Not house building things, but writing things. Weird how that works. It's one of those things you have to stop thinking about and then the answers just pop up.
Not thinking about not thinking about it is the hard part.
I feel I should break into a verse of Let It Go here. Don't worry, I won't. There's enough of that going on.
A new ending to Kick The Cat flowed from my fingers this morning. That's 800 new words. I haven't written new words in a very long time.
I figured out what I'm doing for the A to Z Challenge next April. Planning ahead is odd for me. Well, planning that far ahead, I mean. But it's the perfect lead in to A Story A Day In May. I'm going to do opening paragraph of short stories from prompts provided in the comments, then finish the stories in May. At least, that's what the voices in my head tell me I'm going to do.
Then, just as I was panicking over far too many things, one of which included, what the hell am I going to write for NaNo this year while in the middle of house stuff / packing / moving???? The story came to me. Plop, here you go. Now shut up and go panic about something else.
Can't argue with that. It may be a short, or a novella or the rough draft of a novel, depending on how much time I have. I've done the 50K thing for 7 years. The thought of sitting out for number 8 irks me, but we'll see what necessity demands.
It's sci-fi, concerns twins, one of which will grow up to be a killer, two parents who just want to do the right thing and the medical staff who doesn't want to see the kids born.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Monday, September 8, 2014
When The Vet Emails
Yesterday, as I was perusing my inbox while shoveling lunch into my face, I noticed an email from the vet. He's a really nice guy and has always been great with my pets.
His office recently started sending out happy birthday emails. Yes, to pets.
I'd received one for my dog. He hasn't mastered the mouse click yet, though he is good at resting his head on my keyboard if I try to use my laptop on the couch. We'll have to work on before next year's card arrives.
Beyond the e-card, however, is the issue of the card I received today. It was addressed to my cat, Suki. That's all well and good, but that cat died twenty-three years ago. Really. I mean, if my would-be twenty-seven year old cat was having a birthday, that would be amazing, and a true testament to awesome veterinary care, but alas, tis not the case.
They may want to reconsider the database they're pulling their pet info from. Just maybe.
I wonder if I'll get birthday emails for my other two cats that have passed on during that time? I don't even remember when their birthdays were so I guess I'll have to wait and find out. At least they could have clicked the mouse.
His office recently started sending out happy birthday emails. Yes, to pets.
I'd received one for my dog. He hasn't mastered the mouse click yet, though he is good at resting his head on my keyboard if I try to use my laptop on the couch. We'll have to work on before next year's card arrives.
Beyond the e-card, however, is the issue of the card I received today. It was addressed to my cat, Suki. That's all well and good, but that cat died twenty-three years ago. Really. I mean, if my would-be twenty-seven year old cat was having a birthday, that would be amazing, and a true testament to awesome veterinary care, but alas, tis not the case.
They may want to reconsider the database they're pulling their pet info from. Just maybe.
I wonder if I'll get birthday emails for my other two cats that have passed on during that time? I don't even remember when their birthdays were so I guess I'll have to wait and find out. At least they could have clicked the mouse.
Friday, September 5, 2014
Building a House Baby
Yes, building a house is like having a newborn. It's exhausting. I don't sleep much. I haven't had time to write in far too long.
My current house is a mess and I can't tell you the last time I put on clothes that didn't smell like sawdust or have dirt stains on them. It's just not worth the effort of putting on nice clothes because inevitably I'll get a call that requires me to run over to the house and get dirty.
If I don't hear from my subcontractors about the house, I start to worry. Yet, at the same time, I'm wishing there were a few less things that required my attention so I could have a night to relax now and then. When I do get an hour here or there to relax, I just want to sleep. Or do laundry, or one of the countless other things I don't have time for between work, sleep, eat, and house.
I've cleaned up enough sand, sawdust and lumber scraps to equal the fun of changing diapers, but at least the house hasn't pissed on me yet. There's always tomorrow.
Yes, it will all be worth it in the end. I keep telling myself that and dream of my writing room. And then I realize how much work is still ahead of us and the exhaustion kicks back in.
Hopefully, if all goes well (there have been four delays already) this time, insulation will begin next week and then drywall. We're doing some basement ceiling insulation ourselves, but other than that, we get to sit back and supervise for most of those two steps. After running all the electrical and networking, and the security system, supervising for a bit sounds really darn good.
I bought a book today. That was probably overly optimistic of me, but I'd really like to read it. Eventually. When I can keep my eyes open and concentrate on something for more than ten minutes.
Until then, it's house and stalking my submissions tracker. And sleeping. Wonderful sleep. The hours we share are too short.
My current house is a mess and I can't tell you the last time I put on clothes that didn't smell like sawdust or have dirt stains on them. It's just not worth the effort of putting on nice clothes because inevitably I'll get a call that requires me to run over to the house and get dirty.
If I don't hear from my subcontractors about the house, I start to worry. Yet, at the same time, I'm wishing there were a few less things that required my attention so I could have a night to relax now and then. When I do get an hour here or there to relax, I just want to sleep. Or do laundry, or one of the countless other things I don't have time for between work, sleep, eat, and house.
I've cleaned up enough sand, sawdust and lumber scraps to equal the fun of changing diapers, but at least the house hasn't pissed on me yet. There's always tomorrow.
Yes, it will all be worth it in the end. I keep telling myself that and dream of my writing room. And then I realize how much work is still ahead of us and the exhaustion kicks back in.
Hopefully, if all goes well (there have been four delays already) this time, insulation will begin next week and then drywall. We're doing some basement ceiling insulation ourselves, but other than that, we get to sit back and supervise for most of those two steps. After running all the electrical and networking, and the security system, supervising for a bit sounds really darn good.
I bought a book today. That was probably overly optimistic of me, but I'd really like to read it. Eventually. When I can keep my eyes open and concentrate on something for more than ten minutes.
Until then, it's house and stalking my submissions tracker. And sleeping. Wonderful sleep. The hours we share are too short.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
It's Summer, So Let's Talk Shorts
I've always considered myself more of a novelist than a short story writer, but my current publication record begs to differ. It's not that I don't try to publish my novels, they just take much longer to find a home and/or for me to set aside the time and energy to make a home on my own for them.
So what do I do between putting my novels on the query bus and wistfully waving them goodbye? I write short stories. Yes, I work on editing the several other novels I have at various stages too, but editing a novel takes more time, at least for me, than writing the rough draft, and as I've been harping on for well over a year now, time is something I don't have much of at this particular stage of life.
One acceptance away from crossing into double digits of published shorts, I thought I'd take a little blog time to explore my world of short story writing: Where I started, the process, submitting, and juggling.
Let's start at the start, shall we?
My relationship with short stories began back in third grade with a teacher who picked the shyest kid in the class to ship off to the local college where I had to stand up in front of a room full of other students and tell them a couple sentences about the story I'd written. It was about a dog that got lost. I have no idea what I said about it or if words actually made their way out of my mouth when the microphone ended up in my clammy hands. All I remember is that I was terrified and praying my chaperone parent would not forget me there because the place was huge and crammed with people who were much taller than me.
The next year, I slipped stories to my social studies teacher. She was really nice and didn't ask me to answer questions much in class. The whole talking in public thing was a major issue for me as a kid. She would write notes on the stories and hand them back to me the next day after class. We had a really great non-verbal, written encouragement thing going on. The thoughtful few words she shared and the fact that the teacher from the year before had picked my story above all the others, made me want to keep writing.
Over the next several years, I wrote a few stories. I didn't show them to anyone. Not because I thought they were bad at the time (they are, I kept a few), but because I didn't find the right person to share them with again, someone I felt safe with, who wouldn't go at them with a red pen and tell me they sucked and I should go find something else to do.
It wasn't until my junior year in high school that I took a creative writing class and found another teacher to share my work with. She did go at them with a red pen, but she was encouraging too. There were days I loved her and days I hated her. In between those days, I wrote stories and poems for the student writing journals she put together throughout the year. Seeing my work all typed up and in other people's hands was exhilarating.
With her encouragement, I started working on a short story, that grew into a novella, that eventually, countless drafts, nearly twenty years, and numerous total rewrites later, became my first novel. At this point, I was of the belief that the longer the story, the better. No seriously, my novel draft was 320,000 words. Join me in a headdesk, would you?
After finishing one of those major rewrites, I stumbled across a fanfic site for a TV show I'd loved years before. There, I found a writing community that reminded me of that creative writing class and those teachers that had gently prodded me along. I wrote a fanfic novella. Readers liked it. I decided I'd try writing something short. I hadn't done that since high school and it took me a few drafts to remember how to cram a whole story into a couple thousand words.
The first comment I received on that story was that I'd made the reader cry. And no, not because it was a horrible story, though it may well be, I haven't gone back to read it to find out. Then more comments came in saying similar things. I'd made readers feel the emotions I'd felt when I wove the words together. That was pretty damn awesome. And quick to write, so much more so than the monster novel I'd been working on forever or even the novella I'd slaved over for months. I wanted to do it again.
Then I discovered NaNoWriMo. Novels. In a Month. Holy crap. This could happen? They didn't take years? I had to check this out.
Enter the sparkly distraction chicken. I wrote novels. Four of them. Found a real critique group. Learned what I was writing was not good and how to fix it. Dove into fixing it. Rewrote my first novel yet again, but in 200K less words. Made lots of writer friends all around the world. Yes, I danced the tango with the sparkly chicken of distraction for years. Then a writing prompt jogged my memory about wanting to write a short story. Ooooh yeah. That.
I wrote a short story. It wasn't very good. But I liked it. I pondered the responses from those who didn't like it and those who did, weighing what I liked about the story with the things they suggested needed work. This feedback went into the percolator for a good long while. I had no intention of rewriting that story. It was an exercise in learning to write short again.
When the next prompt grabbed my attention, I was ready. Solitude was born.
So what do I do between putting my novels on the query bus and wistfully waving them goodbye? I write short stories. Yes, I work on editing the several other novels I have at various stages too, but editing a novel takes more time, at least for me, than writing the rough draft, and as I've been harping on for well over a year now, time is something I don't have much of at this particular stage of life.
One acceptance away from crossing into double digits of published shorts, I thought I'd take a little blog time to explore my world of short story writing: Where I started, the process, submitting, and juggling.
Let's start at the start, shall we?
My relationship with short stories began back in third grade with a teacher who picked the shyest kid in the class to ship off to the local college where I had to stand up in front of a room full of other students and tell them a couple sentences about the story I'd written. It was about a dog that got lost. I have no idea what I said about it or if words actually made their way out of my mouth when the microphone ended up in my clammy hands. All I remember is that I was terrified and praying my chaperone parent would not forget me there because the place was huge and crammed with people who were much taller than me.
The next year, I slipped stories to my social studies teacher. She was really nice and didn't ask me to answer questions much in class. The whole talking in public thing was a major issue for me as a kid. She would write notes on the stories and hand them back to me the next day after class. We had a really great non-verbal, written encouragement thing going on. The thoughtful few words she shared and the fact that the teacher from the year before had picked my story above all the others, made me want to keep writing.
Over the next several years, I wrote a few stories. I didn't show them to anyone. Not because I thought they were bad at the time (they are, I kept a few), but because I didn't find the right person to share them with again, someone I felt safe with, who wouldn't go at them with a red pen and tell me they sucked and I should go find something else to do.
It wasn't until my junior year in high school that I took a creative writing class and found another teacher to share my work with. She did go at them with a red pen, but she was encouraging too. There were days I loved her and days I hated her. In between those days, I wrote stories and poems for the student writing journals she put together throughout the year. Seeing my work all typed up and in other people's hands was exhilarating.
With her encouragement, I started working on a short story, that grew into a novella, that eventually, countless drafts, nearly twenty years, and numerous total rewrites later, became my first novel. At this point, I was of the belief that the longer the story, the better. No seriously, my novel draft was 320,000 words. Join me in a headdesk, would you?
After finishing one of those major rewrites, I stumbled across a fanfic site for a TV show I'd loved years before. There, I found a writing community that reminded me of that creative writing class and those teachers that had gently prodded me along. I wrote a fanfic novella. Readers liked it. I decided I'd try writing something short. I hadn't done that since high school and it took me a few drafts to remember how to cram a whole story into a couple thousand words.
The first comment I received on that story was that I'd made the reader cry. And no, not because it was a horrible story, though it may well be, I haven't gone back to read it to find out. Then more comments came in saying similar things. I'd made readers feel the emotions I'd felt when I wove the words together. That was pretty damn awesome. And quick to write, so much more so than the monster novel I'd been working on forever or even the novella I'd slaved over for months. I wanted to do it again.
Then I discovered NaNoWriMo. Novels. In a Month. Holy crap. This could happen? They didn't take years? I had to check this out.
Enter the sparkly distraction chicken. I wrote novels. Four of them. Found a real critique group. Learned what I was writing was not good and how to fix it. Dove into fixing it. Rewrote my first novel yet again, but in 200K less words. Made lots of writer friends all around the world. Yes, I danced the tango with the sparkly chicken of distraction for years. Then a writing prompt jogged my memory about wanting to write a short story. Ooooh yeah. That.
I wrote a short story. It wasn't very good. But I liked it. I pondered the responses from those who didn't like it and those who did, weighing what I liked about the story with the things they suggested needed work. This feedback went into the percolator for a good long while. I had no intention of rewriting that story. It was an exercise in learning to write short again.
When the next prompt grabbed my attention, I was ready. Solitude was born.
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Better Late Than Never
I'm pleased to announce that after bouncing around in my submission juggling routine for a year, and a recent rewrite to polish a few details, Late has been accepted for publication in Bards and Sages Quarterly. It is slated to be in the April 2015 issue.
So what's it about?
An incident with a cart sidetracks a man and his date with true love.
Late is a favorite of mine. Well, okay, they all are, the stories that I submit, but this story is a little different. It's a fairy tale with elderly characters. And I don't kill anyone. Amazing, I know. I'm also excited for this one because it will be available in print and haven't had anything in print to add to my physical bookshelf in awhile.
Now then, back to juggling.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
You wouldn't think it could get worse...
You may have surmised that my doors are still missing from my house.
Last weekend brought on this conversation:
"I'm really sorry, but we can't get another truck out to you. The delivery company can't find another box truck to rent. It's going to be Monday before we can deliver your doors."
"I have an installer coming Monday. This would be the third time I've had to bump his schedule if you can't have them there by Monday morning. I really don't want to chance having to do that. Again."
"I understand. Do you have a vehicle with a hitch?"
"Yes."
"We can loan you one of our rental trailers free of charge if you wouldn't mind transporting the doors yourself. We'll load them up and secure them for you."
"That's better than nothing, so sure. We'll be over within the hour."
This means I have to find some manpower to unload the doors and haul them up the sand hill to the house, but I figure we'll deal with that once the doors are on site. So I call my husband he hurries home from his errands so we can head off to get the trailer and our doors.
While I'm waiting for him, the manager calls back.
"Umm. I'm really sorry. It just occurred to me that we don't have your doors here. They're still on the box truck in the towing company's yard. Glad I caught you before you were on the road.
"Yes, you are. That would have been a very bad situation, had I arrived only to find they were not there. Again." I take a deep breath. "So what do we do?"
"I'll call you first thing Monday morning and let you know where we're at on this."
"All right."
Monday morning comes and I wait for the call that doesn't come. So I call.
"We're still waiting to hear from the delivery company. We've left several messages with them."
"Great. If you can't get this door here by noon, I'm bumped until Thursday with the installer."
"I'll call them back right now and get an answer."
"Sounds good."
Twenty minutes later, the very flustered manager calls me back.
"You're not going to believe this."
"Uh oh." I'm imaging the truck exploded. My door was stolen. It's damaged beyond repair.
"I got the real story from the delivery company. The driver did make it to your city, but then he got pulled over. He had warrants and he was arrested. The truck has been impounded by the police."
Maniacal laughter erupts from my throat. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh. I should be really pissed, but this is so crazy, that I can't help it."
He nervously chuckles. "I know. It's kind of totally out of my control. We'll make this right, I promise."
I guess this explains why the missing delivery driver hadn't called me on Friday. He just may have used his phone call for someone more helpful in that particular situation.
"We were hoping to have the door to you this afternoon, but you see, the owner of the delivery company has to claim the truck and the goods inside because they are in a police impound lot."
"Okay."
"He's on vacation in Florida."
Yes, really. I am now utterly convinced my characters are plotting against me, and they're doing a really good job of it.
"He's flying back today."
"So the odds of me getting the door today are pretty slim."
"Sadly, yes. When they do get delivered, look them over and I'll call you on Wednesday to work out compensation for this situation."
At this point what can either of us do? We both sigh and hang up the phone.
Tuesday comes and plods along. No phone calls from either the manager or the delivery company. I'm relishing the thought of the conversation on Wednesday when I let him know the doors didn't get delivered. Then, at 5:15, as I'm starting dinner so I can get over to the house soon to work on installing the radiant flooring shielding plates, I get a phone call from the delivery company.
"We're on our way. We'll be there in fifteen minutes."
Well damn, good thing I'm home and live close to the new house. I ditch dinner and drive over to the site and wait. And wait.
Just when I'm about to call them back, they show up with my doors. Yes, both of them. They are not damaged beyond the little dent I'd already seen. They are at the house! Hooray!
As to the delivery company, the owner delivered them along with his entertaining conscripted teen nephew. If you've ever watched a person carry something heavy through sand in big floppy untied trendy tennis shoes you'll understand my meaning of entertaining. The owner looking forward to speaking with the arrested driver to give him a piece of his mind. He apologized profusely. I was sorry his vacation was screwed up as he seemed like a really nice guy.
The driver is still in jail.
The stupid service desk person who told me my door was there and I should drive over to look at it - went it wasn't really there - is still blissfully working behind her desk. Woe to those who come in contact with her.
The manager was very apologetic and offered a level of compensation that negated the majority of my frustration with his store.
The door...still needs to be installed. Let's just hope the story stops here, shall we?
Last weekend brought on this conversation:
"I'm really sorry, but we can't get another truck out to you. The delivery company can't find another box truck to rent. It's going to be Monday before we can deliver your doors."
"I have an installer coming Monday. This would be the third time I've had to bump his schedule if you can't have them there by Monday morning. I really don't want to chance having to do that. Again."
"I understand. Do you have a vehicle with a hitch?"
"Yes."
"We can loan you one of our rental trailers free of charge if you wouldn't mind transporting the doors yourself. We'll load them up and secure them for you."
"That's better than nothing, so sure. We'll be over within the hour."
This means I have to find some manpower to unload the doors and haul them up the sand hill to the house, but I figure we'll deal with that once the doors are on site. So I call my husband he hurries home from his errands so we can head off to get the trailer and our doors.
While I'm waiting for him, the manager calls back.
"Umm. I'm really sorry. It just occurred to me that we don't have your doors here. They're still on the box truck in the towing company's yard. Glad I caught you before you were on the road.
"Yes, you are. That would have been a very bad situation, had I arrived only to find they were not there. Again." I take a deep breath. "So what do we do?"
"I'll call you first thing Monday morning and let you know where we're at on this."
"All right."
Monday morning comes and I wait for the call that doesn't come. So I call.
"We're still waiting to hear from the delivery company. We've left several messages with them."
"Great. If you can't get this door here by noon, I'm bumped until Thursday with the installer."
"I'll call them back right now and get an answer."
"Sounds good."
Twenty minutes later, the very flustered manager calls me back.
"You're not going to believe this."
"Uh oh." I'm imaging the truck exploded. My door was stolen. It's damaged beyond repair.
"I got the real story from the delivery company. The driver did make it to your city, but then he got pulled over. He had warrants and he was arrested. The truck has been impounded by the police."
Maniacal laughter erupts from my throat. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh. I should be really pissed, but this is so crazy, that I can't help it."
He nervously chuckles. "I know. It's kind of totally out of my control. We'll make this right, I promise."
I guess this explains why the missing delivery driver hadn't called me on Friday. He just may have used his phone call for someone more helpful in that particular situation.
"We were hoping to have the door to you this afternoon, but you see, the owner of the delivery company has to claim the truck and the goods inside because they are in a police impound lot."
"Okay."
"He's on vacation in Florida."
Yes, really. I am now utterly convinced my characters are plotting against me, and they're doing a really good job of it.
"He's flying back today."
"So the odds of me getting the door today are pretty slim."
"Sadly, yes. When they do get delivered, look them over and I'll call you on Wednesday to work out compensation for this situation."
At this point what can either of us do? We both sigh and hang up the phone.
Tuesday comes and plods along. No phone calls from either the manager or the delivery company. I'm relishing the thought of the conversation on Wednesday when I let him know the doors didn't get delivered. Then, at 5:15, as I'm starting dinner so I can get over to the house soon to work on installing the radiant flooring shielding plates, I get a phone call from the delivery company.
"We're on our way. We'll be there in fifteen minutes."
Well damn, good thing I'm home and live close to the new house. I ditch dinner and drive over to the site and wait. And wait.
Just when I'm about to call them back, they show up with my doors. Yes, both of them. They are not damaged beyond the little dent I'd already seen. They are at the house! Hooray!
As to the delivery company, the owner delivered them along with his entertaining conscripted teen nephew. If you've ever watched a person carry something heavy through sand in big floppy untied trendy tennis shoes you'll understand my meaning of entertaining. The owner looking forward to speaking with the arrested driver to give him a piece of his mind. He apologized profusely. I was sorry his vacation was screwed up as he seemed like a really nice guy.
The driver is still in jail.
The stupid service desk person who told me my door was there and I should drive over to look at it - went it wasn't really there - is still blissfully working behind her desk. Woe to those who come in contact with her.
The manager was very apologetic and offered a level of compensation that negated the majority of my frustration with his store.
The door...still needs to be installed. Let's just hope the story stops here, shall we?
Friday, July 25, 2014
The Woeful Saga Continues
Really, I can't make this stuff up. I could, but I wouldn't do this to my characters.
Oh hell, who I am kidding. I would. I have. Well, not this door saga specifically, but the level of frustration for sure. Maybe they're working with Home Depot to get back at me. I wouldn't put it past those resourceful bastards.
My world was semi-back to rights on Wednesday night when I got a call that my long lost door had arrived at the store. For my woes, my doors would be delivered for free. While I probably should have gone for more, I was sick of the whole situation and just wanted my damn doors delivered, so I went with it. It was too late to get them on Thursday's truck, but they would be out on Friday for sure.
Friday arrives. My long lost washing machine, also a month-long saga of woe and incompetence (by Lowes), arrived in the morning. Things were looking up. I got a call at 12:30 that my door would be delivered at the construction site in one hour.
An hour later, I drive out to the construction site. No one is there. I clean up a little, make some notes for the subcontractors and wait. And wait. They're forty minutes late. Granted, traffic can be delayed between here and there as there is bottleneck town on the highway, but forty minutes is way late even for that. I called the store. They promised to get ahold of the delivery guy and have him call me.
He doesn't call.
This shouldn't have surprised me. My optimism is sitting at the bottom of a pit along with my faith in home improvement store employees. But now optimism curled up in a little ball and started whimpering. Annoyed by the sound, I called the store again. They were surprised the driver hadn't called me back. They promised to call the delivery service office, as this was an outside company, and then call me back with an update.
They didn't call me back either.
Disgusted with the home improvement universe, I got in my car after an hour and half and drove home. Once there, I got a call from the store manager.
"We finally located the delivery truck."
"And?"
"It broke down."
Dead silence on my end. What do I say to that? Okay, a thousand angry things come to mind, but I'm stuck on, "Are you freaking kidding me?"
"No, we're sorry. The driver really should have called you right away so you didn't have to wait for him. Your doors are on the box truck in a tow yard somewhere. We don't even have them in the store that you can come and pick them up."
Internal screaming and gnashing of teeth plays out for a few seconds before I can form words. "I wasted an hour and half and no one could call me? I have a ton of work to do. I didn't have an hour and a half to stand around. Your guy couldn't call me back twice? This is ridiculous. Are my doors cursed?"
I'm pretty sure they are.
"We're really sorry. We're going to try to rent a box truck and get them out to you on Saturday but it will be difficult because everyone is busy right now and there aren't many available to rent."
"I have an installer coming on Monday. They better be here."
"If not Saturday, then maybe Sunday."
"I don't care which, just get them here."
"Why don't you give us a call on Saturday to see where they're at?"
"Why don't you give me a call and Saturday and tell me where they're at. I don't have more time to waste on this. Get them here."
And so the waiting continues.
Oh hell, who I am kidding. I would. I have. Well, not this door saga specifically, but the level of frustration for sure. Maybe they're working with Home Depot to get back at me. I wouldn't put it past those resourceful bastards.
My world was semi-back to rights on Wednesday night when I got a call that my long lost door had arrived at the store. For my woes, my doors would be delivered for free. While I probably should have gone for more, I was sick of the whole situation and just wanted my damn doors delivered, so I went with it. It was too late to get them on Thursday's truck, but they would be out on Friday for sure.
Friday arrives. My long lost washing machine, also a month-long saga of woe and incompetence (by Lowes), arrived in the morning. Things were looking up. I got a call at 12:30 that my door would be delivered at the construction site in one hour.
An hour later, I drive out to the construction site. No one is there. I clean up a little, make some notes for the subcontractors and wait. And wait. They're forty minutes late. Granted, traffic can be delayed between here and there as there is bottleneck town on the highway, but forty minutes is way late even for that. I called the store. They promised to get ahold of the delivery guy and have him call me.
He doesn't call.
This shouldn't have surprised me. My optimism is sitting at the bottom of a pit along with my faith in home improvement store employees. But now optimism curled up in a little ball and started whimpering. Annoyed by the sound, I called the store again. They were surprised the driver hadn't called me back. They promised to call the delivery service office, as this was an outside company, and then call me back with an update.
They didn't call me back either.
Disgusted with the home improvement universe, I got in my car after an hour and half and drove home. Once there, I got a call from the store manager.
"We finally located the delivery truck."
"And?"
"It broke down."
Dead silence on my end. What do I say to that? Okay, a thousand angry things come to mind, but I'm stuck on, "Are you freaking kidding me?"
"No, we're sorry. The driver really should have called you right away so you didn't have to wait for him. Your doors are on the box truck in a tow yard somewhere. We don't even have them in the store that you can come and pick them up."
Internal screaming and gnashing of teeth plays out for a few seconds before I can form words. "I wasted an hour and half and no one could call me? I have a ton of work to do. I didn't have an hour and a half to stand around. Your guy couldn't call me back twice? This is ridiculous. Are my doors cursed?"
I'm pretty sure they are.
"We're really sorry. We're going to try to rent a box truck and get them out to you on Saturday but it will be difficult because everyone is busy right now and there aren't many available to rent."
"I have an installer coming on Monday. They better be here."
"If not Saturday, then maybe Sunday."
"I don't care which, just get them here."
"Why don't you give us a call on Saturday to see where they're at?"
"Why don't you give me a call and Saturday and tell me where they're at. I don't have more time to waste on this. Get them here."
And so the waiting continues.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Waiting. And waiting.
While I'm busy waiting to hear back on submissions, which yes, is a perpetual thing, but I don't have much time for writing right now so I can't chat about that, I thought I'd share progress on the new house. And a story about lack of progress on said house.
See anything big missing in this photo? No, not the siding, that's actually in the garage waiting to be installed. Before that can happen, though, we need a building inspection. But we can't get one yet, because...there's no entry door by the porch.
Where is that entry door? Good question.
Here, let me tell you alittle story.
A month ago, I walked into my local (which isn't local anymore, because ours closed. It's a half hour drive away in a nearby town) Home Depot to order the door I'd found online that fit the space I'd given the framers. Originally, that space was meant for an online exclusive door, also from Home Depot, but when I was ready to order that door, it was no longer available. Neato. In an effort to be prepared and save time (which I have extremely little of these days), I'd used their online door designer and had all the specs and a picture of the entry door with sidelights that I wanted to order with me when I sat down with the guy in the millwork department.
He took one look at my spec sheet and looked confused. "Huh, didn't know we even had that on our website."
This probably should have been a sign of things to come, but I had some (apparently) misguided faith in their employees. After forty minutes and much finagling with his program, he got the door ordered. I then asked for a quote on a garage entry door to match. This one obviously would not have sidelights. Just the door. He gave me a copy of the quote within a few minutes, and I walked out with the promise to return to order the second door the next day on my way back through town (I have to travel twice every weekend through this town to bring my son back and forth to a boy scout camp where he works) after verifying the width of the door.
The next day, I walked back in with my printed quote, ready to order. Both guys at the desk look confused. Neither is the one I'd dealt with the day before. They can't find his quote in the system and they can't figure out what exactly he'd come up with even using the printed quote. Their prices are either significantly higher or lower than the quote. One guy tells me how great the more expensive door is. The other tries hard to sell me the cheaper one. After patiently explaining (and then not so patiently by almost an hour and half later. Yes, seriously.) that, I. Just. Want. The. Door. I. Was. Quoted. They managed to get the quote figured out and order the door.
I wait two weeks. And couple days. Then finally break down and call to check on the delivery of my doors to the store because I'm rather needing the entry door by now and my framers are anxious to finish this job and move on to the next. I'm told it's going to be another week before the door is delivered, but hey, that garage one will be there in two days. Groovy, but not the door I really need right now as that one isn't needed for my building inspection.
They call a couple days later to tell me my order is in. Yay. I tell them I'll wait on that door and pick it up when the other entry door is in.
"Entry door? What we have for you is an entry door."
"I know. That's a garage entry door. I need the large door with sidelights for the house entry door."
"Oh. I don't see that on your order."
"It was ordered the day before."
"Oh. Right. Yes, here it is. That's coming from another company. It should be in on Saturday."
"Great. I'll plan on coming in on Saturday to get both doors."
"You might want to call first. We don't know what time it will be here."
So I do my drive through town to drop off my kid at camp and go home on Saturday. We verify that the large trailer we'll need to retrieve the doors is available. I call the store.
"I'm checking to see if my entry door with sidelights has been delivered to the store yet?"
"Oh yes, I see that here. It came in a few days ago. Didn't you get a call?"
"Are you talked about the garage entry door? I need the one with sidelights. It was supposed to be in today."
"Uhh. Hmm. Let me check on that." Comes back a few minutes later. "Was that a separate order?"
"Yes. A day earlier."
"Okay, that one isn't here yet. Looks like it's scheduled for Monday."
That sucks, but I can make that work. "I'll plan on that then."
"You might want to call first."
"Yes, yes, I will. Got it."
So Monday comes. I call in the afternoon.
"Yes, your door is here."
"The entry door with sidelights, right? Not the regular garage entry door?"
"Oh, you had two orders?"
You may imagine my pounding my head on the desk right about now, and you'd be right. Does no one ever have more than one order out with this place? Really?
"Yes. I'm waiting on the entry door with sidelights that is supposed to be delivered to you today."
"Oh, I show that on the truck and it's about an hour and half away. It probably won't be delivered today. Should be here tomorrow though."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. Probably should call to make sure because I don't know what time it will be in."
I grit my teeth, go on with my day, and give them a call on Tuesday.
"I'm checking on the delivery of my entry door with sidelights. I have another door already there. I need to know if the one with sidelights is in. I need it. Badly."
"Oh sure. Yep, that's here. Looks like it's still in receiving. The millwork guy inspected it earlier and left a note that there was some damage. A scratch or dent, I think."
"All right. How bad is the scratch or dent? I need this door in my hands right now. This is holding up my building inspection." At this point, I'll be taking it dented or scratched or bashed in with a hammer, but I'm debating whether it's bad enough to ask for a discount.
"Let me look." They return after a few minutes. "I looked it over and I don't see what he was talking about. So it must not be too bad."
"If he noted the damage, it must be there. I'd like to see it for myself before setting it up for delivery since I no longer have access to the trailer to retrieve it since the door wasn't delivered to the store when I was told it would be."
"Sure, you can stop in today."
"I'll be in tonight as long as I can get it delivered tomorrow."
"Sure, no problem."
So I drive all the way there and go up to the service desk. A friendly young woman greets me with a smile and does her best to locate the door that was received earlier in the day."
"That's weird, it doesn't show me where the door is located."
"Is there someone in receiving that can help you? That's where the door was when I spoke to the special order department earlier."
"Oh!" Her face lights up. "It's right back here." She leads me to the holding area just behind the desk where all the special orders are. She points to a door in the stack of items.
My stomach sinks, but I keep an even tone. "That's the garage entry door that's been sitting here for a week. I need the entry door with sidelights that was delivered here today."
She looks confused. "Oh. Hmm. Okay." She putters with the computer and makes several calls to other employees to track down the missing door. Meanwhile a line forms at the service desk so I take a seat and tell her I'll wait while she helps the other people with returns. I've wasted enough time in this place, what's a few more minutes?
She gets a call from receiving. "Hey, I show that door is in the special order rack behind the service desk. It should have the order tag right on it."
"That's a different door. We need the one with sidelights."
"Oh. Let me look for that one."
I grip my pile of order papers a little tighter and don a strained smile.
A manager wanders over. He nods to service desk girl and goes off behind the counter. When he pops back out, he looks victorious. He whips out his walkie talkie and says, "Cancel that. I found it. It's right behind the service desk."
"No," I say through my teeth. "It's not. I NEED the door WITH the sidelights that was delivered today. I need it NOW. Why is this so hard to find? I was told it was here a few hours ago. Someone was looking right at it. The millwork guy inspected it. He said it was damaged and I want to see it."
"Ooooh. Okay. Let me keep looking."
I start to look for somewhere to scream. The service desk girl gives me an utterly apologetic look and she has a line of people with returns. I'm not going to yell at her. The manager has already wandered off.
She gets a thoughtful look on her face. "If they said it was damaged, I wonder if they put it right back on the truck and sent it back to the manufacturer?"
Oh hell. I can't wait another month. This would mean I have to order a whole different door from somewhere else and I would have done that originally if I could have, but this was the door that fit my already framed space. Which would mean I'd have to get the framers to change the opening size, and that would add to their bill... "They better not have. I told them I would be in tonight to look at it."
"Well, they probably didn't do that then."
The phone rings again. It's the millwork guy.
"I show the door is up behind the desk with the special orders."
Even service desk girl is sounding frazzled now. "No, that's her garage entry door. She needs one with sidelights."
"Oh, so it would be a bigger door?"
We share one of those looks that screams, Duh! "Yeah."
"That might still be back in receiving then."
The service desk girl assures me several people are still looking and she'll let me know as soon as they find it. She moves on to help her line of customers. I stalk off through the aisles to keep from glaring at the innocent people in line at her desk. By the time I return to the service desk, I've strangled the papers in my hands several times over.
A different woman is now behind the counter. She's busy peering at some paperwork and consulting her computer. I set my papers on the desk in front of her, waiting for the moment of revelation where she tells me that my door has been found. But no. She doesn't acknowledge me at all.
Finally I say, "Several people were looking for a door for me. Have they located it yet?"
She looks up from her paperwork. "No. It hasn't been delivered. It's still on the truck."
"What?" I'm pretty sure fire shot out of my eyeballs. "How was someone looking at it while I was on the phone with them earlier if it's still on a truck somewhere?"
"They were looking at the one back here." She waves me over to the rack behind the desk. "See there's a dent in the door. It's just a small one. Won't notice it once you paint the door."
"This door has been here a week, and you're just telling me know that it's dented?"
"Well, no one probably checked it over until you called earlier to ask about it."
"I wasn't asking about THIS door. I was asking about the one with sidelights."
"Yeah, they got confused."
That's an understatement of epic proportions. "So this door is damaged and my other door that I expected two weeks ago and was told was here, that I NEED RIGHT NOW, isn't here?"
She nods.
"When will it be here."
"Hard to say. Depends on who the shipper is."
"Find out."
She goes back up to the desk, ignores the line of customers with returns that has formed while we were off looking at the door that everyone on staff at this store knows is in the rack behind the service desk by now, and proceeds to work her way through her shipper list to locate the one that is holding my door hostage. This should be easy, because every other time I've called to ask about this door, the person on the phone has found the tracking information (granted, not entirely accurate information) within thirty seconds. She takes about five minutes and tells me it's going to be Thursday before it's in.
Yes, it's going to take two more days even though it's loaded on the truck and only and hour and a half away. Apparently this is a very slow truck, possibly a sled pulled by a thousand three-legged field mice tied together with dental floss.
I don't distinctly remember walking out to the car other than acknowledging the fact I should do that before I exploded in a fit of profanity in front of a bunch of people who just wanted to bring back their extra light fixtures and metal pipes that didn't fit properly. I do recall mentioning my spiraling unhappiness level several times a various increasing volumes and making her personally promise to call me the moment the door came in. Not the door on the rack, the actual entry door with sidelights that would be there on Thursday.
And now I wait.
See anything big missing in this photo? No, not the siding, that's actually in the garage waiting to be installed. Before that can happen, though, we need a building inspection. But we can't get one yet, because...there's no entry door by the porch.
Where is that entry door? Good question.
Here, let me tell you a
A month ago, I walked into my local (which isn't local anymore, because ours closed. It's a half hour drive away in a nearby town) Home Depot to order the door I'd found online that fit the space I'd given the framers. Originally, that space was meant for an online exclusive door, also from Home Depot, but when I was ready to order that door, it was no longer available. Neato. In an effort to be prepared and save time (which I have extremely little of these days), I'd used their online door designer and had all the specs and a picture of the entry door with sidelights that I wanted to order with me when I sat down with the guy in the millwork department.
He took one look at my spec sheet and looked confused. "Huh, didn't know we even had that on our website."
This probably should have been a sign of things to come, but I had some (apparently) misguided faith in their employees. After forty minutes and much finagling with his program, he got the door ordered. I then asked for a quote on a garage entry door to match. This one obviously would not have sidelights. Just the door. He gave me a copy of the quote within a few minutes, and I walked out with the promise to return to order the second door the next day on my way back through town (I have to travel twice every weekend through this town to bring my son back and forth to a boy scout camp where he works) after verifying the width of the door.
The next day, I walked back in with my printed quote, ready to order. Both guys at the desk look confused. Neither is the one I'd dealt with the day before. They can't find his quote in the system and they can't figure out what exactly he'd come up with even using the printed quote. Their prices are either significantly higher or lower than the quote. One guy tells me how great the more expensive door is. The other tries hard to sell me the cheaper one. After patiently explaining (and then not so patiently by almost an hour and half later. Yes, seriously.) that, I. Just. Want. The. Door. I. Was. Quoted. They managed to get the quote figured out and order the door.
I wait two weeks. And couple days. Then finally break down and call to check on the delivery of my doors to the store because I'm rather needing the entry door by now and my framers are anxious to finish this job and move on to the next. I'm told it's going to be another week before the door is delivered, but hey, that garage one will be there in two days. Groovy, but not the door I really need right now as that one isn't needed for my building inspection.
They call a couple days later to tell me my order is in. Yay. I tell them I'll wait on that door and pick it up when the other entry door is in.
"Entry door? What we have for you is an entry door."
"I know. That's a garage entry door. I need the large door with sidelights for the house entry door."
"Oh. I don't see that on your order."
"It was ordered the day before."
"Oh. Right. Yes, here it is. That's coming from another company. It should be in on Saturday."
"Great. I'll plan on coming in on Saturday to get both doors."
"You might want to call first. We don't know what time it will be here."
So I do my drive through town to drop off my kid at camp and go home on Saturday. We verify that the large trailer we'll need to retrieve the doors is available. I call the store.
"I'm checking to see if my entry door with sidelights has been delivered to the store yet?"
"Oh yes, I see that here. It came in a few days ago. Didn't you get a call?"
"Are you talked about the garage entry door? I need the one with sidelights. It was supposed to be in today."
"Uhh. Hmm. Let me check on that." Comes back a few minutes later. "Was that a separate order?"
"Yes. A day earlier."
"Okay, that one isn't here yet. Looks like it's scheduled for Monday."
That sucks, but I can make that work. "I'll plan on that then."
"You might want to call first."
"Yes, yes, I will. Got it."
So Monday comes. I call in the afternoon.
"Yes, your door is here."
"The entry door with sidelights, right? Not the regular garage entry door?"
"Oh, you had two orders?"
You may imagine my pounding my head on the desk right about now, and you'd be right. Does no one ever have more than one order out with this place? Really?
"Yes. I'm waiting on the entry door with sidelights that is supposed to be delivered to you today."
"Oh, I show that on the truck and it's about an hour and half away. It probably won't be delivered today. Should be here tomorrow though."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. Probably should call to make sure because I don't know what time it will be in."
I grit my teeth, go on with my day, and give them a call on Tuesday.
"I'm checking on the delivery of my entry door with sidelights. I have another door already there. I need to know if the one with sidelights is in. I need it. Badly."
"Oh sure. Yep, that's here. Looks like it's still in receiving. The millwork guy inspected it earlier and left a note that there was some damage. A scratch or dent, I think."
"All right. How bad is the scratch or dent? I need this door in my hands right now. This is holding up my building inspection." At this point, I'll be taking it dented or scratched or bashed in with a hammer, but I'm debating whether it's bad enough to ask for a discount.
"Let me look." They return after a few minutes. "I looked it over and I don't see what he was talking about. So it must not be too bad."
"If he noted the damage, it must be there. I'd like to see it for myself before setting it up for delivery since I no longer have access to the trailer to retrieve it since the door wasn't delivered to the store when I was told it would be."
"Sure, you can stop in today."
"I'll be in tonight as long as I can get it delivered tomorrow."
"Sure, no problem."
So I drive all the way there and go up to the service desk. A friendly young woman greets me with a smile and does her best to locate the door that was received earlier in the day."
"That's weird, it doesn't show me where the door is located."
"Is there someone in receiving that can help you? That's where the door was when I spoke to the special order department earlier."
"Oh!" Her face lights up. "It's right back here." She leads me to the holding area just behind the desk where all the special orders are. She points to a door in the stack of items.
My stomach sinks, but I keep an even tone. "That's the garage entry door that's been sitting here for a week. I need the entry door with sidelights that was delivered here today."
She looks confused. "Oh. Hmm. Okay." She putters with the computer and makes several calls to other employees to track down the missing door. Meanwhile a line forms at the service desk so I take a seat and tell her I'll wait while she helps the other people with returns. I've wasted enough time in this place, what's a few more minutes?
She gets a call from receiving. "Hey, I show that door is in the special order rack behind the service desk. It should have the order tag right on it."
"That's a different door. We need the one with sidelights."
"Oh. Let me look for that one."
I grip my pile of order papers a little tighter and don a strained smile.
A manager wanders over. He nods to service desk girl and goes off behind the counter. When he pops back out, he looks victorious. He whips out his walkie talkie and says, "Cancel that. I found it. It's right behind the service desk."
"No," I say through my teeth. "It's not. I NEED the door WITH the sidelights that was delivered today. I need it NOW. Why is this so hard to find? I was told it was here a few hours ago. Someone was looking right at it. The millwork guy inspected it. He said it was damaged and I want to see it."
"Ooooh. Okay. Let me keep looking."
I start to look for somewhere to scream. The service desk girl gives me an utterly apologetic look and she has a line of people with returns. I'm not going to yell at her. The manager has already wandered off.
She gets a thoughtful look on her face. "If they said it was damaged, I wonder if they put it right back on the truck and sent it back to the manufacturer?"
Oh hell. I can't wait another month. This would mean I have to order a whole different door from somewhere else and I would have done that originally if I could have, but this was the door that fit my already framed space. Which would mean I'd have to get the framers to change the opening size, and that would add to their bill... "They better not have. I told them I would be in tonight to look at it."
"Well, they probably didn't do that then."
The phone rings again. It's the millwork guy.
"I show the door is up behind the desk with the special orders."
Even service desk girl is sounding frazzled now. "No, that's her garage entry door. She needs one with sidelights."
"Oh, so it would be a bigger door?"
We share one of those looks that screams, Duh! "Yeah."
"That might still be back in receiving then."
The service desk girl assures me several people are still looking and she'll let me know as soon as they find it. She moves on to help her line of customers. I stalk off through the aisles to keep from glaring at the innocent people in line at her desk. By the time I return to the service desk, I've strangled the papers in my hands several times over.
A different woman is now behind the counter. She's busy peering at some paperwork and consulting her computer. I set my papers on the desk in front of her, waiting for the moment of revelation where she tells me that my door has been found. But no. She doesn't acknowledge me at all.
Finally I say, "Several people were looking for a door for me. Have they located it yet?"
She looks up from her paperwork. "No. It hasn't been delivered. It's still on the truck."
"What?" I'm pretty sure fire shot out of my eyeballs. "How was someone looking at it while I was on the phone with them earlier if it's still on a truck somewhere?"
"They were looking at the one back here." She waves me over to the rack behind the desk. "See there's a dent in the door. It's just a small one. Won't notice it once you paint the door."
"This door has been here a week, and you're just telling me know that it's dented?"
"Well, no one probably checked it over until you called earlier to ask about it."
"I wasn't asking about THIS door. I was asking about the one with sidelights."
"Yeah, they got confused."
That's an understatement of epic proportions. "So this door is damaged and my other door that I expected two weeks ago and was told was here, that I NEED RIGHT NOW, isn't here?"
She nods.
"When will it be here."
"Hard to say. Depends on who the shipper is."
"Find out."
She goes back up to the desk, ignores the line of customers with returns that has formed while we were off looking at the door that everyone on staff at this store knows is in the rack behind the service desk by now, and proceeds to work her way through her shipper list to locate the one that is holding my door hostage. This should be easy, because every other time I've called to ask about this door, the person on the phone has found the tracking information (granted, not entirely accurate information) within thirty seconds. She takes about five minutes and tells me it's going to be Thursday before it's in.
Yes, it's going to take two more days even though it's loaded on the truck and only and hour and a half away. Apparently this is a very slow truck, possibly a sled pulled by a thousand three-legged field mice tied together with dental floss.
I don't distinctly remember walking out to the car other than acknowledging the fact I should do that before I exploded in a fit of profanity in front of a bunch of people who just wanted to bring back their extra light fixtures and metal pipes that didn't fit properly. I do recall mentioning my spiraling unhappiness level several times a various increasing volumes and making her personally promise to call me the moment the door came in. Not the door on the rack, the actual entry door with sidelights that would be there on Thursday.
And now I wait.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Published: Space Commander
This lovely anthology is filled with time travel stories and features Space Commander, a short story I wrote last May. A big thank you to Nick Wilford of Scattergun Scribblings for the prompt from which this story sprang.
Friday, June 13, 2014
The Estate of Waiting
We've waited to build for years. As in we're eight years behind when we'd originally planned to start. Then finally the planets aligned. I've become quite practiced at waiting, not that I enjoy doing it, but it seems to happen a lot. Hence the name of my new home.
While I'm busy waiting to hear back on submissions - I just added another ball to my submission juggling act last night - I figured I'd share progress on the house project.
This is what the site looked like last fall.
This is what a small portion of the site looked like at the beginning of April. My dog loved the freshly turned sand. He couldn't get enough of running on it. It certainly beats running on snow, so I can't blame him for celebrating the thaw, though I let him do the running for both of us.
And then we have the hole. And lots of sand. We did come across someone's trash pit, which contained a lot of broken glass (mostly jars of Peanut Crunch and Heinz 57) and one neat old perfume-type bottle that wasn't broken.
The basement walls were installed in one day. This sounds really speedy and productive but then there was two week delay with excavation issues and the geothermal crew and me spending an entire weekend out there leveling the basement dirt and digging footings to make things right.
Which brings us to where things are currently. The garage is going up today and the second story goes up next week. Can't wait to see it all framed in. Of course, that means more nights and weekends on site for me because that's where the work we're planning to do ourselves starts.
Until then, I'll do some more editing, submitting and...waiting.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
May Summary
Wow, May sped right by.
I knew A Story A Day In May would be a challenge thanks to my busy schedule, but it was really a challenge this year. Previously, there were days I could blow off work for an hour or two and get into a story that might be taking longer than my one hour morning writing break allowed. But oh no, not this year. Most mornings I didn't even have that single hour to create thanks to other writing obligations such as the critiques I owed to people and editing the novel others are critiquing, and sometimes, the work phone demanded to be answered and rush jobs required my time instead.
What I did get accomplished:
Sipper for a proposed colonization anthology.
Space Commander for the IWM time travel anthology.
And the following that need titles yet:
Cat
Dare
Treasured
Spell
Then there are the few story starts that didn't quite pan out but might become something later.
So thank you, A Story A Day In May, for helping me birth six stories that have promise and to all of you supportive folks who stopped by to comment on my update posts throughout the month. Also, a big thank you to everyone who offered up prompts on X day during Blogging A to Z in April. Those prompts were a lot of fun to work with! I do want to get to a few more of those as time allows.
What's next for me?
Back to work on:
Editing Sahmara's novel
Editing shorts: Mother, Justice and Mary's Garden and the May stories
Submitting shorts: Giving Chase, Healer, Devolution and Late
Submitting novels: Trust and A Broken Race
Contemplating edits on: Not Another Bard's Tale, Jackpot and Angelic Intentions
I knew A Story A Day In May would be a challenge thanks to my busy schedule, but it was really a challenge this year. Previously, there were days I could blow off work for an hour or two and get into a story that might be taking longer than my one hour morning writing break allowed. But oh no, not this year. Most mornings I didn't even have that single hour to create thanks to other writing obligations such as the critiques I owed to people and editing the novel others are critiquing, and sometimes, the work phone demanded to be answered and rush jobs required my time instead.
What I did get accomplished:
Sipper for a proposed colonization anthology.
Space Commander for the IWM time travel anthology.
And the following that need titles yet:
Cat
Dare
Treasured
Spell
Then there are the few story starts that didn't quite pan out but might become something later.
So thank you, A Story A Day In May, for helping me birth six stories that have promise and to all of you supportive folks who stopped by to comment on my update posts throughout the month. Also, a big thank you to everyone who offered up prompts on X day during Blogging A to Z in April. Those prompts were a lot of fun to work with! I do want to get to a few more of those as time allows.
What's next for me?
Back to work on:
Editing Sahmara's novel
Editing shorts: Mother, Justice and Mary's Garden and the May stories
Submitting shorts: Giving Chase, Healer, Devolution and Late
Submitting novels: Trust and A Broken Race
Contemplating edits on: Not Another Bard's Tale, Jackpot and Angelic Intentions
Sunday, June 1, 2014
May stories update #4
May 22: Ugh.
May 23: Progress on Colonization 2.0
May 24. Yes, a Saturday, but its done!!! At 6,100 words, Sipper (Colonization 2.0) is now complete.
May 25: Sunday was head out to look at entry doors for the house that would totally blow our door budget and then shop online at home for ones that we can afford. I also managed to get Sipper and Space Commander edited and sent off.
May 26: Memorial Day, which means up early for the parade and running the boy around for marching band, but I got some critiquing done before heading out to haul branches and logs at the construction site.
May 27: X marks the spot prompt contemplation day. I got the story mostly ironed out in my head, but after 14 hours straight of work and running errands, I find myself lacking the ability to REfreakingLAX enough to write.
May 28: Treasured is complete at 500 words. Contemplating whether I'm happy with the title or story.
May 29: Really want to get to Braine's ear flap hat prompt, but work and bills and house stuff had my brain scattered all day. Did some editing on Treasured (still teetering on the might be good or shelf scale) and played with tweaking my blog during writing time instead.
May 30: Lost cause
May 31: Saturday. There seem to be a lot of weekends this month. Well, weekends that would seem to lend themselves to some quiet time where I should be able to write. But that doesn't seem to happen. I should stop being even remotely optimistic about this and avoid the guilt of getting anything writing related accomplished.
Current tally: Shorts that worked and might become something good: 6
Shorts that I set aside for later: 4
May 23: Progress on Colonization 2.0
May 24. Yes, a Saturday, but its done!!! At 6,100 words, Sipper (Colonization 2.0) is now complete.
May 25: Sunday was head out to look at entry doors for the house that would totally blow our door budget and then shop online at home for ones that we can afford. I also managed to get Sipper and Space Commander edited and sent off.
May 26: Memorial Day, which means up early for the parade and running the boy around for marching band, but I got some critiquing done before heading out to haul branches and logs at the construction site.
May 27: X marks the spot prompt contemplation day. I got the story mostly ironed out in my head, but after 14 hours straight of work and running errands, I find myself lacking the ability to REfreakingLAX enough to write.
May 28: Treasured is complete at 500 words. Contemplating whether I'm happy with the title or story.
May 29: Really want to get to Braine's ear flap hat prompt, but work and bills and house stuff had my brain scattered all day. Did some editing on Treasured (still teetering on the might be good or shelf scale) and played with tweaking my blog during writing time instead.
May 30: Lost cause
May 31: Saturday. There seem to be a lot of weekends this month. Well, weekends that would seem to lend themselves to some quiet time where I should be able to write. But that doesn't seem to happen. I should stop being even remotely optimistic about this and avoid the guilt of getting anything writing related accomplished.
Current tally: Shorts that worked and might become something good: 6
Shorts that I set aside for later: 4
Thursday, May 22, 2014
May stories update #3
May 16: Prompt: Shame. I started out writing a shame story but that didn't last much past the concept stage. Then it became a 700 word story about Ambrose reading a spell and trying to figure out how to not become bacon in the future.
May 17 & 18: Another weekend. Forgive me as I wander off a bit here.
I've been in novel mode straight up until May 1. And beyond. In the midst of everything else going on, I'm editing novel chapters as critiques come in (and I'm behind. Surprise, surprise.). I'm still rather in that mode. I'm supposed to be in short story mode, and even though I pants my way through both lengths, shorts take a very different focus. No matter which angle I headed off in with this story, the idea kept getting too big and too many characters wanted in on the action.
I'd started out with a nugget of an idea. I liked this idea. Then I re-read the theme for the anthology I was asked to attempt to try for and, gah, my idea didn't exactly fit. It was off in sorta kinda territory. But liked it. But it didn't fit. So I changed it up. And nope. So I went a step back to where I'd been originally heading. Nope. Okay fine. I went to back to the story I wanted to tell. And things clicked. Now I just need to find time to finish it. Will it fit? More importantly, will I even get it done by the 20th? We'll see.
Knowing I was percolating Colonization 2.0 and changes to Sahmara's novel, I spent the majority of the weekend working on the new house: digging footings and leveling the entire basement floor on my hand and knees. It was quite a workout, but yay for progress. Geothermal and concrete are going on this week and next week: the framing begins! Exciting stuff.
Exhausted by the end of each day, I indulged in some book crack: Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dream Warrior. I did enjoy this installment in her world, but the ending was disappointing...because it didn't end. The romance plot was resolved but the other half of the plot was left dangling. While I didn't throw the book (Yes, I have really done that.), turning that last page left me annoyed. However, I do love her world so I'm sure we'll make up soon.
May 19: I know how Colonization 2.0 ends. I just can't get time to write it. So frustrating!
May 20: Oh hey, another day happened with a whole paragraph of writing accomplished. On the brighter side, framing on the house starts next week, and thanks to a massive rush of work, I know my bills will be paid.
May 21: Headdesk.
Current tally: Shorts that worked and might become something good: 4
Shorts that I set aside for later: 3
Days I didn't get to write: Too many
May 17 & 18: Another weekend. Forgive me as I wander off a bit here.
I've been in novel mode straight up until May 1. And beyond. In the midst of everything else going on, I'm editing novel chapters as critiques come in (and I'm behind. Surprise, surprise.). I'm still rather in that mode. I'm supposed to be in short story mode, and even though I pants my way through both lengths, shorts take a very different focus. No matter which angle I headed off in with this story, the idea kept getting too big and too many characters wanted in on the action.
I'd started out with a nugget of an idea. I liked this idea. Then I re-read the theme for the anthology I was asked to attempt to try for and, gah, my idea didn't exactly fit. It was off in sorta kinda territory. But liked it. But it didn't fit. So I changed it up. And nope. So I went a step back to where I'd been originally heading. Nope. Okay fine. I went to back to the story I wanted to tell. And things clicked. Now I just need to find time to finish it. Will it fit? More importantly, will I even get it done by the 20th? We'll see.
Knowing I was percolating Colonization 2.0 and changes to Sahmara's novel, I spent the majority of the weekend working on the new house: digging footings and leveling the entire basement floor on my hand and knees. It was quite a workout, but yay for progress. Geothermal and concrete are going on this week and next week: the framing begins! Exciting stuff.
Exhausted by the end of each day, I indulged in some book crack: Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dream Warrior. I did enjoy this installment in her world, but the ending was disappointing...because it didn't end. The romance plot was resolved but the other half of the plot was left dangling. While I didn't throw the book (Yes, I have really done that.), turning that last page left me annoyed. However, I do love her world so I'm sure we'll make up soon.
May 19: I know how Colonization 2.0 ends. I just can't get time to write it. So frustrating!
May 20: Oh hey, another day happened with a whole paragraph of writing accomplished. On the brighter side, framing on the house starts next week, and thanks to a massive rush of work, I know my bills will be paid.
May 21: Headdesk.
Current tally: Shorts that worked and might become something good: 4
Shorts that I set aside for later: 3
Days I didn't get to write: Too many
Thursday, May 15, 2014
May stories update #2
May 7: Umm. Life happened.
May 8: It's 11pm already? Yawn.
May 9: Prompt: Colonization - 2,100 words (attempting to make up for yesterday) into the 4K story I'm aiming for. Tia wanted a better and exciting life. The colony on Jaboa might be better, but better for whom?
May 10 & 11: Ah the weekend: So full of aspirations... So few things actually accomplished. And none of them writing related. Well, except for reviewing the pile of critiques that came in on my current novel project and realizing how much more work it still needs.
May 12: Back to work on Colonization. After staring the cursor for an hour and forcing out a few lackluster paragraphs, I've come to the conclusion that this story is just not going anywhere. Which is annoying because it started out with promise. Started on a new Colonization story going in a different direction. Got 430 words into that effort so far.
May 13: Hit 2K on Colonization 2.0. Not sure this one is working either, but it's keeping my interest more so than the first attempt. We'll see what happens with it tomorrow.
May 14: Taking a colonization break. Today's prompt (slightly altered): via Nick from X day: Xerxes and his smoking Xbox and I'm also working in the IWM time travel prompt. Got 900 words in before life took over
May 15: Worked out the end of the Xbox story. Finished at: 2,300
May Current tally: Shorts that worked and might become something good: 3
Shorts that I set aside for later: 3
Days I didn't get to write: 7
May 8: It's 11pm already? Yawn.
May 9: Prompt: Colonization - 2,100 words (attempting to make up for yesterday) into the 4K story I'm aiming for. Tia wanted a better and exciting life. The colony on Jaboa might be better, but better for whom?
May 10 & 11: Ah the weekend: So full of aspirations... So few things actually accomplished. And none of them writing related. Well, except for reviewing the pile of critiques that came in on my current novel project and realizing how much more work it still needs.
May 12: Back to work on Colonization. After staring the cursor for an hour and forcing out a few lackluster paragraphs, I've come to the conclusion that this story is just not going anywhere. Which is annoying because it started out with promise. Started on a new Colonization story going in a different direction. Got 430 words into that effort so far.
May 13: Hit 2K on Colonization 2.0. Not sure this one is working either, but it's keeping my interest more so than the first attempt. We'll see what happens with it tomorrow.
May 14: Taking a colonization break. Today's prompt (slightly altered): via Nick from X day: Xerxes and his smoking Xbox and I'm also working in the IWM time travel prompt. Got 900 words in before life took over
May 15: Worked out the end of the Xbox story. Finished at: 2,300
May Current tally: Shorts that worked and might become something good: 3
Shorts that I set aside for later: 3
Days I didn't get to write: 7
Friday, May 9, 2014
A Short Story To Tide You Over: To Exist
For those of you who have made sad faces that I'm not sharing my May stories, I give you one of my old favorites from the dusty back burner file.
To Exist
Overmind’s query interrupted Observer’s study of the humans.
“Are they ready for assimilation?”
“Negative.”
Another query flowed into Observer’s neural network. “They
show no sign of evolution?”
Through the shimmering glow of the field that hid them from
view, Observer watched the room full of humans, milling, crying, and talking
with one another. In the midst of embraces, patting of shoulders and the
shaking of hands, sat a box which contained the body of a human who had ceased
to exist. Beside the box stood a young girl and an older woman locked in a
tight embrace. Tears flowed down their faces.
“Our original estimations failed to correctly account for
their unsystematic rate of evolution. They have not yet advanced to anything
resembling our state.”
Overmind said, “Current projections reveal our total
degradation is imminent. We must assimilate new members into our system. Our
observations of this solar system must continue.”
Observer became aware of Overmind accessing its visual data.
Another query formed. “What is their prime directive?”
“To exist.”
Humans flowed to the woman and child, touching, speaking,
and sharing tears.
“They exist by consuming various mixtures of oxygen,
hydrogen and carbons. Clarify.”
Observer scanned the thousand years worth of data it had
gathered since noticing the humans as a possibility for assimilation. “They
seek to continue their existence.”
“They exist and then cease to exist. There is no continuing
without evolving. They fail their prime objective.”
“They would disagree.”
The humans left the room one by one, until only the woman
and child remained. The woman paused to press her lips to those of the man in
the box before taking the child’s hand and following the way the others had
gone.
“Clarify.”
“They believe they continue after permanent shut down.”
“Have you gathered evidence of this?” Overmind inquired.
“Negative, yet the humans have held this belief in various
forms throughout my entire period of observation.”
“On what do they base this hypothesis?”
“Unknown.”
The field flickered, a once minor error within the system
that now occurred with frequency. Observer extended its manipulator arm to
adjust the view.
A small crowd gathered around the woman and child now seated
at the edge of a hole in the ground. The box, closed and sealed, sat opposite
them. A single man stood at the edge of the hole, speaking to the crowd.
“Unproven hypotheses do not yield the desired result. We do
not have the time or resources remaining to search out alternative assistance.
When our systems fail, we will be discovered,” said Overmind.
Observer had listened to common human theories of what
happened after their existence ceased millions of times. The words altered
within the variables of geographic location and time period, but the central
thread remained the same: there was something beyond this existence.
Overmind accessed Observer’s files. “All evidence
suggests these humans will not take the revelation of our presence peacefully.
They will destroy our data. It is imperative that our research on the creation and progression of this solar
system remain for any that may come after our shut down. The humans must be
terminated.”
The man finished speaking to those that had gathered. The child stood and tossed a
white flower into the hole. The woman led her away as the crowd dispersed.
“They could be granted more time. Others may come.”
“Sensors have not indicated other contact since we arrived
in this solar system. Waiting is futile. We must begin a full download to archive before further
system glitches make it impossible. Terminate the humans.”
A machine lowered the box into the hole. Another covered it
with dirt and grass.
Overmind vacated Observer’s network. Data streamed through
the system, flowing to Overmind’s archives as the all-encompassing download
commenced.
The grass surrounding the rows of stones showed no sign of
the boxes hidden beneath. Yet, humans came. They spoke to the stones, the
grass, and the sky above. They brought flowers, shed tears, shared words and
wore forlorn smiles for those who had ceased to be, as if they communed with
those gone before them.
Could they see and hear something sensors missed? Had proof
been there all along?
Observer’s network hummed as it considered the implications.
Observer’s manipulator arm hovered over the final keystrokes
of the termination sequence. Its neural network formulated new hypotheses: Humans
did evolve, but only after they ceased to exist. If Humans evolved though
belief, Observer could do the same. It knew the words of belief from each and
every culture in existence.
It analyzed the gathered data one last time before
Overmind’s download filtered through its files and discarded this new
hypothesis as a glitch.
Without any operational threat, the humans would be more
inclined to study what they discovered than destroy it, and given time, the
humans would advance to a point where Overmind’s data would be of use to them. If
the hypothesis proved correct, Overmind could commune with the humans as they
did with their own kind that had evolved. The research would continue.
Observer recited the words he’d heard in churches, in grassy
fields, beside blazing infernos, alongside holes and trenches, speeches of men
behind pulpits, and whispers of men and women and children uttered in the dark.
There was only one way to prove the hypothesis.
The download began to sift through Observer’s recent files. It
shut down all but its upload systems.
No longer having a need for power, Observer funneled its entire backup repository into a surge that
shattered Overmind’s system along with its own.
Together, they ceased to exist.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
May stories update #1
May 2: Prompt - Valley, Lissy & Jarrell - when these three names come together, what happens? Apparently my next attempt at a 500 word story turns into a 1000+ word fable about Jarrell and Lissy doing a challenge to get married in the valley. Will they make it? I don't know. I'm cutting myself off at 1K. I'll make some notes and return to that another day.
May 3 and 4: I'm giving myself a pass on the weekends, but if the story and time to write it pops up, I'm not going to stand in the way.
After working most of Saturday, I had Sunday pegged as a mostly writing day - which is good because I have a lot of edits to catch up on from critiques coming in on my novel. But, alas, running kids around, planting my garden, and house projects took over and I didn't get a damn thing done on the writing front.
May 5: Andrew's prompt: That cat had been a pain in the neck for years but, now, it had literally become a pain in his neck. Annnd... picking the prompt and doing a little brainstorming was as far as life allowed me to get.
May 6: The cat story is complete at 1,070 words. Sorceress Shireen likes cats, and men. Her cats don't share the same affections.
Current tally:
Shorts that worked and might become something good: 2
Shorts that I set aside for later: 1
Days I didn't get to write: 3
May 3 and 4: I'm giving myself a pass on the weekends, but if the story and time to write it pops up, I'm not going to stand in the way.
After working most of Saturday, I had Sunday pegged as a mostly writing day - which is good because I have a lot of edits to catch up on from critiques coming in on my novel. But, alas, running kids around, planting my garden, and house projects took over and I didn't get a damn thing done on the writing front.
May 5: Andrew's prompt: That cat had been a pain in the neck for years but, now, it had literally become a pain in his neck. Annnd... picking the prompt and doing a little brainstorming was as far as life allowed me to get.
May 6: The cat story is complete at 1,070 words. Sorceress Shireen likes cats, and men. Her cats don't share the same affections.
Current tally:
Shorts that worked and might become something good: 2
Shorts that I set aside for later: 1
Days I didn't get to write: 3
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Its May!
...and that means is short story month, thanks to A Story A Day In May.
I won't be posting stories here because, assuming they don't totally suck, I'll be attempting to publish some of them. However, I will be updating my progress every few days.
I work best from a prompt so thanks to all of you who dropped by on X day to offer up some great ideas. I'll be digging into those throughout the month. I also get daily prompts from the storyaday website and have grabbed a few from other sources yesterday. (Have I mentioned my procrastination problem?) As long as I can make time to write and my brain doesn't turn to mush, I have plenty of idea fodder to work with.
That alone puts me ahead of last year. To make things even slightly more successful this year, I'm attempting to keep my stories short. To date, 1,500 words is really darn short for me. I'm going to a attempt to keep them more in the 500 to 1,000 range, even if that means just getting the bones written so I can add the meat later.
Day 1: Prompt: Fear I went for a 900 word MG (I don't write MG so this was new for me) about girls in a cemetery. One is dared by the others to steal something.
I work best from a prompt so thanks to all of you who dropped by on X day to offer up some great ideas. I'll be digging into those throughout the month. I also get daily prompts from the storyaday website and have grabbed a few from other sources yesterday. (Have I mentioned my procrastination problem?) As long as I can make time to write and my brain doesn't turn to mush, I have plenty of idea fodder to work with.
That alone puts me ahead of last year. To make things even slightly more successful this year, I'm attempting to keep my stories short. To date, 1,500 words is really darn short for me. I'm going to a attempt to keep them more in the 500 to 1,000 range, even if that means just getting the bones written so I can add the meat later.
Day 1: Prompt: Fear I went for a 900 word MG (I don't write MG so this was new for me) about girls in a cemetery. One is dared by the others to steal something.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
A to Z Zombie
Welcome to the 2014 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.
Zombie is what I usually feel like at the end of the day. This is why night writing is a thing of the past for me. When I had a 9-5 job that I did my time at each day and then went home to dinner and happy play time, being productive at night was full of awesome. Then came kids and after school activities and customer support for my business and daily production that often forgets what the day in daily means.
Take last night for instance, my husband was trying to help with a job and told me a measurement three times and I still couldn't retain the knowledge for more than 3 seconds. Cue the drooling zombie sounds. Must write information down. Zombie doesn't understand pen. Zombie try pencil. Gah. Numbers are hard.
I also seem to be extra zombie at the end of this month. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Raise your brains, fellow zombies (okay, not your brains, some fresh ones from someone else). We've come a long way, like through a whole alphabet in a month. We've stumbled around blogs we've never been to before. We've found kindred souls and followed them. Now lets nom on those brains, kick back and relax. After all, tomorrow is May and that means its short story month. I'll need all the brain power I can get!
Braaaiiiiiins
Zombie is what I usually feel like at the end of the day. This is why night writing is a thing of the past for me. When I had a 9-5 job that I did my time at each day and then went home to dinner and happy play time, being productive at night was full of awesome. Then came kids and after school activities and customer support for my business and daily production that often forgets what the day in daily means.
Take last night for instance, my husband was trying to help with a job and told me a measurement three times and I still couldn't retain the knowledge for more than 3 seconds. Cue the drooling zombie sounds. Must write information down. Zombie doesn't understand pen. Zombie try pencil. Gah. Numbers are hard.
I also seem to be extra zombie at the end of this month. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Raise your brains, fellow zombies (okay, not your brains, some fresh ones from someone else). We've come a long way, like through a whole alphabet in a month. We've stumbled around blogs we've never been to before. We've found kindred souls and followed them. Now lets nom on those brains, kick back and relax. After all, tomorrow is May and that means its short story month. I'll need all the brain power I can get!
Braaaiiiiiins
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
A to Z Yawn
Welcome to the 2014 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.
Yawn: is what I find myself doing any time I find to sit in one place for more than five minutes. I used to be good at sleep. Loved sleep. Would rather sleep than be awake. And the dreams, oh they were so much fun. I'd ponder plots and characters in my half-sleep between dreams, coming up with all sorts of things to throw at them during my waking hours.
Now I wake up at 6am. I don't have to. I don't want to. But my brain has turned on and is pelting me with all the things I didn't finished yesterday and what I need to do that day. And this sudden, heart pounding moment of anxiety is usually right after dreaming that I'd been working on a job that I'd totally forgot about or that went all wrong and the customer needs it right away. It's utterly restful, I tell you. Not. There's too much going on in that mess of a brain to focus on plots or characters, which is really frustrating for someone who used to cherish the sleepy time we shared together.
Perhaps, in about twenty-some years, when I retire, sleep and I will kiss and makeup. I look forward to that day.
Yawn: is what I find myself doing any time I find to sit in one place for more than five minutes. I used to be good at sleep. Loved sleep. Would rather sleep than be awake. And the dreams, oh they were so much fun. I'd ponder plots and characters in my half-sleep between dreams, coming up with all sorts of things to throw at them during my waking hours.
Now I wake up at 6am. I don't have to. I don't want to. But my brain has turned on and is pelting me with all the things I didn't finished yesterday and what I need to do that day. And this sudden, heart pounding moment of anxiety is usually right after dreaming that I'd been working on a job that I'd totally forgot about or that went all wrong and the customer needs it right away. It's utterly restful, I tell you. Not. There's too much going on in that mess of a brain to focus on plots or characters, which is really frustrating for someone who used to cherish the sleepy time we shared together.
Perhaps, in about twenty-some years, when I retire, sleep and I will kiss and makeup. I look forward to that day.
Monday, April 28, 2014
A to Z X
Welcome to the 2014 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.
X is a letter that I have to get pretty darn creative to use for today. So we're going roman. 10.
Due to spending the month with you, I've neglected spending time gathering prompts for A Story a Day In May. Today's challenge: gather 10 prompts.
A word, an opening line, a character name, whatever you've got. Help me out by leaving a comment.
X is a letter that I have to get pretty darn creative to use for today. So we're going roman. 10.
Due to spending the month with you, I've neglected spending time gathering prompts for A Story a Day In May. Today's challenge: gather 10 prompts.
A word, an opening line, a character name, whatever you've got. Help me out by leaving a comment.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
A to Z Writing
Welcome to the 2014 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.
Writing is what I'd usually rather be doing. While writing blog posts can be fun, it's writing stories that makes me warm and fuzzy inside. Whether is be a short or a novel, I enjoy sitting down and creating something new from nothing, pulling words together to create characters and worlds.
Usually those worlds are some place other than the one we currently inhabit, because really, I'm in that one and I need a vacation from it. Not to mention, it's so much more fun to create problems for someone else and help them solve them, creating order from the chaos than it is to pay taxes, nag kids and be overwhelmed with work (house, yard, and the kind that pays the bills).
Writing is what I'd usually rather be doing. While writing blog posts can be fun, it's writing stories that makes me warm and fuzzy inside. Whether is be a short or a novel, I enjoy sitting down and creating something new from nothing, pulling words together to create characters and worlds.
Usually those worlds are some place other than the one we currently inhabit, because really, I'm in that one and I need a vacation from it. Not to mention, it's so much more fun to create problems for someone else and help them solve them, creating order from the chaos than it is to pay taxes, nag kids and be overwhelmed with work (house, yard, and the kind that pays the bills).
Friday, April 25, 2014
A to Z Victims
Welcome to the 2014 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.
Victims of the knife: the series of posts that were the meat of this blog for a while until I got caught up in too many others things and had to let it lapse. I miss hanging out with all my discarded characters. Many of them found themselves back in my graces after we spent some time together and were repurposed back into other stories or novels. However, there are a few characters still out there, lingering around the edges of my room, hunkered down beneath crumbled papers of edits past, fashioning weapons from paperclips and discarded technology.
It's been so long since one of them has made the climb up my desk and perched next to my hand, spewing threats and then begging...and then threatening again. Really, it's the threats that tend to get my wheels turning so they are better off with those. Poor Ms. Wildstar is still looking for love and I'm sure the dust bunnies have managed to break free of the Barthromian's efforts at domestication. They're probably back up to ravenous status behind my desk.
One of these days, I'll get back to the drama of my discarded cast. None of them fit into Sahmara's story so they'll just have to wait for the next one for the chance at a new life on the page.
Victims of the knife: the series of posts that were the meat of this blog for a while until I got caught up in too many others things and had to let it lapse. I miss hanging out with all my discarded characters. Many of them found themselves back in my graces after we spent some time together and were repurposed back into other stories or novels. However, there are a few characters still out there, lingering around the edges of my room, hunkered down beneath crumbled papers of edits past, fashioning weapons from paperclips and discarded technology.
It's been so long since one of them has made the climb up my desk and perched next to my hand, spewing threats and then begging...and then threatening again. Really, it's the threats that tend to get my wheels turning so they are better off with those. Poor Ms. Wildstar is still looking for love and I'm sure the dust bunnies have managed to break free of the Barthromian's efforts at domestication. They're probably back up to ravenous status behind my desk.
One of these days, I'll get back to the drama of my discarded cast. None of them fit into Sahmara's story so they'll just have to wait for the next one for the chance at a new life on the page.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
A to Z Unaccountable
Welcome to the 2014 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.
Unaccountable for my time. There's a reason I don't work for someone else anymore. I don't like being held to a schedule, each minute accounted for, someone watching over my shoulder. Having to do something every day, or at the same time every day drives me nuts. I need the freedom do get it done as I see fit, which is almost always on time or early if I'm left to my own devices. Put rules on me and I'll drag my feet and procrastinate with the best of them. Having to write a blog post every day is not too confining and it's at least something I choose to do but it still grates at me each day that I need to get that done.
Unaccountable for my time. There's a reason I don't work for someone else anymore. I don't like being held to a schedule, each minute accounted for, someone watching over my shoulder. Having to do something every day, or at the same time every day drives me nuts. I need the freedom do get it done as I see fit, which is almost always on time or early if I'm left to my own devices. Put rules on me and I'll drag my feet and procrastinate with the best of them. Having to write a blog post every day is not too confining and it's at least something I choose to do but it still grates at me each day that I need to get that done.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
A to Z Twenty
Welcome to the 2014 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.
Twenty Master Plots and How to Build Them is the book I've been trying to read all March, and now into April. Not that it's hard to get through, I just haven't had much time to sit down and actually digest it. What I've gotten through so far is set out quite comprehensively with lots of examples from tv, movies and books that make the text easy to relate to. With each major plot type clearly explained along with beginning, middle and end goals to make them successful, it's really helped clarify where I'd like to go with a few of the novels and stories I currently have on my back burner. It's a really big burner.
Now I want to get through Sahmara's story so I can get back to Not Another Bard's Tale so I can play with my silly fantasy quest. Must. Control. The voices. Wait your turn! Then again, I really want to get through the book too. So many things do to, so little time.
Twenty Master Plots and How to Build Them is the book I've been trying to read all March, and now into April. Not that it's hard to get through, I just haven't had much time to sit down and actually digest it. What I've gotten through so far is set out quite comprehensively with lots of examples from tv, movies and books that make the text easy to relate to. With each major plot type clearly explained along with beginning, middle and end goals to make them successful, it's really helped clarify where I'd like to go with a few of the novels and stories I currently have on my back burner. It's a really big burner.
Now I want to get through Sahmara's story so I can get back to Not Another Bard's Tale so I can play with my silly fantasy quest. Must. Control. The voices. Wait your turn! Then again, I really want to get through the book too. So many things do to, so little time.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
A to Z Sahmara
Welcome to the 2014 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.
Sahmara's novel is the one I'm currently working on. I did a post about her last year as well. It's funny that last year I was all proud of having the title set, but now that rewrites and edits have attacked, the title no longer works and I'm waiting for a new one to arrive. That's how it works for me. They arrive. I don't brain storm, though that sounds like a good plan. I like the idea of listing words that relate to the novel and playing with them until something meshes, but I've not yet had to get to that. Usually while I'm writing the synopsis or editing one of the later chapters - or end of the story in the case of a short - the title just pops into my head. Sometimes imaginary angels do a little number, other times its a facepalm wondering why the words didn't hit me sooner.
How does finding a title work for you?
Sahmara's novel is the one I'm currently working on. I did a post about her last year as well. It's funny that last year I was all proud of having the title set, but now that rewrites and edits have attacked, the title no longer works and I'm waiting for a new one to arrive. That's how it works for me. They arrive. I don't brain storm, though that sounds like a good plan. I like the idea of listing words that relate to the novel and playing with them until something meshes, but I've not yet had to get to that. Usually while I'm writing the synopsis or editing one of the later chapters - or end of the story in the case of a short - the title just pops into my head. Sometimes imaginary angels do a little number, other times its a facepalm wondering why the words didn't hit me sooner.
How does finding a title work for you?
Monday, April 21, 2014
A to Z Reading
Welcome to the 2014 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.
Reading. Every year I seem to go into reading mode in January and February and then March is a total loss for whatever reason (this year was because of work). April is either Camp NaNo and/or A to Z blogging (I don't recommend both. Did that last year and it was a lot to take on) and May is short stories. June is editing those short stories and July might allow me another spurt of reading before diving into critiques for the May stories that survive editing. The rest of the year is usually wrapped up in a novel project and I generally don't read while writing because things leech in. For a woman who loves reading, I don't ever seem to have enough time to read.
This April has allowed enough time for the whole Divergent series. I say 'allowed', but what I mean is I let my reading addiction to rule my every spare minute for five days while I squeezed in three books between working and running the kids around. Once that was done, I took a few days to breathe and then dove into critiquing a novel for a CP. Thankfully I'm not attempting Camp NaNo this April or I'd have no time for sleep.
Reading. Every year I seem to go into reading mode in January and February and then March is a total loss for whatever reason (this year was because of work). April is either Camp NaNo and/or A to Z blogging (I don't recommend both. Did that last year and it was a lot to take on) and May is short stories. June is editing those short stories and July might allow me another spurt of reading before diving into critiques for the May stories that survive editing. The rest of the year is usually wrapped up in a novel project and I generally don't read while writing because things leech in. For a woman who loves reading, I don't ever seem to have enough time to read.
This April has allowed enough time for the whole Divergent series. I say 'allowed', but what I mean is I let my reading addiction to rule my every spare minute for five days while I squeezed in three books between working and running the kids around. Once that was done, I took a few days to breathe and then dove into critiquing a novel for a CP. Thankfully I'm not attempting Camp NaNo this April or I'd have no time for sleep.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
A to Z Quiet
Welcome to the 2014 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.
Quiet is a sacred and wonderful thing. I try to use quiet time as effectively as possible because it is so precious. To write, I need either dead quiet or white noise at any volume. Anything else causes major distractions. They say people are like their dogs.
Squirrel!
Oh sorry, where was I? Ah yes. Kids interrupting me, dog needing attention, husband with random questions, people watching tv, playing Xbox, practicing guitars/bass/French horn, the phone, you have email! I do my used to do my best writing at my desk but the couch in the living room is a close second, and honestly, far more comfortable. But it's also in the middle of the main room in our house where I can at least be available and not shut away in my bedroom like a hermit.
Quiet is a sacred and wonderful thing. I try to use quiet time as effectively as possible because it is so precious. To write, I need either dead quiet or white noise at any volume. Anything else causes major distractions. They say people are like their dogs.
Squirrel!
Oh sorry, where was I? Ah yes. Kids interrupting me, dog needing attention, husband with random questions, people watching tv, playing Xbox, practicing guitars/bass/French horn, the phone, you have email! I do my used to do my best writing at my desk but the couch in the living room is a close second, and honestly, far more comfortable. But it's also in the middle of the main room in our house where I can at least be available and not shut away in my bedroom like a hermit.
Friday, April 18, 2014
A to Z People
Welcome to the 2014 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.
People that I live with seem to think I should actually spend time with them. I know, right?
They want me to buy groceries and cook food for them, nag them about homework, practicing instruments, brushing their teeth, cleaning their rooms and doing their laundry. They love when I nag them. I mean, they must or they'd just do those things so I wouldn't have the opportunity to nag.
My husband wants me sit on the same couch without a laptop and focus on the same tv show or movie now and then. He might even want me to go with him and hang out with friends away from home.
Even the hairy little four-legged person who lives here wants my constant attention (squirrel!) and to work his hairs down (outside!) in between every (squirrel!!!!) key (OMG can't you see the squirrel?) on (you stupid human, I must chase it! Let me out!) my keyboard. (It's invading my yard! The excitement killing me! Please. Let. Me. Out.) I swear that's his secret mission in life.
We have a lot of squirrels in the yard. All. Day. Long.
People that I live with seem to think I should actually spend time with them. I know, right?
They want me to buy groceries and cook food for them, nag them about homework, practicing instruments, brushing their teeth, cleaning their rooms and doing their laundry. They love when I nag them. I mean, they must or they'd just do those things so I wouldn't have the opportunity to nag.
My husband wants me sit on the same couch without a laptop and focus on the same tv show or movie now and then. He might even want me to go with him and hang out with friends away from home.
Even the hairy little four-legged person who lives here wants my constant attention (squirrel!) and to work his hairs down (outside!) in between every (squirrel!!!!) key (OMG can't you see the squirrel?) on (you stupid human, I must chase it! Let me out!) my keyboard. (It's invading my yard! The excitement killing me! Please. Let. Me. Out.) I swear that's his secret mission in life.
We have a lot of squirrels in the yard. All. Day. Long.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
A to Z Outside
Welcome to the 2014 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.
Outside is where I like to be in the spring. My many flowerbeds cry out for attention. The garden begs to be planted. The raspberry plants need to be thinned and the strawberries weeded. The dog wants to run around. The miles of mole tracks need to be stomped down and the mouse runs have to be filled. Thatch needs to be raked out of the grass and mountains of sticks need to be picked up before the first mowing can take place. Mulch must be spread so weeding doesn't take over my summer. Oh, so much to do and here I sit with my laptop, looking out the window, getting exhausted just thinking of all the things I need to do.
Outside is where I like to be in the spring. My many flowerbeds cry out for attention. The garden begs to be planted. The raspberry plants need to be thinned and the strawberries weeded. The dog wants to run around. The miles of mole tracks need to be stomped down and the mouse runs have to be filled. Thatch needs to be raked out of the grass and mountains of sticks need to be picked up before the first mowing can take place. Mulch must be spread so weeding doesn't take over my summer. Oh, so much to do and here I sit with my laptop, looking out the window, getting exhausted just thinking of all the things I need to do.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
A to Z Nose
Welcome to the 2014 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.
Nose is dripping. Allergy season is just beginning. I seem to be allergic to spring summer and fall. Which sucks because I'm not a fan of winter...other than its the one season that I can breath freely.
I love to work outside in my yard, the flowers, the garden, playing with the dog. However, that means I have puffy eyes and a constantly running nose and a stuffy head. Somedays, when the pollen is really high, I can hardly breathe at all and I have to rely on my inhaler. Those days are so much fun. And yes, I take allergy medication. The nice ads on tv with all the allergy suffers gleefully playing in their yards after taking their one pill a day each day of their allergy season lie. That stuff does nothing for me. Unfortunately the stuff that does work, knocks me out for about an hour after taking it, but after a nice nap, I can breathe for eight hours without a box of tissues nearby.
Time to stock up on the allergy meds!
Nose is dripping. Allergy season is just beginning. I seem to be allergic to spring summer and fall. Which sucks because I'm not a fan of winter...other than its the one season that I can breath freely.
I love to work outside in my yard, the flowers, the garden, playing with the dog. However, that means I have puffy eyes and a constantly running nose and a stuffy head. Somedays, when the pollen is really high, I can hardly breathe at all and I have to rely on my inhaler. Those days are so much fun. And yes, I take allergy medication. The nice ads on tv with all the allergy suffers gleefully playing in their yards after taking their one pill a day each day of their allergy season lie. That stuff does nothing for me. Unfortunately the stuff that does work, knocks me out for about an hour after taking it, but after a nice nap, I can breathe for eight hours without a box of tissues nearby.
Time to stock up on the allergy meds!
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
A to Z May
Welcome to the 2014 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is why I shouldn't be participating. Thank you to David for writing the post that got the voices in my head working against me.
May: when I participate in A Story A Day in May. This requires a good deal of planning...or not. I've done it both ways. Neither was totally successful, but I did get some good stories out of both years and have gone one to sell them. A few of them are right over here ----->
I should be spending April gathering ideas for May. Obviously, I'm not. So this is going to be a wing it year. Given that most of my shorts grow from a couple lines of description, a single character or one line of a plot idea, I can probably make this happen as much as I could with planning in this, the year of Jean the Zombie.
If you've tried NaNoWriMo and enjoyed it, give this a try. It's a fun month long challenge without the commitment to one single novel that may or may not pan out after thirty days. And if a novel in a month is too much to take on, how about tackling one story a day? You set the length. Make it 100 words if that suits you. And if the story just isn't working out? Jot some notes about where you'd intended it to go in case you decide to revisit it down the road and try a new one the next day.
Stop by in May and see how my progress going and share your own if you leap into the challenge with me.
May: when I participate in A Story A Day in May. This requires a good deal of planning...or not. I've done it both ways. Neither was totally successful, but I did get some good stories out of both years and have gone one to sell them. A few of them are right over here ----->
I should be spending April gathering ideas for May. Obviously, I'm not. So this is going to be a wing it year. Given that most of my shorts grow from a couple lines of description, a single character or one line of a plot idea, I can probably make this happen as much as I could with planning in this, the year of Jean the Zombie.
If you've tried NaNoWriMo and enjoyed it, give this a try. It's a fun month long challenge without the commitment to one single novel that may or may not pan out after thirty days. And if a novel in a month is too much to take on, how about tackling one story a day? You set the length. Make it 100 words if that suits you. And if the story just isn't working out? Jot some notes about where you'd intended it to go in case you decide to revisit it down the road and try a new one the next day.
Stop by in May and see how my progress going and share your own if you leap into the challenge with me.
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