Tag: coffee

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so many irons in the fire

This time of year is my busy season.  Being out of work hasn’t eased any of it, in fact, in a lot of ways it’s made it harder, busier.  Looking for work is a full time job, as they say.  Add in the work I do for SF Pride, and some freelance editing, not to mention my own writing and you get one busy little author!

I have an interview today for a job I’d really like to get at a company in San Francisco that is working to change the landscape of finance for those who are un-banked or under-banked.  It’s a wonderful combination of work that I love and a cause I can get behind.

Yesterday, I spent most of my day working on Pride stuff…paperwork that all needs updating to 2019, contracts and acceptance letters…all kinds of fun stuff, then I cut out about two hours of my afternoon to read, an indulgence to be sure.

I recently won a leather bound edition of The Song of Ice and Fire, and have paused in my Sirens reading to start reading these.  I’m not quite two thirds of the way through the first book.  I’m interested to find how the books differ from the TV show.

I’m up early this morning, and hope to work on a short story that I’m writing before I have to start getting ready for the interview.  It’s a sci-fi piece about a girl who accidentally becomes an assassin, first out of necessity, but then discovering that she is good at it.

Right then, I should get to those words, and my coffee while it’s still hot.

 

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whatever normal is…

Happy Saturday, Readers!  I’ve spent most of this week on the job hunt, and it’s starting to show signs of paying off.  I’ve had three phone interviews with one company and have an in-person interview with a different one on Monday.  I’m hoping I am gainfully employed before the first of June.

In the meantime, I finished the first editing phase of the Anthology for Sirens that I’ve been telling you about, and I’ve had some time to do some writing, though my focus has been definitely scattered, so I’m not sure how much of that writing is any good.

I’m trying to use today to kind of reset everything, get back into the rhythm of my normal life: coffee and writing, some consulting work, chores, and with luck a fair amount of exercise.

It helps me feel like I’m still in control.  Even if I’m not.  And I’ve been feeling very not in control of late.  Partly due to the way my phone is ringing all day long, from 7 am through to 6 pm with recruiters who don’t know how to read a map, or who think it is completely logical to relocate to another state for a 6 month contract job.

I’m trying really hard not to count on either of the positions that I have interviewed/am being interviewed for, but it sure would be nice if one of them came through with an offer next week.

Now I have two kitties who seem to think they need my attention and a cup of coffee that’s getting cold, so I should get on with the day.  Hope your weekend is filled with beauty and kindness.

 

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kindness matters

I was reminded this morning that kindness changes people.  I was already in a pretty good mood as I set out for work this morning…it’s warm enough to not need a jacket, the sun was starting to rise, and I took some time to make myself feel pretty this morning (I put on makeup).

As I reached the BART station, a woman stopped me to tell me how she liked the color of my hair.  I thanked her, and said something nice about her gorgeous red hair and she called me pretty.

It’s been a long time since someone called me pretty.  It felt so nice!  I was grinning as I got on the escalator and headed up to the platform.  As the regulars showed up, I got more compliments, on my jewelry, on my dress…and by the time the train showed up, I was practically glowing.

I didn’t even mind that my feet were bothering me or that my back and knees were complaining.  As I sit here at my desk at work with my first cup of coffee and a to do list 3 miles long, I’m still feeling all warm inside.

It’s the little things, a heartfelt compliment can make a person’s day, change hearts, I’d go so far as to say it saves lives, but I don’t want to be overly dramatic.  Just remember, Readers, kindness matters.  Every day, every hour, every minute.  In all things, be kind.

We can’t know what someone else is going through, what burdens they carry, what hell they’re walking through…take the moment to be kind, because it costs you nothing and as the image above says, kindness is magic.

Wave that wand around, sprinkle that magic over everyone and everything.  Think of it was glitter for the soul.

 

Want more from me? Visit me!

Weight Loss: https://aweightyjourneysite.wordpress.com/
Current Events: https://myweightinwords.wordpress.com/
Poetry: https://weightywordspoetry.wordpress.com/
Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/nataliejcase

You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (be warned I post a lot pictures of my cats).

 

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Today is the submissions deadline for the short story anthology that I am editing for the Sirens Conference, a benefit anthology that will help defray the costs of running a conference like this one.

This year we opened up submissions to include poetry and flash fiction, as well as the short stories we’ve always accepted.  The writers of this community are amazing and I genuinely LOVE getting to read the collection, let alone having a hand in helping bring it to fruition.

Of course, that means that today’s writing time is devoted to editing instead, but I have a couple hours blocked out of tomorrow to write, though whether I end up tweaking my short story for the anthology or working on one of the novels in progress is anyone’s guess.

For today, I plan to edit for a few hours, then I head out to the salon to re-greenify my hair, which is looking a little bit sad right now, before coming home to tackle laundry and housework.

The glamorous life of a writer, I tell ya!  Living the dream over here.

Hope your Saturday is glorious, Readers! I’m off to pour another cup of coffee before I open the first story.

Want more from me? Visit me!

Weight Loss: https://aweightyjourneysite.wordpress.com/
Current Events: https://myweightinwords.wordpress.com/
Poetry: https://weightywordspoetry.wordpress.com/
Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/nataliejcase

You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (be warned I post a lot pictures of my cats).

 

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the editing hat

We are getting close to time to begin editing the short stories for the Sirens benefit anthology.  This is a book that comes from people who have attended a Sirens Conference, and who want to help support the work that the conference does, help provide scholarships to the event and otherwise support women in speculative fiction.

This will be my second year acting as editor for this collection and I’m excited to read and edit the wonderful stories that will come from this pool of talented writers.  The conference theme this year is Heroes and as always, we choose the title of the anthology, and thus the theme for the stories, based on that theme and a general consensus from the community.

reader_hero_logo
Sirens 2019 Logo

This year’s title is Heroes and Hellions…and I can already taste the reading goodness this will bring.

My own story takes me slightly out of my comfort zone, writing in present tense, but includes devils (for some value of devil), an old west style showdown and a little bit of magic in a post apocalyptic town on the edge of nowhere.

The anthology is open to any kind of speculative fiction, be it horror, sci-fi, fantasy…you name it.  This year we also kicked it open for poetry and flash fiction.

If you’re interested in seeing what last year’s anthology was like, check it out over on Amazon. The Title is Rebels & Revenants and it is filled with awesome stories from kickass female authors.  It is available in Paperback and Kindle.

rebels and revenants
Rebels and Revenants

Deadline for submission is in three days, and I already have one submission in.  This is going to be fun.  I really should make myself an actual editing hat.  I have lots of hats to chose from.  Maybe I’ll even take a picture of me in my editing hat.

But now it’s time for the day job and coffee. Happy Wednesday, Readers!  I hope your day is filled with happiness and sunshine.

 

Want more from me? Visit me!

Weight Loss: https://aweightyjourneysite.wordpress.com/
Current Events: https://myweightinwords.wordpress.com/
Poetry: https://weightywordspoetry.wordpress.com/
Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/nataliejcase

You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (be warned I post a lot pictures of my cats).

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writing time

It’s early on a Saturday morning and I am up, showered and dressed (for some value of dressed anyway).  There is coffee sending up steam and the aroma of goodness on the desk next to me, most of my house is clean and I have a weekend stretched out in front of me.

Today I am going back to the short story I recently finished, having received feedback from my beta reader.  I have a much firmer idea of what happens before the story than I did when I began, and the characters are much more real to me than they were 5000 words ago, so it’s time to readdress and rewrite.

That’s the task for this weekend, to get that story up on its feet, so to speak, so that I can focus on editorial duties as we start to approach the deadline for submission.  I have to admit, I love playing editor for projects like this one.  I get to read a diverse set of stories, from a diverse set of female writers about a diverse group of characters.

I am also expecting my mother at some point today, she’s driving out to spend some time with me and we plan on hitting up the local nursery, and possibly some other fun places.

If you want to read more of my blog ramblings, I have two other blogs that I am actively attempting to maintain, one of them is chronicling my weight loss journey post-surgery, the other is mostly my take on current events, being fat in a world that rewards skinny, as well as philosophical ramblings on politics and religion, as seen from a point of view outside the mainstream. There is poetry blog too, if you’re into that sort of thing.  I also have a Patreon, if you’re interested in seeing some content from me before others, some exclusive content, etc.

You can find these here:

Weight Loss: https://aweightyjourneysite.wordpress.com/
Current Events: https://myweightinwords.wordpress.com/
Poetry: https://weightywordspoetry.wordpress.com/
Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/nataliejcase

You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (be warned I post a lot pictures of my cats).

I should get to that whole writing thing.  Happy Saturday, Readers!  May it be filled with fun, silliness and a whole lot of love!

 

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spring is springing…I think

We have had one of the wettest winters I can remember since I moved to California in 2001.  I love the rain, and I often miss the big booming thunderstorms of my childhood.  Along with the rain, we’ve had a colder winter than I remember having in all that time…and for longer than I can remember.

Here we are, 3 days into April and it is finally, finally starting to warm up.  The wind is still cold in the mornings waiting for the train, but soon I should be able to shed my jacket and I really long for that.

Flowers are starting to bloom all around me, and my succulents are going bonkers.  I really need some new containers so that I can spread them out a bit.  The only thing I dislike about spring is the allergies.  I anticipate a miserable allergy season because of how wet our winter was.

I’m itching (no pun intended) to get out there with a camera, but I have a number of deadlines looming over my head preventing me from a long drive in the country to photograph flowers, so I’ll have to make do with the pictures taken by others.

Those first blooms of spring; the daffodils and tulips and such, have always given me hope.  Back when I was a kid, those first flowers would come up when there was still snow on the ground.  It was like nature letting us know that spring was on it’s way, the winter wouldn’t last forever.

I guess I still feel that when I see them.  It almost makes me wish I had a garden….almost.

Well, the coffee is done and the day job is calling.  I should get to that.  Happy Wednesday, Readers.

Remember, I’m running a special for new patrons over on Patreon.  Come join me!

PS:  Today through April 7th, my book Forever is available for Kindle for FREE!  Grab your copy!

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the road through 15 years

I have a confession to make, I love the television show Supernatural.  Sure, it has its faults.  Yes, it’s had some less than stellar story lines.  Or course, some of it is over the top outlandish.  Yep, the characters are all deeply flawed.  I think maybe that’s part of why I love it.  For all that it’s about the supernatural, it’s about the very human family at the center of it. And not just blood family.  It’s about that, but it’s also got a very strong understand of made family, the family you chose.

I’ve just finished a rewatch of the show from the beginning through the end of season 13.  When I started my rewatch, I didn’t know that they would soon be announcing that season 15 would be the end of it, but it made me glad I had decided to go back to the very beginning.

I can remember when we waited, heads bowed and praying for them to announce that we’d get another season…back before it became the juggernaut of fan-conventions, before the fandom rose up to perform some truly amazing acts of charity (despite all of ITS flaws and backbiting and judgement).

Marathoning through 13 seasons in the last few months gave me some insights I probably wouldn’t have gotten any other way.  It made me appreciate those flawed characters and the amazing actors that bring them to life even more.

I’ve never been to a Supernatural convention due to my agoraphobia and the cost it would involve to get me what I need to cope, but there’s a part of me that wishes I could.  I’ve come to love, not just the boys Jared and Jensen, but the entire family of actors who inhabit the Supernatural universe.

I’m glad they get to go into the final season knowing that it’s the final season, and I hope that it provides them to give us a fitting end to 15 years of hunting trips.  And if they wanted to give us another episode with Jeffery Dean Morgan popping by, I wouldn’t complain.

I’ve been mulling over what I might like that ending to be, and I have a few ideas, but I think I’ll keep them to myself for now.  Feel free to drop your ideas in the comments.  I’d love to know!

Now, the coffee is getting cold, so I best get to the drinking of it, and start putting some words to the page.

Photo lovingly borrowed from Entertainment Weekly.

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running against the clock

A bit of oatmeal, some coffee and we ease into the day.  Well, not so much.  By the time I got to the oatmeal and coffee, I had already walked 1.2 miles, with a train ride in the middle, plus the whole getting out of bed and getting dressed and all of that, including makeup and jewelry.

It’s a whole thing.

I have a Samsung Galaxy watch, and one of the programs on it allows me to set a “must wake up by” time, which is set to 4:30 am, and then it monitors my sleep cycle and wakes me at the end of an REM cycle closest to that time, provided that there isn’t time for another complete cycle.

For the last 3 days, it’s gone off at 4am.  It’s amazing to me how much better my mornings have been.  I’m up and out of bed, dressed and answering emails before my 4:30 alarm goes off.  If I had gone that extra half hour, I would have gotten up groggy and cranky and slow.

Time is a funny thing, really.  A human construct that lets us function within a society, a measurement of when rather than what.  At one point in my life, I was so addicted to knowing what time it was, that I looked at my watch about 20 million times a day (an estimate, of course, probably slightly overstated).  I had to stop wearing a watch to get past it.

In fact, I went without a watch for close to 8 years before I got my first fitbit.  I’d broken the addiction, and didn’t fall back into it, but I came to love having that fitbit.  I’ve only recently upgraded to the Galaxy watch as my Fitbit Charge HR 2 was on its last legs.  I love the versatility of it, I only wish the associated Samsung Health app was a little more robust, like the Fitbit app.

Speaking of time, it looks like I should get myself back to my work.  Emails to respond to, pages to write…you know, the usual.  And I don’t want my coffee to get cold.

Happy Wednesday, Readers!  I hope time is on your side today!

 

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making up with makeup

I’ve always had something of a love/hate relationship with the concept of cosmetics.  On the one hand, I love how they can help me present an image of myself, on the other, I hate the work involved.

In my teens, I never left the house without the minimum of foundation, mascara and eyeshadow.  As I got older I added lipstick and eyeliner.  Then I hit a period of not wearing anything.  I think that came as I was working on how to love the face in the mirror.

I had to drop the pretense, I guess.  And that took a long time.  I only did my makeup if I was going “out” or getting my picture taken.  Suddenly, however, almost immediately after my surgery, I started putting makeup on to go to work, and if I was leaving the house for the doctor’s office and such.  Not everyday, mind you, but often.

This week I cleaned out my admittedly very old collection of makeup, trashed a whole lot of it.  I need to clean my brushes and what nots, but yeah, it was time to drop the old stuff.  I broke my own no buy rule recently and splurged on some higher end cosmetics than I would normally buy and they arrived yesterday.

I’m excited for Monday morning when I get to try it all out for the first time.  Silly as that sounds.

Well, my coffee is waiting for me and there are words to capture, so I’m off.  Tell me, Readers, what is your morning routine like?

Don’t forget, I’m running a special offer over on my Patreon:  join me know at the $3 per month or up level and you will get a postcard from my personal collection covering 50 years of my life, chosen just for you with a nice note from me.

 

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