Monthly archive October 2008

Half of Garage Cleaned

Submitted by jlpowers on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 12:00am

… and it was even the bad half of the garage. #2-son had Friday and Monday off school, so I told him that I’d pay him if he cleaned the garage. And since he’s lusting after a new computer, he took me up on it. He emptied half of it, a very major feat, and he and I built shelves, then he put back what needed to go back.

True, there’s stuff spread all over the back yard that needs to be thrown out (previous owner left bunch of junk in garage) most of it is just junk wood that needs to be cut up and parceled out in the garbage over the next few weeks (so I don’t have to buy stickers).

So I’m feeling like it was a very productive weekend.

Down In Flames

Submitted by jlpowers on Sat, 10/25/2008 - 12:00am

Well, yesterday’s schedule didn’t recover from my unanticipated nap. I got stuff done, but not the stuff I’d intended to do, or needed to do. Well, I needed to do this, but it doesn’t bring in any money.

I spent the day putting all my receipts into Quicken, then going through and reconciling everything. Which is good. It’s been needing to be done for much too long… 5 months much too long.

It got a bunch of stuff off my desk and filed. And it got a couple things off my mental to-do list. But it just made it all that more clear that I need to be bringing in some money. So now I feel guilty, I did my bills instead of working at work-stuff, just so now I know exactly how much I really need to do work-stuff.

But, it’s done and that feels good. And it’s nice to have at least one pile off my desk.

Good Intentions

Submitted by jlpowers on Fri, 10/24/2008 - 12:00am

I realized a while back, that one of the reasons I’m not getting much accomplished is that I’m split too many different directions, and I don’t know what I should be working on, so I’m floundering around, and only the squeaky wheel is getting done.

So, I decided that maybe a schedule would help. If I put down times that I’m going to work on stuff and plan ahead what I will be working on, then I can get focused and actually get something accomplished.

Yesterday was my first schedule day. It, as expected, got blown off course a couple times, like when #2-son called me up around lunch time and said “I’m ready to come home from school” (he has a long weekend off) and I wasn’t expecting him home until late evening, and of course we went out to lunch while I was already out and about.

But, I did get work done yesterday. I accomplished stuff and felt a little better about my world. (Read more)

Character With A Death Wish

Submitted by jlpowers on Wed, 10/22/2008 - 12:00am

I’m seriously considering killing off one of the heroes from the book that spun-off this short story. **grumble, grumble**

Why?

Well… I’m typing along and things are going exactly according to plan: the short-story’s heroine is newly married and they’re at the reception following the wedding… then, out of the blue, old book’s hero leans over and whispers to new heroine: “I’ve discovered that your Mr. Beckett has secrets, my dear Mrs. Beckett. Not bad secrets, mind you, only things he fears will change how to look upon him. I’d suggest you pry these secrets from your new husband. Your life together will be the better for it.”

At which point I yell at the monitor: What the f**k are you talking about Jared!?! What secrets!?!

I’m gonna kill him. (Read more)

Nothing Today

Submitted by jlpowers on Tue, 10/21/2008 - 12:00am

Nothing written on new story today, I was trying to be a good girl and do the things I was supposed to be doing. But I worked on it a bunch yesterday and have over 4k words done, and stopped because I wasn’t quite sure where the next scene was going to start. But have that figured out, and hopefully will get more written tomorrow. It’s so nice to work on something new.

I have been working on the old stuff, too. While I watched TV this evening I organized a bunch of notes for the book, and typed a bunch of stuff into files, in hopes of putting the project into some semblance of order. It’s interesting to discover how much the characters changed from how I envisioned them at the beginning of the book, which is good; they are much fuller people now, but it means I have to go back and re-write a whole bunch of character sheets, because they’re flat out wrong. (Read more)

Feels Good To Write

Submitted by jlpowers on Sun, 10/19/2008 - 12:00am

Probably not what I should have been working on today, but I had a character jump out and bite me, and I couldn’t resist. It helps that this is only a long-short-story or short-novella, so I don’t feel guilty, not like I would if it was another novel.

It sure felt good to write something new, instead of editing and re-editing something that’s been around for so long. And I got 2500+ words done on it today, which includes planning a bunch of the backstory. If it all works out as planned, I’m a third of the way through the story.

And, if it works out really well, Harlequin’s Spice Briefs line is looking for just this kind of story… so it’s quite sale-able… which helps me feel not quite so guilty.

As for the story I’m supposed to be editing… I wrote bunches of backstory over the last couple days on all the secondary characters, which I’m hoping will bring them to light. (Read more)

Miscellany

Submitted by jlpowers on Wed, 10/15/2008 - 12:00am

I’m trying to figure out this brain-dead-thing that I’ve been living with. For weeks on end, I can’t find two brain cells to rub together, then come days like today that I work from beginning to end, accomplishing much, thinking fine and feeling fine… with no discernible change in actions or habits to account for the difference. **shaking head** Bizarre. But, the good days have been rare enough lately that I’m grateful for them.

Today I put the day to use going through all my emails for the WindyCityRWA.org web site and fixing everything that needed to be fixed. It was an all day job, plus some of yesterday, but I made it through the entire stack of emails, which feels very good.

Sure, there is bunches more to do for various other web sites, and my house looks like a disaster hit it, and my desk is a foot deep, but accomplishing something today felt good. (Read more)

Fall Is Here

Submitted by jlpowers on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 12:00am

Sure the leaves are falling, and (other than the last few days) the weather is cooling off, but today was the first sign that fall is really here… the ducks/geese are back.

Every morning, on the way to #4-son’s school, he and I drive past a low spot in the river, and yes, throughout the summer there are almost almost always a few ducks and geese around. But in the fall and winter this spot in the river is often covered with ducks and geese… literally. A couple really cold days last winter, we couldn’t see water because there were so many birds there… and the river is quite wide at this point, and the section they favor is maybe an 1/10th of a mile long, so it was a LOT of birds.

Not that many today, but enough that it was a sure sign that fall’s here.

Four-Book Arc

Submitted by jlpowers on Mon, 10/13/2008 - 2:00am

This morning the final pieces of the four-book story arc fell into place.

I’ve still got to go through the arc step-by-step to make sure that I’ve accounted for as much as I can, but the big pieces are in place. I’d planned to get it all straightened out today, but of course it didn’t happen. **sigh**

The good news is that I finally know what drives the bad guy, what crimes he’s actually committed, and what his plans are for the time that covers the four books. I know more of the motivations for the 3rd book. I know who the love interest(s) are for the 4th book. And I know how the heroines are going to get even with the bad guy. (Read more)

It's Not Broken

Submitted by jlpowers on Mon, 10/13/2008 - 1:00am

Sometime Saturday, #4-son took a swing at #3-son, missed, and hit the arm of the couch. By the time I picked up #4-son for church on Sunday morning, his hand was still very swollen ("It’s gone down some Mom") and he couldn’t really move his thumb or index finger. So, my Sunday afternoon was spent in the emergency room.

Thankfully, his hand isn’t broken, just seriously sprained.

But it sure messed up my plans for the day. Oh well. I keep thinking that it’s good that he didn’t break anything.

I asked #4-son if he learned anything. He said: “Yeah, I learned to make sure I hit my brother, he’s a lot softer than the couch.” :roll:

New Insight

Submitted by jlpowers on Thu, 10/09/2008 - 12:00am

Yes, I watched TV instead of thinking about my book last night, but after kid got home and went to bed, I went up to the comfy chair in my bedroom and thought about the book. After about an hour, a big piece of the new scene fell into place that explained many things and was a good kickoff to the emotional explosion that happens in a couple scenes, but it still didn’t tie the four books together.

Then this morning, lying in bed waiting for the alarm to go off, a huge piece fell into place that does tie the four books together quite wonderfully. Gives everybody plenty of motivation to go after the bad guy, and is enough to cause the downfall of the bad guy. Cool!

Now, I need to take those two puzzle pieces and tie them to the next scene and figure out how that discussion leads to the blow-up. (Read more)

Right To Worry

Submitted by jlpowers on Wed, 10/08/2008 - 12:00am

I was right to worry about the emotional arc of this book; it’s definitely wrong.

After a day where thinking was like slogging through the mud, I finally worked up the ambition to actually do some work for my paying job. Unfortunately, things took a wrong turn when I tried something out and discovered, when I tanked the webserver, that it wasn’t a good thing to do. **sigh** Thankfully the administrator is wonderful and recovered things relatively quickly, and even more thankfully nobody is really using the system, yet. So, that adventure didn’t help my ability to think and for the first time in almost a year, I decided to not go to my writer’s group tonight. Finally, kid left for his father’s house, and I have the house to myself, with comfort food for dinner, except I just dumped the plateful onto the floor, to the dog’s delight. **sigh, again** (Read more)

Over First Hump

Submitted by jlpowers on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 12:00am

Spent most of yesterday thinking about Sarah’s emotional state, and I’m finally over the first hump with decisions made about how the first quarter of the book is going to work. I still have to get it down onto paper, into what will eventually be the synopsis, but at least it’s some progress.

I suppose at this point I could go ahead and rewrite these first chapters, and I might do so, or at least begin… but the next emotional crisis coming up really isn’t ringing true and I’m worried that fixing it will cause blow-back into the first part of the book, and why fix things more times than I need to.

So, today is work through the next emotional crisis, which will move me into the 2nd half of the book, which is actually very solid. Ah… the logic of illogical emotions. :-)

All while taking #4-son to doctor’s appointment that’s going to take most of the day… such fun.

New Schedule & New Plan

Submitted by jlpowers on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 2:00am

When I ask myself “Who am i?", one of the first answers is that I’m a writer. But I’ve been fighting this edit for so long that I can hardly be called a writer because it’s been so long since I’ve written anything.

I’m afraid to write anything new because I’m afraid of losing Sarah’s voice. But Sarah is a character whose story I can’t write or edit when the kids are in the house. And up until school started I hadn’t had a kid-free moment for months. Unfortunately for my writing but life-saving for my finances, school has finally started for everybody and I also started this job, which I told myself I’d work while the kids where in school… thinking that I could write on the weekends that I didn’t have the kids. (Read more)

Hate It When I Do That

Submitted by jlpowers on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 1:00am

Made some quick changes to my newest version of my manuscript before running off to writer’s group last week. When they read it over, they commented that some of the things I’d deleted needed to be put back in later, and of course they were absolutely right. But, not a problem, I had backups of the file on my flash drive and on my laptop…

Except that I don’t. **sigh**

I hate having to recreate stuff because I was too stupid to backup the file before I “fixed” it. **grumble, grumble**