thursday, June 11, 2020
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Venus Retrograde
Saturn Retrograde
Jupiter Retrograde
Cloudy and humid

New post up over on Gratitude and Growth about progress in the garden.

Some stuff going on with a client that is inappropriate to discuss publicly, so I won’t. But it’s causing additional stress. It has little to do with the work itself, but a lot to do with the work situation.

Annoyed that there is zero coverage about the procession to honor George Floyd on Tuesday, that was lead by the head of the local NAACP, but they show the protests led by white people all over the Cape, as if to say, “See? We care.”

The beauty and sorrow of the procession has stayed with me, and gotten me thinking about a lot of things. Including about how what I thought I wanted my life to look like, way back years ago, was deeply rooted in unrecognized racism/colonialism. I mean, even wanting a Victorian house – the Victorians got that architecture and all that STUFF on the backs of people they wouldn’t even let into the houses for tea, unless they were the ones making the tea and bringing it into the parlor for other guests. It’s not that people who like the architecture and want to restore and live in Victorian houses are awful, but we need to look at how and why these houses were built. Then we can turn them into something better.

About damn time the Confederate flag was banned from places like NASCAR. It should be banned everywhere in this country. I never understood why it was ever allowed. Confederates were traitors. They seceded and created their own country because they wanted to profit from unpaid labor and treat human beings worse than work animals. On top of that, they LOST. We’ve allowed their descendants and followers to moan about “northern aggression” and “northern oppression” – to romanticize their inhumanity and play the victim — for around 150 years. It was never “right” to own human beings, and we won a war about it. Any symbols of the Confederacy outside of a history class or a museum should have been banned immediately.

Lousy writing day on fiction yesterday, although fine with client work and LOIs.

Remote chat was fun, as it always is.

Baked an orange hazelnut chocolate pound cake from a Moosewood recipe. I’m still having trouble getting the center to bake through properly, while the outside is getting overbaked. I have to figure that out. It’s still really good, but I want it to be evenly baked.

The package that was supposed to be delivered on Saturday finally turned up, thanks to the USPS, who got it from UPS, who couldn’t be bothered to deliver it because it was a small package.

The quality of the contents was very good, but I still wouldn’t do business with the company again after their condescending response to my frustration.

The other package, which was supposed to be delivered last Friday, and has been sitting in the facility 11 miles away, and been on the truck THREE TIMES and not delivered, still hasn’t shown up. Nor has UPS responded to my complaints.

Companies have pushed for re-opening and act like it’s normal. So now they can’t whine that they can’t provide normal service.

Oh, wait – treating their customers like crap IS normal for UPS. That’s right. I forgot.

Don’t get my wrong, the drivers are great and working their asses off. It’s the administrators who are useless.

Lucy Burdette recommended two books, so I bought them (eBooks) and plan to enjoy them this weekend. Along with reading the book I have for review.

I hope to get in some good writing time today, both on the book and for a client, get out some LOIs. Maybe do a bit of yard work, purge a few boxes from the basement, and get started on my sewing projects. I have a nice, big stack. Since I don’t plan to go clothes shopping in a store any time soon, I might as well use my apparel stash and make some cool new pieces exactly the way I want them. There’s a lovely piece of fabric that I’m going to make up in a simple design (no pattern), that will go well with some basic black pants I want to make from a Vogue pattern. Plus, I found some great fabric that will make lovely new summer curtains for the bedroom, to replace the pair of lace panels that have gotten a bit raggedy.

If there’s decent sunlight the next few days, maybe I can also get the mending done.

While I sew, I can also work on plot points in the books.

Time to turn this stressful week around.