Tag: life

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wine, women and song…or at least the wine

It’s another early Saturday morning, so of course that means I’m writing while I drink my Death Wish coffee, except when a certain kitty comes and demands cuddles.  Cuddles trump everything.  I spent a good chunk of yesterday doing neglected housework, and there’s a bunch more of it to do, but not today.

I have a wine club box to pick up out in Lodi today, so I’m planning to go kidnap my mother and take her out for food of some kind and probably a run to a store or two (possibly to get some yarn to work on a few projects).

I’m in a pretty good place regarding work.  I have two jobs that have been offered to me, though both are contract positions and I would rather have a permanent one, and I have two permanent jobs that I have passed the first hurdle in the gauntlet of interviews. I have a good feeling that I will be starting a new job pretty soon.

In fact, I feel pretty good right now about the entire direction this year has started to take.  I have a new job on the horizon.  I have a planned excursion to Batuu West at the end of March, a trip to Austin and another Batuu adventure in August, and come October I will be back in Denver for Sirens.

Not a bad year so far.  All it needs is for that new permanent job to materialize.  I hope your 2020 is shaping up to be awesome too, Readers!  Happy Saturday…also known as half-price chocolate day.  Go get you some sweet!

Photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash

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writer / editor for hire — inquire within

As I sit here in this office for the last time today, I have an eye on the future, but I’m not stressing about it.  I have some time, my rent and bills are paid for the month and at least half of March.  And there are opportunities.  Just yesterday I set up an in person interview for Thursday and two phone interviews by the end of the week.

I know the perfect opportunity is out there for me.

If only I had a sugar daddy or sugar momma who would take care of me so I could stay home and write!  But that isn’t happening.  And honestly, I don’t think I could be that person.  That isn’t a slam against anyone who is that person.  More power to you.

I’ve known for a long time that I’m not cut out for that kind of relationship.  When it comes to romance, I’m extremely deficient.  I also take an inordinate amount of pride in taking care of myself.

Wow, I wandered off on a tangent.  I was talking about the career.  I’ve been in the work force in some manner since I was 16, younger if you count babysitting and the like.  I’m 51 now.  I have a lot of experience, so I have faith that the right job will present itself.

Maybe I should hang out my shingle:  “Writer / Editor for Hire.  Inquire Within”

Happy Tuesday, Readers!  Go out there and grab the day with kindness.

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not set in stone

My weekends are often filled with words and characters, along with cleaning and laundry and errands.  I tend to do my best writing first thing in the morning, when I’m fresh from dreams and have a big cup of coffee steaming in front of me.  I try to give writing a good four hours on both Saturday and Sunday, before I get up and get started on other things.

Today is no exception.  I managed to sleep in a little bit, not crawling out of bed until eight this morning, but I’ve been at the computer since, pounding on the keys.  I’ve spent a little time also pounding the digital pavement, since I’m still looking for work, but since I’ve done that every day this week, there weren’t many jobs I hadn’t already seen, so it’s back to making words.

Today’s words are in something of a transitional chapter, which I always struggle with.  There are things that need to happen to get us to where the next chapter begins, but it’s not specifically plot driven, just a bunch of moments that need to be hit to set up the climax.  This makes this chapter a bit of a struggle, because I want to just jump ahead to get on with the plot.

But, it’s one of those things, I can write it now and have it inform the next chapter, or I can jump ahead and come back to this later, likely having to force things to fit and then re-write the next chapter anyway.  Might as well stick it out and try to get it done.  Maybe if I finish this chapter today, I can start tomorrow’s writing where I wish I were today.

Maybe.

Of course, knowing the character telling this story, we might end up taking a side turn that I didn’t plan.  One of the joys of being someone who lets the story tell itself, rather than setting the plot in stone before you begin.

I can’t wait to introduce you all to her, Readers.  I think you’re going to like her.

On that note, back to the words.  Have a wonderful Saturday!

 

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writing life

You know you’re a writer when…so many things could follow that opening phrase, but for me lately the big one is, “You know you’re a writer when you wake up in the middle of the night with bits of plot chasing bits of dialog begging to be put down on the page.”

Every night this week, somewhere around 2am, I wake up with my Brain putting together words to flesh out some bit of dialog or battling through some plot hole or point that I’ve been fighting with.  While that’s nice and all, it would be nicer if it would come at a reasonable time…like when I’m already at the computer.

I have always been one to spin tales almost as easily as I breathe, and any time I can not write for at least fifteen minutes a day I get very cranky and not a fun person to spend time with.  It doesn’t matter what it is I’m writing, just that I’m exercising that part of myself regularly.

Currently I am focused on finishing my zero draft of The Blood Witch and recruiting two or three beta readers to give it a once over to make sure I’ve closed up all of the plot holes and chased all of the inconsistencies out of the final product.  That is especially an important aspect when the story started out as a short story idea, mostly just an exploration of a character, and grew, changed, grew again and then the whole thing morphed into what it is becoming right now.  There is at least one early chapter that I know will need a lot of work to catch the inconsistencies born of the way I got to this point.

I am, however, very happy with the story as it stands, rough patches and all.  I hope to wrap it all up in the next few weeks, so if you have the time and inclination to offer services as a beta reader, and are willing to share your honest assessment of the plot and characters with me to help guide me through the next draft, reach out and let me know.

With that, I’m off to refill my coffee cup and get on to the day job.  Have a lovely Tuesday, Readers, and remember that kindness matters!

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The thing about being a woman of a certain age is that, while much of life is certainly so much better than it was in your 20s (more money & stability, no need to please everyone around you, etc), there comes with age this one particularly unpleasant symptom.  And for someone who has always run a little hotter than everyone around me, when I say that I’m having a hot flash, please understand that isn’t just me being dramatic.

Heaven knows I can be dramatic, but this kind of hot is no joke.

Having returned from my days at Disney with some sort of sinus infection/cold, I’m sitting here at my computer trying to determine if this is a hot flash, or a fever.  Of course, I can’t find my thermometer to check, and I have no desire to leave the house to get a new one, so I will continue to wonder.

Still, the trip to Disneyland with my 24 year old niece was worth a few days of being less than fully healthy.  It was the thing I needed to release some stress and included some amazing character interactions in Galaxy’s Edge (complete with massive Chewbacca hugs that just made life worth living) and getting to ride the new Rise of the Resistance ride twice.

I got to ride roller coasters and other rides, which is something I haven’t done in 20 something years due to my size.  We flew the Millenium Falcon, had drinks at Oga’s Cantina, and ran around Batuu hacking our way through the Play Disney App’s games.

Since I was there last in September, I’ve read the book Black Spire, and that gave me a whole new appreciation of the park, and really informed some of our interactions with the “locals” including one guy at Oga’s that just really got into his role.

Of course, all good things must end, and we eventually left LA for the long drive north, a drive made all the longer by traffic problems that included a big rig fire on the Grapevine that burned the hillside and left nothing of the truck but some bits of metal.

That got me home too late to even consider going in to the office on Thursday, and I woke up with the cold/sinus infection on Friday morning, so I worked from home both days.  For today, I’m going to take it easy, going light on the chores, and probably not even getting much writing done since my brain is having trouble getting words to push through the sludge of congestion.

I think it might be a good day to settle in with my giant TV and surround sound to watch movies and get caught up on TV.  Happy Sunday, Readers!  I leave you with one of my favorite shots from Disney, on board the Millenium Falcon in my Han Solo Disneybound.

 

Han Solo on the Falcon

Header Photo by Hans Reniers on Unsplash

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day job needed…again

So, I’ve been trying out this whole “independent contractor” thing for  almost a year now. My thoughts are that I could get used to the money, but not the responsibility for my own insurance and taxes.  My contract is up on the eleventh of February, so it’s time to buckle down on that search for the next thing.

Honestly, I’ll take another contract position if I have to, but I would prefer a regular, full time position.  The freedom is nice, but the security is better, in my opinion.

It really is a full time job looking for work.  Add it to the day job I’m still working, and hitting the gym (because it’s good for me), and writing and any side editing jobs, and I need a second ME to get it all done.  Forget any promo on the books I’ve already published.

So what’s a girl to do?  Dress up like Han Solo and go to Disney, of course!

I also have a Princess Leia on Hoth outfit planned.  Because I’m a dork.  My niece just sent me a picture of her First Order outfit and it is SMASHING.  I am really looking forward to a couple of days of child-like fun!

Anyway, I’m back to applying to every Technical Writer/Editor/Content Manager job I can find on the interwebs.  Think good thoughts for me, Readers!  I’ll have Feb and March rent and bills paid by the time the job is done, but that doesn’t really give me a lot of leeway.

 

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with my head in the clouds…

Why is it that the week before any vacation or big plans is longer than any other week of the year?  It’s not even all that big a deal, really.  As a Christmas gift to myself, I got myself a Disneyland season pass, so with Monday off for Martin Luther King Jr day, I’m taking my oldest niece down to LA to go play on Batuu.  But oh, my this week is taking forever.

My very first thought after the alarm went off this morning was “Oh, F**k, it’s only Wednesday.

And it isn’t like I don’t have stuff to do.  Work is…if not busy, at least there is work I can actually do something with.  Writing is proceeding, if a bit slowly.  I have a to do list a mile long for around the house.

But, my head is already on approach to Batuu.  LOL

In other news, the first book in the Shades and Shadows series was made into an audio book, but the narration is terrible and I was never consulted by the narrator, so I’m not advocating that anyone actually purchase it.  I am working with my publisher to get this fixed and hopefully we will come to an agreement that pleases us both.

In the meantime, if you have read any of my books, I would be ever so grateful for a review on Amazon / Goodreads, etc.  I have been very lax at self promotion of late, and every review helps, even if you just rate the book or leave a tiny note like “I enjoyed this book”.  Believe it or not, it really helps.

On that note, I should get back to my coffee and my day job.

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writing is therapy

I make now secret of the gastric bypass surgery I had a year ago, or how that has altered my life. It’s weird really what changes and what doesn’t.  I mean, I still love food, and would love to eat all of the food all of the time, but the difference is that I no long am physically capable of eating all the food.

I love buying clothes now, something I have always dreaded, and exercise is, by and large, enjoyable when I’m not dealing with other chronic issues.  Now that my day job has moved offices, we’re around the corner from a Planet Fitness so I can hit the gym at least a few times per week, which is great.  All my other gym options are things I have to get in my car to get to…which is okay, if you’re the kind of person who will do that when they get home from a long day at work.  I am not that kind of person.

I’m also doing some PT to fix my “wandering patella” problem, all of which means that today I am sore in new and unique places and ways.

But, a thing I had read about, but thought I wouldn’t have to battle, is the mental inability to process the images I see in the mirror.  Kind of like when someone with an eating disorder looks in the mirror and they see a hideous fat person even though they are the furthest thing from fat, when I look in the mirror, most of the time I see that same 350 pound woman I was when this whole journey started.

Don’t get me wrong, I know on some level that it isn’t true.  And, I love that 350 pound woman just as much as I love this 200 pound woman I have become.  But the cognitive dissonance is an amazing phenomena.  I sit here typing this little exploration of self and all I can see is my big fat belly, which is no where near as fat as it once was, and even though I’m wearing leggings that are XL instead of 5X, and a shirt that is 2X and big on me, I am dissatisfied.

I see my surgeon on the 29th, and I hope to have finally dropped under that 200 mark by then.  Looking further ahead, I have an Austin trip in early August, and my hope is to be at or under 175 by then.

And believe me when I tell you, Readers, all of the psychological observations coming out of this journey and all of the sense of self, even as that self is undergoing lots of changes, will find itself woven into a story at some point.  After all, writing is my therapy!

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by the seat of my pants

I don’t think anyone who knows me would be surprised by the fact that I kind of fly by the seat of my pants when I write.  Oh, I usually have a few established plot points in mind when I start, some targets to hit along the way, but sometimes all I have is a character or an ending, and the rest comes along as I write.

Unsurprisingly, this usually means that I end up having to do some heavy editing once the first draft is done, and I already have a pretty lengthy list of things I need to go back and fix as I sit here around sixty thousand words on The Blood Witch.  Some things I fix on the fly, but most I just make note of and keep moving, so I don’t get trapped in an endless edit loop and never finish the zero draft.

For me, getting the story down is more important than getting it *right* the first time through.  I can edit and finesse and dress up later.  First I need to get the bare bones down.  Sure, I have some phrases and entire scenes that come out perfect the first time through, but more often than not, those will end up cut out as the story evolves and get tucked away in a file in the dark recesses of the computer to be played with from time to time.

Over time, as the plot develops, I become more and more sure of the ending, and how to get there.  I’m at that place right now where I can see the ending, and I know a bunch of the plot points I need to get there, and really, I just need to sit my ass down and write.  If only I could squeeze out a few more hours in my day!

I’m hoping to write for as many as six hours per day on the weekends, and a half hour to an hour, minimum, per day through the week…I just need to figure out how to manage that with the day job, the freelance job, the gym, the commute, the housework, etc.

Speaking of, I should get back to it before the day gets away from me or I get buried under the mountain of laundry. Happy Sunday, Readers!

Photo by Uwe Jelting on Unsplash

 

Photo by Uwe Jelting on Unsplash

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Today’s the day!  It’s Star Wars day!  I have a ticket to see The Rise of Skywalker at 5pm tonight.  I am super excited, and also fairly anxious.  I mean, this story has been a part of my life since I was 9 years old.  It has helped to shape who I am as a story teller, as a writer.  It has helped shape me, how I look at the world around me, how I stand up for what I believe in, how I resist and rebel.

It will also be the final movie to have Carrie Fisher in it.  I’m excited to see what they have done with the footage they were able to piece together, but I know that I’m going to be a weepy, crying mess of a geek right from the start.  In fact, I tear up just thinking about it.

In other Star Wars news, there is a very talented lady in the Phillipines who creates portraits from a picture you provide, but she makes you into a Star Wars character.  I asked her to draw me as General Organa, as we first see her in The Force Awakens. This was the result:

me as leia.jpg

Isn’t it fabulous?  Her name is Danielle Balanga, and you can find her on Facebook.

With that, I should get myself back to work on the day job.  And my coffee.  Always my coffee.  I shall leave you with this, dearest Readers:

MTFBWY