Yes, National Novel Writing Month is nearly over, and I've already crossed 50,000 words. My steaming and steamy book will be placed in (digital) drawer and allowed to cool off before I look at it and discover how truly wretched it is. Then rewriting, rewriting, rewriting will start. Or not.
I'm not sure I will finish Twice Around the Crazy Tree. I delved into things that disturbed me, and I didn't really come out of it with any conclusions other than bad people do bad things and good people have scars. And maybe the truth doesn't really set people free.
So ... what now?
Writing
Picking up Murder by the Mile. Time to finish it. I've meandered around enough. It requires fixing, and I didn't want to fix it. Well, need to fix it now. Put it back on my front project list. Also attempting to create five more cards for my card shop on Cafepress. I have one designed and will upload tomorrow. Three others are in the rough. Looking for an idea for the fifth.
Health
Continuing to walk and take my vitamins and drink my green tea. Trying to eat at least one dark green veggie and green leafy salad a day. Got my flu shot. Been taking more Vitamin C, too, to fight off a cold I'm trying to get.
Clutter
Don't ask.
Clutter
I said, don't ask.
Life
Well, I feel that weird emptiness that the end of a project (NaNo in this case) always leaves me with. Or maybe it's the holidays. Not having my parents anymore and my siblings' families are always busy ... I always feel a bit disconnected. Lost maybe.
Okay, yeah, the black dog has been nipping at me. Well, that happens, as y'all know because he nips at you, too. Comes with life, I guess.
Clutter
Sure. Okay. Remember when I told you that I was cleaning the back bedroom and had made a lot of progress? Well, I had to put things back in there so that I had space to put out the Christmas decorations. So I've lost ground. And got behind on magazines, newspapers, mail, etc. Well, I'll dig myself out, and that will probably help my feelings, too.
Anyway, that's what's going on for me this week. Hope y'all are all doing good.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Hopeful
For no good reason, I remain hopeful.
I take that back. I remain hopeful because I still believe in God, my nation, my family and my friends.
I think it's easy to feel overwhelmed these days. We've all got problems. Health, money, marriage, spiritual, emotional, and so on. But hold on.
There is a better day coming. Not as fast as we'd like -- otherwise it would be here already -- but it is coming. We just have to hold on and hold together and we will get there.
"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." -- Psalms 30:5
I take that back. I remain hopeful because I still believe in God, my nation, my family and my friends.
I think it's easy to feel overwhelmed these days. We've all got problems. Health, money, marriage, spiritual, emotional, and so on. But hold on.
There is a better day coming. Not as fast as we'd like -- otherwise it would be here already -- but it is coming. We just have to hold on and hold together and we will get there.
"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." -- Psalms 30:5
Saturday, November 26, 2011
NaNoWriMo Winner!
I won National Novel Writing Month! I stayed up until 4:30 this morning so I could get it done. Then I wrote a bit more this afternoon. Now I will sleep for a week.
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Amazon.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in paperback at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in soft cover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy, MBTA & MBDD items and more at Oakleaf Harbor
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Amazon.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in paperback at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in soft cover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy, MBTA & MBDD items and more at Oakleaf Harbor
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Good intentions, best laid plans, and so on
Howdy! Let's catch up a bit. Slide your chair over here and sip your pumpkin spice hot chocolate while we chat. Comfy? Now, let's see.
About my writing:
I intended to be finished with National Novel Writing Month by now. Or actually by tomorrow. Then I'd have the rest of the month to write more or edit or have a nervous breakdown. However, it's not going to happen. I have 14,000 more words to write. I should have them all by the end of the month. I would have finished except my plans changed mid-month.
First, a wise person pointed out that if I wanted people to buy my Christmas cards from Cafepress and actually get them in time to send them out, I needed to have my cards already up on my Cafepress store. Yikes. So I took time off to do that. And what frustrating ordeal it was. Formatting, re-formatting, uploading, editing, re-editing, etc., took two and half days away from NaNoWriMo. And even then, I didn't get all the cards up there I had hoped. Well, I'll keep adding to it them, and next year, there will be a much larger selection.
Second, a woman contacted me about making four mini-photo books for her. For money! So I said yes, of course, thinking it would only take a couple of hours. Naturally it took all day and most of an evening to get them to her satisfaction. But I got paid. Woohoo! I also lost another NaNoWriMo day.
And it's okay. I intend to reach 50,000 words by the end of the month, and I can still do that. I was stressing about it and then I remembered this: NaNoWriMo is for me and not the other way around. It's for me to write fast and explore new things and meet new writers and enjoy the whole maddening process.
About health:
Haven't walked every day like I did in October. Part of the problem is, of course, trying to get everything done and do NaNoWriMo, too. The rest has to do with lack of willpower. Got to power through this and keep exercising. Even though I'd rather be at my computer or reading a book or -- and I only say this because it's the truth -- eating, eating, eating. It's weird how our bodies fight getting healthy. I've really been experiencing urges to eat like a person returning from being stranded on a desert island. For the most part, I've resisted them. But not always.
About clutter:
The back bedroom is just about ready to receive visitors. Five or six more hours, and it will be ready to be dusted and vacuumed. Finally that room can be used for something besides storage. When it's finished, the next thing I'm going to do is donate 50 books to my local library. Surely in all these books, I can find 50 that I no longer want. I'm going to, even if I do have to give up some. Let's be honest: in a 1,100 square foot house, 1,000 books (approximately) is too many. I'll keep the ones I reread or use for reference or simply love, but the rest got to go. Eventually. Right now, I'm aiming for 50.
About life:
Mostly the black dog has stayed away. I find if I stay busy with creative things -- photo books, NaNoWriMo, scrapbooking, writing, creating cards, etc. -- I'm mostly not depressed with large periods of what I would call contentment. Admittedly, the financial part of my life is terrible, but I'm still paying my bills and buying food and obviously Internet access, so all-in-all, I won't complain. Still looking for a full-time job, but have started telling people I'm open to a part-time job. My little town is just not doing well. I keep wondering if I'm supposed to move. Well, we'll see what happens.
That's about it for now. Oh, here's the link to the Christmas Cards. I think you all already have it, but just in case. Have a great week!
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Amazon.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in paperback at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in soft cover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy, MBTA & MBDD items and more at Oakleaf Harbor
About my writing:
I intended to be finished with National Novel Writing Month by now. Or actually by tomorrow. Then I'd have the rest of the month to write more or edit or have a nervous breakdown. However, it's not going to happen. I have 14,000 more words to write. I should have them all by the end of the month. I would have finished except my plans changed mid-month.
First, a wise person pointed out that if I wanted people to buy my Christmas cards from Cafepress and actually get them in time to send them out, I needed to have my cards already up on my Cafepress store. Yikes. So I took time off to do that. And what frustrating ordeal it was. Formatting, re-formatting, uploading, editing, re-editing, etc., took two and half days away from NaNoWriMo. And even then, I didn't get all the cards up there I had hoped. Well, I'll keep adding to it them, and next year, there will be a much larger selection.
Second, a woman contacted me about making four mini-photo books for her. For money! So I said yes, of course, thinking it would only take a couple of hours. Naturally it took all day and most of an evening to get them to her satisfaction. But I got paid. Woohoo! I also lost another NaNoWriMo day.
And it's okay. I intend to reach 50,000 words by the end of the month, and I can still do that. I was stressing about it and then I remembered this: NaNoWriMo is for me and not the other way around. It's for me to write fast and explore new things and meet new writers and enjoy the whole maddening process.
About health:
Haven't walked every day like I did in October. Part of the problem is, of course, trying to get everything done and do NaNoWriMo, too. The rest has to do with lack of willpower. Got to power through this and keep exercising. Even though I'd rather be at my computer or reading a book or -- and I only say this because it's the truth -- eating, eating, eating. It's weird how our bodies fight getting healthy. I've really been experiencing urges to eat like a person returning from being stranded on a desert island. For the most part, I've resisted them. But not always.
About clutter:
The back bedroom is just about ready to receive visitors. Five or six more hours, and it will be ready to be dusted and vacuumed. Finally that room can be used for something besides storage. When it's finished, the next thing I'm going to do is donate 50 books to my local library. Surely in all these books, I can find 50 that I no longer want. I'm going to, even if I do have to give up some. Let's be honest: in a 1,100 square foot house, 1,000 books (approximately) is too many. I'll keep the ones I reread or use for reference or simply love, but the rest got to go. Eventually. Right now, I'm aiming for 50.
About life:
Mostly the black dog has stayed away. I find if I stay busy with creative things -- photo books, NaNoWriMo, scrapbooking, writing, creating cards, etc. -- I'm mostly not depressed with large periods of what I would call contentment. Admittedly, the financial part of my life is terrible, but I'm still paying my bills and buying food and obviously Internet access, so all-in-all, I won't complain. Still looking for a full-time job, but have started telling people I'm open to a part-time job. My little town is just not doing well. I keep wondering if I'm supposed to move. Well, we'll see what happens.
That's about it for now. Oh, here's the link to the Christmas Cards. I think you all already have it, but just in case. Have a great week!
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Amazon.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in paperback at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in soft cover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy, MBTA & MBDD items and more at Oakleaf Harbor
Friday, November 18, 2011
Back
Howdy! Sorry to have been away. Lots of projects, but mostly National Novel Writing Month. Which is still going on, Lord help me.
Oh, there is this: Oakleaf Harbor Christmas Cards. That's where you can buy my Christmas cards. Order now to be sure you have them in plenty of time to send me one!
I was pleased with how the cards turned out, particularly since I don't consider myself to be an arty person. I took off two days from NaNoWriMo to work on them and get them uploaded in time for people to order them. I have 5 designs here. Hope to have more, but probably not in time for this Christmas. We'll see if inspiration strikes. Mostly it depends on when I finish my NaNoWriMo novel.
Anyway, how are things for you? Anything exciting in your world? Looking forward to the holidays? I like the holidays. I like the lights and sounds and scents of Christmas. I also really really really love turkey and stuffing and cranberry relish. I get hungry just thinking about it.
Anyway, talk to you soon!`
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Amazon.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in paperback at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in soft cover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy, MBTA & MBDD items and more at Oakleaf Harbor
Oh, there is this: Oakleaf Harbor Christmas Cards. That's where you can buy my Christmas cards. Order now to be sure you have them in plenty of time to send me one!
I was pleased with how the cards turned out, particularly since I don't consider myself to be an arty person. I took off two days from NaNoWriMo to work on them and get them uploaded in time for people to order them. I have 5 designs here. Hope to have more, but probably not in time for this Christmas. We'll see if inspiration strikes. Mostly it depends on when I finish my NaNoWriMo novel.
Anyway, how are things for you? Anything exciting in your world? Looking forward to the holidays? I like the holidays. I like the lights and sounds and scents of Christmas. I also really really really love turkey and stuffing and cranberry relish. I get hungry just thinking about it.
Anyway, talk to you soon!`
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Amazon.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in paperback at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in soft cover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy, MBTA & MBDD items and more at Oakleaf Harbor
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
What I'd like to be doing instead
I want to play World of Warcraft. I want to chat online and read silly internet articles. I want to watch TV. I want to window shop or browse the books at the library for an afternoon. But instead, I'm writing, writing, writing for National Novel Writing Month. I always forget how it takes all of your time and then some.
And when you're not writing, you're plotting or thinking about your character and figuring out how to make their lives miserable. Or even to kill them. (I confess that when I get frustrated with a story, I usually drop an asteroid on my characters. That relieves stress. For me. I'm not sure my characters appreciate it, but they're only written, right?)
Anyway, I'm at 20,145 word. If I can maintain this pace, I should be done sometime close to Thanksgiving. I hope before, but as long as I'm written 50,000 words, I'll be happy.
So what you be doing? Fun stuff, I bet. Sigh. I'm so jealous.
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Amazon.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in paperback at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in soft cover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy, MBTA & MBDD items and more at Oakleaf Harbor
And when you're not writing, you're plotting or thinking about your character and figuring out how to make their lives miserable. Or even to kill them. (I confess that when I get frustrated with a story, I usually drop an asteroid on my characters. That relieves stress. For me. I'm not sure my characters appreciate it, but they're only written, right?)
Anyway, I'm at 20,145 word. If I can maintain this pace, I should be done sometime close to Thanksgiving. I hope before, but as long as I'm written 50,000 words, I'll be happy.
So what you be doing? Fun stuff, I bet. Sigh. I'm so jealous.
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Amazon.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in paperback at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in soft cover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy, MBTA & MBDD items and more at Oakleaf Harbor
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Earthquake and other stuff
Yesterday was an exciting day. We had an earthquake then and several aftershocks this morning. The major quake was 5.6 the scientists say, a record for Oklahoma. Made a few new cracks in my interior walls and one new in the brick facade, but nothing major. Quite weird.
Anyway, in less exciting news.
Writing:
Deep in National Novel Writing Month. Currently 14,250 cumulative. Doing better than I've ever done with a story that I really feel uncertain about it. It's family drama. Dark secrets. But no magic, vampires, beasts, magick, swords, or really heroes. Just people making good and bad decisions and not knowing until later which is which. It's quite odd for me. I've never written anything like it. I think it's good for me for explore this new territory even if a published book never results from it.
Four people from my town signed up for NaNoWriMo this year. They've apparently all quit, but they did start and wrote a couple of thousand words, so that's good, and they still have plenty of time to get inspired.
Health:
Still walking at the gym. Eating things I shouldn't. Got to cut that back. Otherwise, so far, so good. Intending on getting my flu shot this week.
Money:
I'm making four photo books for a woman featuring her beautiful baby. I made one of my roommate's grandchildren for him, and he showed it around work. Several other people are supposed to order ones, also. Hope they do. Not a lot of money, but it's helping pay my bills. Still selling greeting cards. Think I've thought of just about every funny thing I can about birthdays. Going to work on Christmas cards next. Still sending out resumes.
Life:
Black dog is staying away. Health is okay. Still fighting insomnia, but will talk to my doctor at my next appointment next month and see what we can do about that.
Anyway, that's my news.
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Amazon.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in paperback at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in soft cover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy, MBTA & MBDD items and more at Oakleaf Harbor
Anyway, in less exciting news.
Writing:
Deep in National Novel Writing Month. Currently 14,250 cumulative. Doing better than I've ever done with a story that I really feel uncertain about it. It's family drama. Dark secrets. But no magic, vampires, beasts, magick, swords, or really heroes. Just people making good and bad decisions and not knowing until later which is which. It's quite odd for me. I've never written anything like it. I think it's good for me for explore this new territory even if a published book never results from it.
Four people from my town signed up for NaNoWriMo this year. They've apparently all quit, but they did start and wrote a couple of thousand words, so that's good, and they still have plenty of time to get inspired.
Health:
Still walking at the gym. Eating things I shouldn't. Got to cut that back. Otherwise, so far, so good. Intending on getting my flu shot this week.
Money:
I'm making four photo books for a woman featuring her beautiful baby. I made one of my roommate's grandchildren for him, and he showed it around work. Several other people are supposed to order ones, also. Hope they do. Not a lot of money, but it's helping pay my bills. Still selling greeting cards. Think I've thought of just about every funny thing I can about birthdays. Going to work on Christmas cards next. Still sending out resumes.
Life:
Black dog is staying away. Health is okay. Still fighting insomnia, but will talk to my doctor at my next appointment next month and see what we can do about that.
Anyway, that's my news.
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Amazon.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in paperback at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in soft cover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy, MBTA & MBDD items and more at Oakleaf Harbor
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
5021
5021 words for my first day of National Novel Writing Month. The best first day I've ever had. Of course, I wrote over 2500 words last night by staying up until three and got the rest today. With the lack of sleep and my general health problems, I don't feel that good.
Well, a nap and some down time, I will be ready to go again. Nano is unrelenting. You have to make your words each day, or you'll get behind. If you get behind, it's harder and harder to catch up, particularly since November 30 is going to roll around whether you're caught up or not.
Anyway, I'm hanging in there. Hope you're doing well. Talk to you tomorrow.
Well, a nap and some down time, I will be ready to go again. Nano is unrelenting. You have to make your words each day, or you'll get behind. If you get behind, it's harder and harder to catch up, particularly since November 30 is going to roll around whether you're caught up or not.
Anyway, I'm hanging in there. Hope you're doing well. Talk to you tomorrow.
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